Vegetarian Meal Salads
Meatless Greek, California and Simple Spinach Main Dish Salads
What makes a salad a meal?
Meal salads should contain all of the food groups for balanced nutrition, fibre and staying power. Balance the salad with bread or grains, fruit or calcium-rich vegetables like kale, broccoli and almonds.
Here are three popular recipes for meal salads and complementary salad dressings:
- Greek Salad with Romaine, Feta, and Olives;
- California Salad with Grated Carrots and Trail Mix; and
- Simple Spinach Salad with Chickpeas.
All salads should be tossed or arranged just prior to serving, to keep crunchy vegetables crunchy. For vegan salads, be sure to omit hard-boiled egg, honey and cheese.
For dressing recipes, simply mix all ingredients together with a whisk and toss with salad.
Greek Salad Recipe
Serves 4
Greek salad is a simple meal. Traditionally, Greek salads rely on a base of cucumber or tomatoes. This recipe is non-traditional, but delicious and filling as a main course. For potluck or picnic meals, replace the Romaine with cooked penne pasta.
Greek Salad Ingredients:
- 1 head Romaine lettuce or 1 (10 ounce) bag pre-washed lettuce
- 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved OR 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1 medium red onion, sliced or diced
- 1/2 cup whole Kalamata olives
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas (optional)
- Fresh dill or mint, optional, to garnish
Greek Salad Dressing Recipe:
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¾ tsp. salt
- Dash pepper
- ½ cup olive oil
- 4 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- Dried oregano, to taste
Directions:
- Wash and dry lettuce; tear into bite-sized pieces.
- In a large bowl, toss together lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and olives. Sprinkle with feta cheese.
- Add dressing and toss gently to preserve the crumbled feta.
- Serve immediately.
Suggested bread: focaccia
California Salad Recipe
Serves 4
California salad is perfect for fresh summer produce but can also be adjusted for out-of-season cravings.
Chock-full of healthy fats from trail mix and avocado, California Salad makes every meal feel sunny.
Ingredients:
- 1 (10 ounce) package mixed greens (red and green leaf lettuce), OR one head leaf lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
- 2 organic carrots, washed and grated
- 1/3 cup trail mix with raisins OR ¼ cup raisins and shelled sunflower seeds
- 1 thinly sliced Vidalia or red onion
- 1 small can Mandarin orange slices or substitute in-season fresh sliced strawberries
- 1/2 head broccoli floreta, chopped (optional)
- 1 small avocado, sliced (optional)
- 1 sweet bell pepper, chopped (optional)
Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing Recipe:
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon honey (substitute maple syrup or sugar for vegan dressing)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- salt and pepper to taste
Bread: Flatbread or pita
Simple Spinach Salad Recipe
Serves 1
Ingredients:
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- 1 Roma (Italian) tomato or 2 Tbsp. chopped sun-dried tomatoes (the kind packed in oil)
- ¼ - ½ cup cooked drained chickpeas
- ¼ cup sliced mushrooms
- ½ small can drained mandarin orange slices
- 1 hard boiled egg (optional, ovo-vegetarian)
- Toasted slivered almonds, to garnish
Simple Spinach Salad Dressing:
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil (may substitute up to half with flaxseed oil)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Bread: crusty multi-grain roll
