10 Ways to Make Your Salad More Satisfying
Being that summer is almost over and one of my favorite things about summer is all the beautiful, crisp salad greens at the farmers market. I thought I would send you this list on how to make your salads more satisfying...
I absolutely love to eat salads, but how can you turn a salad into a meal that is truly satisfying? The trick is to make sure you add enough protein, fat and carbohydrates to your salad so it is still a perfectly balanced meal.
By cooking some ingredients and then adding them warm can make a simple salad feel more like a complete dinner, especially in the winter. But there are dozens of other healthy additions you can use to make your salad more filling and delicious. Here are 10 of my favorites.
10 Ways To Make Your Salad More Satisfying
- Brown rice Single serving rice balls add a wonderful dimension to any salad.
- Nuts Walnuts and sliced almonds are my favorite nuts for salad, but there are many more to choose from.
- Beans Chickpeas, black beans, edamame and other legumes are inexpensive and delicious sources of protein and fiber.
- Avocado Half an avocado is sometimes exactly what a salad needs to take it to the next level.
- Smoked salmon For a slightly more upscale salad experience top your greens with a few slices of smoked salmon.
- Quinoa Mix in a small amount of quinoa as an accent or add more for a denser, more hearty meal check out the recipe below...
- Grilled meats Your salad is a great place for summertime BBQ leftovers.
- Egg Boiled, fried or poached, an egg is a wonderful way to make your salad more substantial.
- Chunk Light Tuna Canned fish is one of the easiest, healthiest ways to get extra protein and omega-3 oils in your salad.
- Wheat berries Almost any grain is fantastic in a salad, but the nutty flavor of wheat berries is a particularly wonderful pairing.
Here is a recipe for a quick, healthy quinoa salad using Mexican herbs and spices....
MEXICAN STYLE QUINOA SALAD
You can find all these ingredients at your regular grocery store. I used arugula, but you can substitute spinach if you prefer. I also recommend being creative with your spices (jalepeño or cumin come to mind). If you have fresh salsa or pico de gallo around you can stir in a spoonful or two at the end to accentuate the Mexican flavor.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- Half bag of arugula or baby spinach
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup chopped red pepper
- 1 spring onion or shallot
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, stems removed
- Cayenne pepper
- Lime
- Mexican hot sauce
Rinse and cook quinoa. Crush and mince your garlic. While your quinoa is boiling, halve your tomatoes and dice your onion and pepper. If using a spring onion, save some of the green onion slices for garnish. Remove the stems from your cilantro. Dice your avocado and sprinkle it with salt.
When your quinoas is finished cooking, heat a frying pan on medium high heat and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add onions and red peppers and cook on medium high heat until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Turn off heat and add quinoa, stirring to mix. Fold in arugula or spinach and season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
Transfer quinoa mixture to a large serving bowl and add avocado, tomatoes and cilantro. Squeeze in juice of half a lime and add a few dashes of Mexican hot sauce or Tabasco to taste. Gently stir, being careful not to mash the avocado chunks.
Adjust salt and spices. Garnish with green onion slices, extra cilantro leaves and a wedge of lime.