A new year calls for new meals, or at least adapting your tired, predictable lunch to something more palatable, portable, and enjoyable. So let this small selection of 40 Healthy Salad Recipes from the lifestyle blog, Self, help you reinvigorate your plate of greens.
Salads are a tried and true favorite of the workplace, tupperware container, and dinner plate, but many can attest to only preparing or eating just a handful of leaf, dressing, and protein combinations any given year. This complacency and lack of variety often contribute to the abandoning of wellness and lifestyle trends, diets, and health-conscious lunches in favor of the convenient, pre-packaged, and expensive take-outs.
So, let it be known that your salad doesn’t need to be treated like a punishment or obligation, because with the following recipes, you’ll actively want to meal prep these meals for both enjoyment and nourishment.
Sweet Potato Broccoli Salad Recipe
This salad is enjoyed warm or cold, and it comes to us from Healthier Steps with its freshly roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli combined with the savory dressing and sunflower seeds. The sugar-sweetness mixed in with the saltiness of the seeds will be just the right pairing to reinvigorate your lunchtime slump.
Southwest Salad With Blackened Shrimp
It’s often remarked that a salad is little without its protein, so this blackened shrimp resting atop a corn and black bean-salsa-salad is a welcome addition to your lunchtime routine. In addition to the charred shrimp, this recipe from Food Fidelity utilizes fonio, an ancient grain cultivated in West Africa that holds a fine texture, nutty flavor, and a fluffiness that will pair delightfully with the crunchy, contrasting textures found elsewhere on the plate.
Balsamic Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad Recipe
Sometimes the basics and favorites are all you need in your salad, and if so, this cobb from Gimme Delicious has you more than covered. Treat your tastebuds by marinating your balsamic chicken ahead of time in order to guarantee the tastiest results, and fill the remainder of your plate with bacon, hard-boiled eggs, funky blue cheese, and have it all rest atop slices of avocado for a salad that will fill and energize you for the afternoon shift.
Simple Lakita suggests that you try your best to use fresh corn for this delicious lunchtime treat, but frozen will be just fine, as long as you forget the canned stuff, as you want the freshest-taste available. This salad, similar to a roasted corn salsa, pairs perfectly with a protein-rich meat like roasted tempeh or blackened, charred, and/or grilled chicken.
Cranberry Chicken Salad Recipe
Combine the benefits of a sweet, nutty, and savory lunch with flavors emerging from apples, cranberries, and beacons in this delicious, desert-akin treat from The Real Food Dietitians. The flavors emerging from the prepared apples, cranberries, and pecans make this salad (that’s topped expertly with bacon) your new favorite cold-weather alternative to chicken salad. It’s superb over a bed of greens or suitable as a filling for a wrap or sandwich, so take advantage of the versatility.
Really dive into the benefit of the legume family with this vegetable-laden dish from Love and Lemons. This dish pairs well with another protein source of your choosing, as it’s about 90% vegetables, goat cheese, and almonds, making the mild flavors present perfectly complementary to whatever you choose.
Spicy Ranch Chopped Chicken Salad Recipe
Turn up the heat and subsequent satisfaction with Ambitious Kitchen’s salad that combines spicy grilled chicken alongside steamy avocado, crunchy pepitas, crispy tortilla chips, and a bed of cabbage. Every element is utterly satisfying, and it’s made all the more sweet and savory with a homemade ranch dressing that’s rich in protein, thanks to its greek yogurt base.
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