This salad is so simple, versatile, and is always a part of our family’s weekly meal plan. This salad is used for lunches and as a side at dinner! My favorite thing about this salad is how easy it is to get a variety of fresh veggies into our bellies.
It’s All About the Veggies
I don’t know about you but there are many times when my children refuse to eat their vegetables. Pretty typical. I tried feeding them steamed and roasted, assuming that’s what they would like best. Then one night I decided to give them a variation of this salad and they ate everything. I was thrilled!
That was when I began having the girls help create their own salads. When we visit the grocery store or farmer’s market they help pick out the vegetables for their salads. While we are there we talk about how each vegetable has its own special vitamins, nutrients and how they help our bodies.
When buying vegetables I always recommend shopping in season, at your local farmer’s market, Co-Op, or local seasonal at your favorite grocery store. In Texas we have HEB! HEB makes it super easy to find local, seasonal produce as well as a great organic selection. I love me some HEB!
Veggie Versatility
The base of this salad never changes. I always use chopped organic romaine and an organic blend of spinach, kale, and arugula. HEB has a variety of organic salad blends that all work well for this salad. My girls prefer “the base” salad lightly tossed with a Primal Kitchen dressing. Below are veggies and other topping ideas we use regularly.
- Shredded Carrots
- Sliced Cucumbers
- Sliced Tomatoes
- Sliced Radishes
- Chopped Broccoli OR Cauliflower
- Sprouts
- Pickled Beets
- Avocado (a fruit really)
- Sauerkraut
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Chopped Bacon
- Chopped Cashews (really any kind of nut)
- Olives
My top three favorite salad toppings are pickled beets, avocado and sauerkraut! Sauerkraut plays a super special role because it is high in Vitamin-C and gives our gut bacteria some extra love. In all the good ways! My favorite sauerkraut is made by Wild Brine which can be found at Whole Foods!
Dressings
We use Primal Kitchen salad dressings on all of our salads. Our family favorites are the Green Goddess, Caesar, Ranch and Honey Mustard. These dressings are made with the highest quality ingredients, but the most important ingredient is the Avocado Oil. Before Primal dressings entered our home, we used lemon juice, olive oil and a dash of pepper. It’s still a thing!
You do you with your dressing choice! Just please be mindful of store bought dressings that contain refined highly processed oils (i.e. Vegetable, Canola, Corn, Soybean, etc). You don’t want that in your life and it will make your salad sad!
Get crazy with the veggie toppings and other choices with this simple salad! Don’t be afraid to change things up. We hope this salad makes you feel happy and healthy!
Super Simple Salad
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chopping Knife
- Large Bowl
- Storage Containers (optional)
- Zip Locks (optional)
Ingredients
- 3 Heads, Organic Romaine, roughly chopped We use Josie's Organics
- 1 8 oz. Organic Salad Blend, roughly chopped We like a mixture of the following red lettuce, butter lettuce, kale, spinach, arugula.
- 1 cup Organic Shredded Carrots
- 1 cup Organic Sliced Cucumbers, sliced Divide among storage containers.
- 1 Avocado, jumbo We typically divide our avocados into fourths.
- 1/4 cup Wild Brine Red Beet Sauerkraut We add this as a topping to individual salads. They also make a lovely Apple Caraway Sauerkraut!
- 2 tbsp Primal Kitchen Dressing Your Choice!
Instructions
- Wash and dry all of the vegetables. Using a large cutting board and having your big bowl ready to go, prep the veggies as indicated above.
- As you are prepping the vegetables, add them to the bowl. Once the romaine, salad blend and carrots are in the bowl, toss to combine.
- Decision making time. Often I store the salad mixture in large ziplocks and pull it out throughout the week to serve alongside any meal at dinner. Other times I will divide the mixture into 4 large storage containers, then add a variety of favorite toppings!
