March 5th, 2013

The Art of Salad.

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I love salad. Past Sara (the Sara from a few years ago) would never have believed it possible to utter those words and actually mean them. I probably would have rolled my eyes and gone back to my family-sized bag of chips. But times have changed, and I really do love salad.

Now, I’m not talking about your boring old bowl of flavorless iceberg lettuce, dried up shredded carrot and cabbage combo. I’m talking about a salad done right: a delicious, filling salad. A salad you can eat as a meal. Obviously, the base of any salad are the greens. But in addition to that, you can add your favorite vegetables, fruits (yes, fruit!), nuts, seeds, meats, and dressing. Customize it to your taste, choose ingredients you love, and you’ll be amazed at just how yummy a salad can be.

The salads I tend to make are dairy and meat-free, except when I use Mediterranean Greek vinaigrette dressing, which has some feta in it. With no further ado, here are four of my favorite salad recipes!

Salad 1 (above):

  • mixed baby greens
  • baby spinach
  • heirloom cherry tomatoes
  • blueberries
  • walnuts
  • pumpkin seeds
  • Renee’s Mediterranean Green Vinaigrette dressing

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Salad 2:

  • mixed baby greens
  • baby spinach
  • heirloom cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 an avocado
  • English cucumber slices
  • blueberries
  • walnuts
  • pumpkin seeds
  • Renee’s Mediterranean Green Vinaigrette dressing

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Salad 3:

  • mixed baby greens
  • heirloom cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 an avocado
  • Renee’s Mediterranean Green Vinaigrette dressing

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Salad 4:

  • baby spinach
  • mixed baby greens
  • English cucumber
  • walnuts
  • raspberries
  • red onion
  • Litehouse Organic Raspberry Lime Vinaigrette Dressing

Even though I don’t add any meat to my salads, they are all chalk full of protein, from nuts, seeds, avocado, and the greens themselves! Adding nuts, seeds, or avocado to a salad also gives you healthy fats and keeps you feeling full longer!

Which of these recipes would you most want to try? Let me know in the comments below! x

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