Salads for Adult Consumption

Published on 19 Dec 2022 | 6 minutes to read
#salad, #adulting

Iโ€™m nearly 30 and, although I can whip up cooked meals with ease and confidence, I have nearly zero intuition when it comes to making a satisfying leafy salad. As a vegan, Iโ€™ve been subjected to many a sad, cold salad as the only vegan option at a restaurant, which has led me to kind of resent them, honestly. However, when I eat a lot of veggies, my skin is clearer, and I donโ€™t get acid reflux before sleeping, so Iโ€™m going to try to take care of myself by learning โ€œsalad theoryโ€.

By the end of this, I want to be able to:

  1. Understand how to create satisfying salads (tackling this today)
  2. Be able to discern why a specific salad works or doesnโ€™t + identify what I could add to make it more satisfying
  3. Develop enough โ€œsalad intuitionโ€ to confidently throw together salads from the dregs of my fridge as easily as Iโ€™m able to cook
  4. Develop a core corpus of go-to salad recipes I actually crave and enjoy eating


Salad Formula

Starting off with a YouTube search, I found Nisha of Rainbow Plant Lifeโ€™s video: My Formula for Fantastic Salads | healthy + vegan, which also comes in a free PDF version if you prefer to read or have a printout. Iโ€™ve summarize some of it in this blog post with many additions and suggestions from friends.


๐Ÿฅฌ Make a salad base Leafy greens like lettuce and kale are obvious (and should be seasoned directly with salt & pepper), but Nisha suggests making these more interesting by

  1. adding grains like farro, rice (brown or wild), barley
  2. adding lentils or beans
  3. omitting leafy veg entirely in favor of lentils, grains, fresh herbs, or blanched/marinated veg (ex: asparagus, green beans)
  4. mixing greens for contrast (soft greens like spinach with crunchier greens like napa cabbage)


๐Ÿฅ’ Top with Textures Consider the following textures for inspiration and interest:

  1. Crunchy - toasted nuts or seeds (or a blend like this spiced super seed salad topper), croutons, carrots, everything but the bagel seasoning
  2. Crispy - raw veg like cucumbers, snap peas, apple, red onion slices
  3. Creamy - avocado, dressing, roasted kabocha
  4. Chewy - dried fruits, roasted chickpeas, rice, farro, barley, roasted root veg, potato
  5. Misc - roasted corn, olives, grapes, fresh berries, pickled veg, marinated extra firm tofu, leftover instant noodle flavor packet


๐Ÿ’ง Pair dressings with greens


Four-Part Salad Dressing Formula

The most helpful guide I found was from Denise of AdultFoodAllergies.com:

  1. ๐Ÿฅ‘ Base - EVOO, sesame oil, chopped tomatoes, yogurt, mayo, silken tofu, avocado, cashew cream
  2. ๐Ÿ‹ Acid - vinegar (red wine, rice wine, balsamic, apple cider), citrus (lemon, lime, orange), pickle juice
  3. ๐Ÿ Emulsifier - mustards, maple syrup, jam or fruit preserve, tahini, tomato paste
  4. ๐ŸŒถ Spice/Flavor - pepper, salt, sugar (dates), chili powders, grated or powdered garlic or ginger, fresh herbs (dill, parsley, cilantro, mint, scallions), dried herbs (marjoram, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil), hot sauces, soy sauces


โš– The Golden Ratio (Base:Acid)


๐Ÿค” To return to dressing pairings, a creamy dressing might look like avocado + lemon, red wine vinegar + dijon mustard + black pepper, salt, grated garlic, fresh parsley. A vinaigrette for fresh spinach could be: EVOO, red wine vinegar, mustard, grated garlic, sugar, S&P, red pepper, and dried herbs. Without actually going into the kitchen to test, I canโ€™t be sure those are decent dressings, but I feel like Iโ€™m getting the hang of this? Iโ€™ll test one of them tomorrow if Iโ€™m feeling better (currently fighting off a sinus infection) and can get to the grocery store. I am tempted to get a microplane, but there are plenty of salads I can make without one to start. If I end up wanting one later, Serious Eatsโ€™s recommended this one.


๐Ÿ”ฅ A brief note on hot salads / cooked veg: they are entirely valid, but Iโ€™m more comfortable cooking, so I wanted to focus on the raw, cold side of salads first. In researching this topic though, I did get a strong recommendation for this Warm Kale and Chickpea Salad by Bondi Harvest. Iโ€™d also love to become more proficient at Chinese stir-fried veg because itโ€™s so easy to add in some cheap tofu for a filling meal. Lucas Sin created a great technique video , which I will follow and veganize where needed. Hereโ€™s a brief summary for completeness:

If anyone has any other recommendations for salad recipes or resources, Iโ€™m all ears, so please drop links in my guestbook or hit me up on Mastodon. Thanks in advance!



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