Nothing exemplifies the image of good health like a salad. But you don’t always have time to get food that is healthy, much less prepare it. Your busy schedule has you grabbing coffees from Starbucks or snacks out of the vending machine for lunch when what you really need is a solid meal to increase your energy and maximize your health. If this is you, then you are not alone. Eating a salad once a day is a good way to develop and maintain healthy eating habits. You may think you don’t have time to cut up a salad every day, but there are other ways to work around that. How about preparing all five salads for your work week on Sunday night?
You can mix it up and make each salad taste different and fresh with various toppings and dressings. This article will help you save time, money, and hunger pains by offering five simple and quick salad recipes that you can make on Sunday and will taste just as fresh and good on Friday. But first, let’s discuss a few basics:
You have two options for containers for your on-the-go salads: BPA-free plastic containers with lids and glass mason jars. Both are fairly inexpensive ($1 to $3), dishwasher safe, and lightweight. While it’s not very difficult, there is an art to packing your food in both the containers and the jars. For a tutorial on both, head on over to Kim’s Cravings. Ingredients will largely depend upon what you like in your salad. Some may prefer eggs while other prefer walnuts (I prefer neither), tofu versus chicken or bacon, cheese or no cheese, and so forth. What you buy for your salad will be your choice, but you should stick as close as possible to the packing tutorial Kim gives to help keep the ingredients fresh.
Now for the recipes:
New York Style Chopped Salad
This salad is generally easy to prepare and comes with a load of ingredients that will delight your tastebuds. Besides the greens and romaine leaves, there are mushrooms, kidney and garbanzo beans, avocado, eggs, asparagus, and cheese, among a few other things. Head over to The Pioneer Woman for more details.
BLT Chopped Salad With Corn, Feta, and Avocado
Do you prefer your veggies with tortilla chips? Well, here’s the salad for you. This salad allows for a tangy inclusion of bacon, sweet corn, avocado, and feta, topped with olive oil, lime, and loads of salt and pepper. Looks complicated? Not really — it’s quite simple and quick to make. Let Jessica at How Sweet It Is show you how.
Mediterranean Chopped Salad With Tomatoes, Peppers, Feta, and Basil
So, you’re a bright, sunshiny person who loves walks on the beach in the middle of summer. Well, this salad will give you that lovin’ feeling while you’re at work or on the go. Mediterranean vegetables such as red onions, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and cherry tomatoes are tossed in a light vinaigrette with feta cheese, Dijon mustard, and balsamic or red wine vinegar to make this summer delight. See how J. Kenji López-Alt stirs it up at Serious Eats.
Blueberry Chicken Superfood Salad
Gotta get those superfoods in some way, right? Well, this recipe never gets old. Filled with so many simple salad ingredients (greens, chicken, pecans, cheese), blueberries adds a bit of pizzazz and a large dose of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and all that good stuff. Let Ali at Gimme Some Oven show you how.
Easy Summer Herb and Chickpea Chopped Salad with Goat Cheese
This salad may say summer in the title, but you can make it all year long. The ingredient that sets this off is quinoa (and, yes, the grilled corn and goat cheese). There is no cooking involved and setting it in the fridge for a couple of days makes the dressing and all the ingredients marinade together for a delightful lunch. Half Baked Harvest sets it up nicely.
Do you have a favorite salad recipe that is easy for work-a-day people to make and take with them for lunch? Share it in the comments below. Happy salad making!
