Looking to add a dose of fresh flavor to your picnic spread? Now that Summer is here, try a sturdy salad that'll stay crisp throughout an afternoon of sipping wine and sunbathing (no leafy greens need apply). From a light and lovely pea and mint salad to heartier noodle-based options, we've got you covered.
Taco night is a rarity in my house. For some reason, I just can't wrap my head around getting all the ingredients prepared and laying everything out for easy assembly. Fortunately, I found a way to get my fill of taco night flavors in a fast and easy (and healthy!) salad form.
My recipes tend to be inspired by beautiful produce, and when I got my hands on some stunning purple radishes, I knew they would be a crisp and refreshing component of this salad. Jalapeño, garlic, and cumin bring a lot of flavor to ground beef, and it takes just minutes to come together.
For this simple recipe, keep reading.
Thanks to its mild flavor, cucumber plays well with others — even pungent flavors. Salt, vinegar, hot peppers, and spices like dill and caraway likely first come to mind thanks to its popularity as a pickled vegetable, but it takes to sweeter ingredients with aplomb as well.
Cinnamon, citrus juice, and orange flower water seem like odd bedfellows for the crisp cuke, but if you add a generous dose of salt and let them mingle briefly, the resulting salad is exceptionally cool, refreshing, and a perfect pairing for any manner of spiced meat. Or, if you're like me, the dish is a satisfying snack in its own right; I devoured the entire bowl of salad in one sitting, bite after addictive, sweet, salty, floral bite.
As someone with countless salad pet peeves, there's a surprisingly short list of salads in San Francisco that I've deemed worthy of ordering, but one I've had a continued romance with is the dino kale salad with chicken from The Plant Cafe downtown. We met, exchanged numbers, and the rest, as they say, was history.
Every time I've ordered this dish as takeout, I've pondered what makes it so memorable. The key, I believe, to the salad's greatness is twofold: one is its mix of colors, textures, and other components (crunchy cucumber, creamy avocado, leafy kale, and comforting quinoa), and the other is the extremely bright, lemon-forward dressing, which, thanks to a few added spices, tastes exotic, like it's from a faraway land.
After attempting to re-create this recipe at home countless times, I think I've pretty much nailed it. Don't believe in salad love at first sight? Then make this recipe and see for yourself.
Whenever I'm cooking for a crowd and need a recipe that's portable, I always consider pasta salad. It's filling and easy to make a large batch.
What sets this salad apart from the rest is its sun-dried tomato dressing — it's so good, I've even enjoyed it on fish. Made in a blender or food processor, the dressing is a mixture of tomatoes, capers, and garlic, thinned with olive oil and red wine vinegar. A generous handful of parmesan cheese and fresh basil finish off this satisfying salad that only tastes better the next day. Make this easy, yet rewarding, recipe now.
For a nice departure from a heavy meat-and-potatoes meal, keep yourself satisfied with a wholesome Asian steak and noodle salad. With plenty of crunch, tang, and color, it's just as easy and comforting as what you'd order from your favorite restaurant, only cheaper.
The key to this recipe is the ginger, soy, and lime marinade, which infuses the meat with umami-rich flavor. Watch our video to learn how this lettuce, rice noodle, and beef creation comes together, then print out the recipe and make it tonight.
I love that a classic Caesar can be whipped up in a pinch, and now that we've hit grilling season, I experimented a little by charring lettuce leaves directly on the grill. By quickly grilling the romaine lettuce, I imparted a charred flavor that's irresistible with a creamy Caesar salad dressing.
Of course, every Caesar salad needs croutons, so I lightly coated slices of bread in olive oil before grilling them alongside romaine lettuce. I wasn't able to source fresh anchovies but picked up salted whole anchovies, which I rinsed and lightly grilled for a boost of fish flavor.
The result? A salad that makes for a great first course for any barbecue party — or, with grilled chicken, a complete Summer meal. Heat up the barbeque and get to grilling this Summer Caesar salad.
If you think a fruit salad just involves chopping up a bunch of fruit into a bowl, think again! Make a stunning fruit salad by prepping and seasoning the fruit as shown in the video. Following these tips will illustrate the difference between a decent and absolutely delectable fruit salad.
Do you, like me, equate sun-filled May days with outdoor eating and drinking? If so, then you'll spring for this speedy, supersimple, no-cook bean salad.
Macaroni and potato salads may get most of the love, but I'd argue the unsung hero of the picnic is actually the bean salad: it's light, full of wholesome ingredients, and satisfying. This six-bean version in particular boasts a symphony of flavors; it's sweet, savory, tangy, a little bit spicy, and bright (thanks to the addition of fresh dill). Best of all, it's free of any cream or mayonnaise, so you'll never have to worry about it baking in the Summer sun.
Get the effortless bean salad recipe now.
Do you have a whole plateful of salad woes? If you find that your homemade salads just aren't as good as those in restaurants, perhaps the problem rests in the prep of the salad, the choice of ingredients, or the dressing itself. Integrate these 10 tricks into your salad-making routine, and we promise, you'll toss better homemade salads in no time.
