Now that the weather is warming up, I find myself craving one of my staple foods again: salad. All winter I stuck with leftovers for lunch as salads just didn’t seem to give me what I needed. I was content just chucking leftover soup or risotto into my bag and heat it up in the microwave at work. But now that the birds have started to sing again, I find myself wanting to try and make some salads again. I’ve been eating salads almost every day for 3 years straight now and so I have my favorites.
Tuna salad
Tuna is one of my favorite foods for using to make a salad. For this salad I usually use a base of mixed lettuce and cucumbers. I change up the other ingredients all the time. I love using sour sweet pickles and onions when I make a tuna salad, but capers, red onion and a dollop of mayo are also favorites. In this case I kept it simple with some olives and bell pepper.
If I have some time on my hands, I like to go a bit more creative. In this case I topped up some mixed lettuce leaves with green sauteed asparagus which I let cool down, I then added some alfalfa sprouts, sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts. To finish off the salad I crumbled some soft goat’s cheese to add some creaminess and sweetness to the dish.
However, salads do not have to be complicated. After some time I started making what I dubbed 3-ingredient salads. Not only do they save time, but it leaves some options open so you have some veggies to snack on during the day as well. This is a salad with a base of arugola, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts and trout filet for some well needed protein.
A classic salad that I love having is a salad caprese. All you need is some fresh basil, tomatoes and mozzarella. To amp it a bit, I put in some olives and cucumber and served it over a bed of mixed lettuce again. If you’d like you can add a sprinkle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper to help bring the flavor together.
Where on the one hand I am all about keeping things simple, on the other I love going all out. This pasta salad with salmon, pesto, bell pepper, cucumber and pine nuts is a good example of such an ordeal. This would fill up anyone looking for a hearty meal and because you’re using pesto to bring some flavor to the pasta, no dressings or other condiments will be needed.
What is your favorite salad?