Summer Salads to Try Right Now

It’s time to make friends with salad. The perfect combination of health and satisfaction can be found in the following recipes from some of our favourite food bloggers. Go on, eat your heart out.

This bright, bold, colourful salad has everything you could ask for. It’s nourishing and filling and so pleasing on the eye you won’t know where to start.

You’ll need:

• 1 can chickpeas, drained + rinsed
• 2 tablespoons basil pesto
• 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, wild rice and or black rice
• 1 cup pitted fresh cherries, halved
• 1 cup fresh blueberries or blackberries
• 1 nectarine, thinly sliced
• 2 ears grilled corn, kernels removed from the cob
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 170-250g feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 avocado, sliced
• large handful of microgreens and or arugula
• 1/2 cup mixed toasted nuts + seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, cashews, almonds, etc)

Spicy Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 rounded tablespoon fig preserves (optional)
• 1-2 chipotle chili peppers in adobo, chopped
• kosher salt + pepper

How-to:

In a medium bowl, stir together the chickpeas and pesto. Let sit at least 15 minutes minutes to marinate.

Prepare your grains as directed on the package.

In a large salad bowl, toss together the quinoa, cherries, berries, nectarine, corn, tomatoes and feta. Stir in the pesto marinated chickpeas and toss the salad with about half the vinaigrette (see below).

To serve, top the salad with sliced avocado, toasted nuts + seeds and fresh greens. Serve with the remaining vinaigrette and chips or bread for scooping!

Spicy Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar or bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste and adjust salt + pepper to your liking.

2. Brewing Happiness’ Tempeh Green Goddess Salad

For the uninitiated, tempeh is made by fermenting soybeans and is a great source of protein and fibre. This salad takes this healthy ingredient to the next level with its delicious dressing and detoxifying greens.

You’ll need:

• 3-4 cups kale, chopped and de-stemmed
• 2 cups broccoflower (aka. green cauliflower), cut into florets
• 2 cups broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 cup english peas
• 1 avocado, cubed
• ½ cup sunflower seeds (roasted or raw)
• ½ fuji apple, sliced
• 225g tempeh, sliced into 8 thin strips
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper

Creamy Avocado Mint Dressing Ingredients:

• ⅓ cup silken tofu
• ½ large ripe avocado
• 2 heaping tablespoons mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar (sub lemon juice)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger (sub fresh ginger, diced)

How-to:

In a blender or high speed food processor, blend all of your avocado mint dressing ingredients until smooth and creamy.

In a large bowl, take ¼ cup of your dressing and massage it into your kale. (Aka. take your hands and squish the kale and the dressing together until the kale is soft and the dressing is covering all of the kale.)

Divide your kale between two bowls. Top your kale with broccoflower florets, broccoli florets, english peas, avocado chunks, sunflower seeds, and apple slices - dividing each ingredient evenly between the bowls.

Then heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in your tempeh slices and ½ cup water. Flip your tempeh over when about half of the water has evaporated.

Once all of the water has evaporated, add your olive oil, coconut sugar, salt and pepper to the tempeh pan and reduce the heat to medium.

Cook on each side for a few minutes, until the tempeh is golden brown and slightly caramelized.

Add your tempeh to each salad and top with more avocado mint dressing.

3. Pinch of Yum’s Summer Bliss Bowls with Sweet Potato Falafel and Jalapeno Ranch

Equal parts delicious and healthy, this seriously satisfying salad ticks all the boxes. While it does take a little more preparation than some of the others, it’s well worth it. Enjoy!

You’ll need:

For the Sweet Potato Falafel:

• 1 raw sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 cup cooked brown rice and/or quinoa
• ½ cup almonds or other nuts
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup flour
• oil for frying

For the Bowls:

• heirloom tomatoes
• spinach
• quinoa/brown rice
• roasted corn
• fresh dill
• goat cheese

For the Jalapeno Ranch:

• 1¼ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• ½ cup 2% milk
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 1 handful fresh parsley leaves (about ¼ cup)
• 1 handful chives (about ¼ cup)
• 1 jalapeño pepper

How-to:

Pulse the sweet potato through a food processor until finely minced. Add the brown rice/quinoa and almonds and pulse until well mixed and uniform in texture. Add the egg and salt and pulse until mixed. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the flour.

Form the mixture into balls or patties. Heat the oil over medium heat and fry each falafel for a few minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through.

Assemble all your ingredients in a bowl. Top with the falafels and jalapeño ranch dressing.

Words by Yasemin Trollope