Discover tasty recipes to prevent a diet full of processed food, sugar, and saturated fats. Incorporating healthy salads into your meals will help you eat less, feel better, and most critically, preserve your health.

rosebudatlanta.com gathered the following information, recipes, and prep instructions for 5 popular and easy-to-make healthy salads.

Salad Benefits

Salads are an excellent way to get essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber into your diet. However, not all salads are as healthy or nutritious as they are portrayed to be. It greatly depends on what is in the salad. It is perfectly fine to add small amounts of dressing and toppings; however, if you overdo it with high-fat or high-sugar add-ins, your salad can cause you to exceed your daily calorie needs, contributing to weight gain and declining health.

Prepare salads with colorful vegetables. You get healthy, disease-fighting nutrients with fresh vegetables in the salad. Consider the following salad recipes:

1. Caprese Salad

A Caprese salad is a simple Italian salad made with sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and sweet basil, seasoned with salt and olive oil. It is typically arranged on a plate in fancy restaurant practice. The first iconic story for Caprese salad dates back to post-World War I Italy. A patriotic mason crafted a dish that would be a tribute to Italy and visually incorporated the “tricolor” into its presentation. Like a Margherita pizza, it features the Italian flag’s colors: green, white, and red.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces of thinly sliced mozzarella
• 3 ripe, thinly sliced large tomatoes (heirloom)
• 1 bunch of lightly chopped sweet basil
• Large pinch of salt (to taste)
• Large pinch of black pepper (to taste)
• 2 cups balsamic glaze
• Olive oil (drizzle to taste)

Instructions:

1. Place the sliced tomatoes and mozzarella on a platter. Arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella in an alternating pattern.
2. Scatter the basil leaves over the tomatoes and mozzarella.
3. Season with salt and black pepper.
4. Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic glaze over the tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil.
5. It’s done. Serve immediately.

2. Spinach Salad

This spinach salad is topped with dried cranberries, goat cheese, toasted walnuts, avocado, and a creamy balsamic dressing. This recipe is perfect as a side or topped with protein for a complete meal.

The salad starts with fresh spinach leaves and then gets sprinkled with loads of deliciousness: apple slices, candied pecans, avocado, red onion, feta cheese, and a homemade balsamic dressing. All of these flavors mingle together to create an amazing and healthy salad.

Ingredients:

• 10 oz baby spinach
• 1 cup sliced mini cucumbers
• ⅔ cup crumbled goat cheese
• ½ cup sliced red onions
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup raw walnuts
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Fresh cracked pepper for serving
• Creamy Balsamic Dressing
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

1. Add walnuts to a small skillet over medium heat to toast. Let cook, frequently tossing for 3-5 minutes until fragrant and starting to brown. Remove from pan and let cool.
2. Prepare the dressing by whisking together all ingredients in a small bowl until thoroughly combined and creamy.
3. Prepare the salad by adding spinach to a large bowl, and top with cucumbers, goat cheese, onions, cranberries, toasted walnuts, and sliced avocado. Top with fresh cracked pepper.
4. Drizzle dressing over salad, thoroughly toss, and serve or plate the salad and serve it with the dressing on the side.

3. Tomato Feta Salad

A tomato & feta salad is a fresh explosion of flavor, color, and texture. Ready in minutes, this stress-free salad is a perfect accompaniment to any meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, red or mixed colors
• ¾ cup small-diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons good white wine vinegar or Champagne vinegar
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• ¾ pound feta cheese

Instructions:

1. Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a large bowl.
2. Add the onion, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley, and toss well.
3. Dice the feta into a ½- to ¾-inch dice, crumbling it as little as possible.
4. Gently fold it into the salad and serve at room temperature.

4. Superfood Salad

The high vitamin and mineral content found in superfoods can help your body ward off illnesses and keep you healthier. When incorporated into a well-balanced diet, these foods can promote heart health, weight loss, improve energy levels, and reduce the effects of aging.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups roughly chopped kale
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup grapes
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/8 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup shelled edamame

For the dressing:

• 1/8 cup oranges (orange juice)
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 1/8 cup Greek yogurt

This dressing is light, tangy, and creamy and is made by mixing the yogurt, olive oil, garlic, and orange juice. 

Instructions:

1. Cook the quinoa and edamame according to the package instructions.
2. Then, prep the rest of the ingredients (halve the grapes, chop the dried cherries, etc.).
3. Add the salad dressing ingredients to a jar and shake until creamy and combined.
4. Toss the superfood salad ingredients and dressing together, and serve.

5. Cobb Salad

Cobb salad is the quintessential American salad (first put together on a whim by Robert Cobb of the former Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles) when he needed to feed Sid Grauman late one night in 1937.

A chef salad and a Cobb salad both have lettuce, cheese, meats like chicken and bacon, and hard-boiled eggs. However, what distinguishes a Cobb salad is the addition of tomatoes and avocado. Additionally, a Cobb salad typically uses a variety of lettuce types.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head romaine
• 1/2 head Boston lettuce
• 1 small bunch frisée (curly endive)
• 1/2 bunch watercress, coarse stems discarded
• 6 slices of fully-cooked bacon
• 2 ripe avocados, seed removed, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 whole skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 3/4 pound total), halved, cooked, and diced
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped fine
• 2 large hard-boiled eggs, separated, the yolk finely chopped and the white finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar
• Salt and pepper
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely grated Roquefort

Instructions:

1. Cook the bacon in a skillet (on medium heat) until crisp on both sides. Remove from skillet and lay on paper towels to absorb any excess fat. Allow the bacon to cool. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
2. Toss the various lettuces In a large salad bowl.
3. Compose the salad by decoratively arranging the chicken, bacon, tomato, and avocado over the greens and garnish with chopped egg and chives.
4. Make the vinaigrette in a small bowl by whisking the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper together. Slowly add the oil and whisk the dressing until it is emulsified.
5. Stir in the Roquefort and add sugar to taste. Serve the dressing separately or toss it in with the salad.

Salad Recipes

In this article, you discovered 5 recipes for delicious, healthy, and filling salads that are easy to prepare and fun to serve.

Incorporating healthy salads into your daily meals will help curb your appetite, maintain your energy levels longer, and help you better control your weight.

Ignoring the need to eat healthier can lead to severe vitamin deficiencies, cardiovascular issues, difficulty controlling your weight, and feelings of laziness.

Sources:
medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002132.htm
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31278048/
scu.edu/sustainability/gardens/resources/recipes/forge-crafted-recipes/caprese-salad.html
eskenazihealth.edu/news/recipe-of-the-month-easy-spinach-salad
nicholls.edu/culinary/2017/09/06/tomato-and-feta-salad/
cih.ucsd.edu/nutrition/recipes/kale-and-quinoa-superfood-salad
cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/salad/cobb-salad.html