Nothing is more refreshing than a colorful salad on a warm summer day and as these last days—hopefully weeks—of summer settle around us, I’m trying to fit a few more vegan salads onto the menu.
One of my favorite ways to turn a salad from a side dish into a meal is to add beans to it. Not only do you get extra protein and fiber, but the substantive nature of beans means you’ll feel like you ate a meal rather than simply consumed fewer calories, if that’s what you’re going for.
Not only that but building a salad is super easy, even if it does take a little bit of time to chop up all the veggies that go into a big ol’ bowl of good stuff. If prep work isn’t your jam, then I don’t know what to tell you because those cucumbers aren’t gonna rinse and chop themselves.
To Dress or Not To Dress
Stepping out of your comfort zone when whipping up a vegan salad recipe means making some very important decisions, such as whether or not to use salad dressing, and if so, what kind?
I’m of the opinion that…it depends. Not all salads require dressing and even few salads need oil-laden vegan salad dressings. Sometimes you need some vegan yogurt or a simple mustard and vinegar mix to substitute your typical vinaigrette.
Grab Your Staples
When I say staples here, I mean things you always or regularly put in a salad. For me, scallions, bell peppers and cucumbers make it into almost all of my vegan salad recipes. Sometimes I’ll switch up and use shallots instead of scallions, or Romanian gherkins instead of English cucumbers. Sweet peppers instead of bell peppers. You get it.
But you can also step outside the norm and add some roasted edamame beans. Cutting corn off a cob or two is one of my favorite things to do, especially when the season has ripe & juicy corn on the cob.
What’s my point? There are no rules when it comes to making a healthy and delicious salad. I mean there are some rules, but rules are also made to be broken so do what you want as long as you’re getting a healthy dose of fresh, high fiber and totally nutritious foods.
Kitchen Tools:
Large salad bowl
Knife
Cutting board
Strainer
Ingredients:
Corn on the cob (or canned/frozen)
Black beans (drained & rinsed)
Tomato
Green bell pepper
Hot chili pepper
Black olives
Vegan yogurt
Oregano
Nutritional yeast
Lime juice
Instructions:
Drain and rinse your black beans. I like to do this to get off some of the extra sauce and just because I can start any recipe with a clean, black bean flavor.
Chop your veggies into uniform(ish) sizes. Since the corn will come out either by the kernel or in thick chunks, try to match the bell peppers and tomatoes with that. No need to break out a ruler, but eyeball it so everything looks about the same.
Add all the ingredients into a large salad bowl and season with salt, black pepper, lime juice, garlic powder, cumin and smoked paprika. Toss until coated and then add nutritional yeast and toss once more.
Plate it all and get your grub on.
Enjoy!
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