How about a salad that is not just an ordinary salad? How about a salad packed with lots and lots of healthy foods with crunch and flavor!?!?!? This superfood salad is just that. A salad constructed of super foods. Colorful foods high in vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and protein. This is a meal all in itself that will keep you full for hours, is easy to assemble, is absolutely perfect for meal prep, is vegan, AND gluten free π
A Little Salad Story
My Vegetarian Family was founded in 2017 (by me π) in hopes of spreading the word that being vegetarian does not have to be complicated, can be easy + healthy without peculiar ingredients or lots of sacrifice. One would think that that might include a few salads π€. Yes, one might think that. However, when 2020 rolled around, MVF only had 2 salads published on this entire site! WHAT?!?! My early salad days included my Healthy Homemade Dressing and Spinach Cranberry Salad. That’s it!
Why, you ask? I will tell you! Mr. MVF, my #1 taste-tester, eater of all things I create for this blog, life-long vegetarian, and health enthusiast. He was not a salad fan. He has always loved vegetables but not a fan of the traditional salad. Then, one day we went to an awesome local farm and brought home giant, beautiful heads of freshly grown lettuce. The rest is history. I began creating salads that are healthy, colorful, interesting, easy, and so yummy that even the most difficult of all salad critics gives my salads a thumbs up. As we have evolved into a whole food plant-based lifestyle, now I create salad dressings without oil, and aim for a salad that stands alone as a meal in itself.
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Instructions For A Perfect Superfood Salad:
- This salad starts out with a base of your favorite greens: spring mix, romaine, butter lettuce, kale, or spinach. Any mix of these will do!
- Dice your veggies and then layer them into your bowl on top of your greens. Red, yellow, orange bell peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, as much color as you can!
- Toss in some fruits (blueberries, strawberries, mango all work, again as much color as you like!)
- Add in your favorite nuts (almonds, walnuts, pepitas, sunflower seeds).
- Load your bowl with roasted sweet potatoes (see instructions below).
- Sprinkle on Toasted Quinoa (instructions below).
- Drizzle on the dressing, pictured here + our favorite with this salad is Lemon Tahini Dressing.
- Eat or serve immediately or separate out into glass containers or jars for meal prep! Remember to keep the dressing separate if not eating immediately!
Instructions for Toasted Quinoa
Spread out 2 cups of cooked quinoa on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon-lined baking sheet, sprinkle with 1 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt and 1 tsp Chile flakes. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Optional but awesome: turn your oven to a low broil for the last few minutes of cooking to give the quinoa an extra crunch, take them out when brown to your liking or you hear them start to pop. YUM! Sprinkle on your salad or eat them as is! Full recipe here: Toasted Quinoa.Β
Instructions for Roasted Sweet Potatoes NO OIL
Cut purple and/or orange sweet potatoes into cubes. Soak in cool water for 15 minutes and dry thoroughly. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees. Air fry for 10-12 minutes or until brown and crispy on the edges. No joke! The sweet potatoes in this photo were taken after 10 minutes in my air fryer, NO OIL!
That’s it! Hope you love it!!! π
Love Salads?
Me too! Check out all my dressings + salad creationsright hereπ₯!
Superfood Salad
This superfood salad is colorful + high in vitamins + antioxidants + fiber. PLUS oil free tahini dressing + toasted quinoa + no oil roasted sweet potatoes!
Ingredients
- 4 cups of greens (spinach, kale, spring mix, or arugula)
- 4 cups veggies (red, yellow, orange bell peppers, broccoli, tomatoes)
- 2 cups fruit (blueberries, strawberries, mango all work)
- 1 cup nuts (almonds, walnuts, pepitas, sunflower seeds) For the toasted quinoa:
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt
- 1 tsp Chile flakes
- For the roasted sweet potatoes:
- one sweet potato (orange or purple)
- 1 cup salad dressing - see body of post for dressing ideas
Directions
- Step 1 For the toasted quinoa:
- Step 2 Spread out 2 cups of cooked quinoa on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone-lined baking sheet, sprinkle with 1 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt and 1 tsp Chile flakes. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Turn your oven to a low broil for the last few minutes of cooking to give the quinoa an extra crunch, take them out when brown to your liking or you hear them start to pop.
- Step 3 For the roasted sweet potatoes:
- Step 4 Cut purple and/or orange sweet potatoes into cubes. Soak in cool water for 15 minutes and dry thoroughly. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees. Air fry for 10-12 minutes or until brown and crispy on the edges.
- Step 5 Divide greens amongst 4 bowls, chop veggies and fruit into small cubes, divide into the bowls, sprinkle nuts on top, when quinoa and sweet potatoes are done roasting, layer onto the salads, drizzle with your favorite dressing, eat immediately.
- Step 6 If making for meal prep, keep dressing separate from salads until ready to eat.
- Step 7 Enjoy!
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βοΈDid you make this Superfood Salad? Leave a comment below! We love comments β€
π·I love to see your creations! Tag @myvegetarianfamily on Instagram and hashtag it #myvegetarianfamily
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