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Spring Salad Primer

Spring is green! Put away hearty heavy winter dishes for lighter bolder spring green combinations. Salads are easy and customizable. To kick-start your spring green revolution here are a few tips:

 

Foundation of Salad Greens – begin with a blend of three.  “Blends” make one dimensional salad “spring” into 3-D life. TIP: start with three different greens of your choice:

  1. Start with mild flavored lettuce and greens – such as leaf lettuce, bib, endive
  2. Add crunchy greens – such as ice berg or cabbages, romaine
  3. Compliment with strong flavored greens to bring out the best – strong, peppery or bitter flavored such as arugula, water cress, radicchio

 

Below is a nice link for visual identification and brief description of different salad greens:

www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/seasonalcooking/farmtotable/visualguidesaladgreens

 

Need help finding the perfect salad green combinations? Here are three ideas:

  1. Peruse the produce section of the grocery store - note the pre-bagged salad combos
  2. Read produce information cards; in-store and on-line
  3. Read menus at your favorite restaurant and note their popular combinations

 

Add Cheese – many cheeses work well in salads. TIP: regardless of the greens, adding a little cheese will boost flavor, compliment greens and increase nutrient quality. Here’s my favorite four:

  • Feta cheese – salty flavor, creamy texture (may replace need for dressing on the salad)
  • Blue and Gorgonzola cheese – strong flavored, pairs well with fruit and nuts in the salad
  • Parmesan cheese – nutty rich flavor, often grated on pasta, excellent shaved on a salad
  • Fresh Mozzarella cheese – very mild, pairs excellent with tomato salad

www.iLoveCheese.com cheese primer link for great flavor and interest

 

Throw in Salad Toppers – add interest and variety to a Spring salad with a few toppers of your choice. Below are only a very few suggestions to start your creative juices flowing. TIP: keep favorite toppers ready and handy for a quick nutritious salad in minutes.

  • Crunch: seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame), nuts, jicama, water chestnuts, broccoli
  • Salty: Feta cheese, olives, crumbled bacon
  • Sweet: dried cranberries, grapes, pears, berries (all kinds), apple, mango, mandarin oranges
  • Chewy: dried tomatoes, kidney beans
  • Creamy: cheese, Greek yogurt, hummus

 

Dress it Up – dressing adds the final touch.  TIP: keep dressing simple and light.

  • Squeeze on a little lemon juice – light, refreshing, and reduces need for salt
  • Use juices or marinade from vegetables (see Marinated Tomatoes recipe below)
  • Substitute yogurt for all or part of the mayonnaise/oil in your favorite dressing
  • Basic vinaigrette – 1 part acid (vinegar, lemon juice) 3 parts oil whisked together (with a little sugar, salt, herbs or seasonings of your choice to taste.

 

Recipes:

 

Glazed Walnuts

2 cups broken walnuts
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Stir together all ingredients in microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 8-9 minutes (stir occasionally) until nuts are caramelized.  Spread nuts out on lightly oiled baking sheet or parchment paper.  Cook and break apart.

 

Honey Mustard Yogurt Dressing – from www.nationaldairycouncil.org

1 cup plain, fat free yogurt
3 tablespoons sweet honey deli-style mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Whisk all ingredients together, refrigerate until ready to use.

 

Marinated Tomato – marinade becomes the salad dressing

4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
5 medium slicing tomatoes

Whisk together all but tomatoes.  Slice tomatoes, pour marinade over tomatoes; cover and refrigerate 2-4 hours to blend flavors and produce juice.  Serve tomatoes on a bed of greens and slices of fresh mozzarella.

 

Grow Your Own Salad: Useful links for more information on growing your own salad garden:

 

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