With fresh baby greens in the markets, your garden or store, spring is a wonderful time to expand on winter salads. This week’s lunch salad variation centres around cooked mixed beans and rice as a base, napa cabbage, cucumber, mixed baby arugula, mustard, mizuna, and spinach, then a little fennel, red beet, golden beet, purple radish, yellow pepper, golden oregano, sunflower, and hemp seeds on top. The dressing is simple: olive oil, balsamic vinegar or lemon and salt.
Some Notes
Thinly sliced napa cabbage is a delicious, crunchy, satisfying alternative to lettuce. It is high in antioxidants, contains lots of dietary fibre, folic acid, and Vitamin B. It lasts much longer than lettuce and goes a long way mixed with other raw or cooked vegetables.
All year around, I try to keep some cooked beans and a cooked grain in the fridge for lunch salads.
If you work from home, taking a lunch break to make a colourful spring salad will lift your spirits and is a refreshing break from work. You can also pack a simplified version to go.
Ingredients (per serving)
Main salad
2-3 heaping Tbs. of a cooked grain such as mixed brown rice, farrow, basmati, kasha, or quinoa
2 Tbs. cooked beans
1-2 leaves napa cabbage leaves thinly sliced
1-2 cups of washed, mixed baby greens
Grated toppings (A little goes a long way. Experiment and vary them. If you are missing something, the salad will still be delicious.)
beet (red, gold and/or rainbow)
radish
fennel
celeriac root
cucumber
apple
yellow pepper
sunflower seeds
hemp seeds
a fresh herb such as golden oregano, mint, marjoram, parsley or basil
This week, I’ve been using variations of red or yellow beets, purple radishes, cucumber, fennel, celeriac root, apple, or pear. A mandolin or grater works well for grating root vegetables.
If you are growing herbs, sprinkle a few leaves of golden oregano, marjoram, chives, mint, or parsley (all optional). Sunflower and hemp seeds make a nutritious sprinkling on top.
Keep it simple dressing
0live oil
lemon juice or balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
or your favorite vinaigrette.
If you have pre-cooked beans and a grain, this salad doesn’t take long to layer up.
Enjoy!