Spring renewal is the perfect time to start expanding your salad recipes. The optimism of warmer weather, a wider range of available produce, and a shot of healthy motivation after a carb-heavy winter provides the ideal opportunity to elevate your spring salad options. While some cooks opt for traditional pasta or potato salad variations, here I’ve limited the list to just one of each, showcasing some different but no less tasty alternative options.
Check out the 9 super salads below, and prepare to be surprised by the delicious ease with which you can attack a fresh spring outlook in the kitchen.
1. Lemon Herb Cous Cous Salad
It’s been well over a decade since Seth Rogen said: “Couscous, the food so nice they named it twice.” Since then, couscous has become a salad staple in my household for its ability to soak up different flavors, and also keep those pesky pounds away from my midsection.
Our Lemon and Herb Couscous Salad is a heady mix of spices cut through with the freshness of citrus. If you’re looking for a new spring favorite to pair with meat, chicken, or seafood, this is the salad for you.
2. Tortellini Caesar Salad
My M.O. for Caesar salads was to order one at a bar or restaurant when I was looking for a ‘professional’ light lunch that I couldn’t create with any degree of finesse at home. Combining the ingredients of a Caesar salad with freshly cooked tortellini pasta to make a Tortellini Caesar Salad is a meal that I can enjoy for both lunch AND dinner. Tip: make sure you get the good parmesan cheese and shave it yourself, it’s tremendous!
3. Mango Black Bean Salad
Great for the meat-eater or veggie aficionado, a Mango Black Bean Salad offers a combination of elements – simplicity, flavor, and color chief among them. I love the versatility as well, you can enjoy this piquant salad as a light snack with tortilla chips, as a side with grilled proteins, or you make it a part of a Mexican-inspired feast for the family.
4. Bacon Broccoli Pasta Salad
Of the many possible pasta salads that I could’ve chosen for this list, I opted for this delicious Bacon and Broccoli Pasta Salad. The creamy, rich salad is cut through by the salty bacon, while crisp steamed broccoli serves as a wonderful cut-out, offering the freshness of good veg and an underrated flavor sop.
Strange bedfellows often make for great salads. If broccoli isn’t your thing, you can execute a similar salad by using fresh blanched beans instead.
5. Greek Orzo Salad
I’m a little surprised that orzo pasta, those small rice-like grains, aren’t showcased in a wider variety of spring salads. Orzo is comparatively light as a carb but is delectable when deployed to soak up different spices in a flavorsome salad. This take on the Greek Orzo Salad is a versatile side that will fast become a light meal staple.
6. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Sweet potato in a salad adds a tasty, low GI carb that’s sweet and versatile, and its distinctive color can light up a bevy of side dishes. Low and slow roasting will make a Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with an interesting herb balance, no matter which spices you choose. Best of all, the inherent sweetness of the vegetable allows you to mix and match with other seasonings or ingredients. Sweet potato salads are perfect for dinner one night and work lunch the next day. Yummy!
7. Kielbasa Potato Salad
I was drawn to this Polish Kielbasa Potato Salad because of how different it is from the usual potato salads that I see. Using Kielbasa sausage instead of bacon or chicken adds a much more unique smoky/savory taste and texture that contrasts well against crunchy cabbage and smooth potato. I’ll make a bigger bowl than necessary just so that I’ve got some leftovers for when the mood takes me!
8. Spring Radish Salad
Look away if you don’t like radishes, because there are a lot in this Spring Radish Salad recipe. The contrasting ingredients in this dish make it irresistible, and the salad works well with any combination of other sides for spring barbecues, get-togethers, and celebrations.
9. Cheeseburger Salad
My immediate thought when I saw this Cheeseburger Salad was that you can’t put a cheeseburger in a bowl and call it a salad.
Well, I was wrong. Turns out you can.
If you want to challenge a spring salad traditionalist (or a skeptical child) with something wild but effortlessly delicious, maybe give this cheeseburger salad a chance.
Conclusion
Some of these salads may not be for everybody, and that’s okay. What these recipes create, is an opportunity to get out of the winter doldrums with some interesting, innovative spring salads that may change your approach for the better!
