My Very Favorite Salad

I love salad.

I looooooove salad.

If I had to chose between eating dessert and eating salad for the rest of my life, I would probably chose salad. (Gasp! Really? Really). 

But I'm not talking a little wimpy salad with some spring mix, a few shredded carrots, a lonesome tomato wedge or two, and an insipid dressing. 

Salad should not be "diet" food that leaves us feeling unsatisfied. It should taste delicious, have lots of texture, and leave you feeling satisfied and nourished. Bonus points if it's pretty.

Here's my formula for building a better salad: 

Leafy + Crunchy + Hearty + Rich + Tart = A Good Salad

Let's talk details.

Leafy. This is the bulky base of your salad: romaine, baby spinach, iceberg (torn leaves or wedge), baby bok choy (stems AND leaves, baby), kale, shredded cabbage, collards, beet greens, butter or Bibb lettuce, escarole, radicchio, spring mix, or other mixed greens. If it is leafy and you can eat it raw, you can put it in your salad.

Crunchy. These are the fillers of your salad. They provide texture, flavor, color, and what I like most about salads, their crispy crunchiness. Raw veggies or firm fruits are my favorite here: cucumbers, carrots, jicama, sugar snap peas, snow peas, asparagus, radishes, kohlrabi, celery, green beans, zucchini, summer squash, apples, grapes, pears, scallions, onions (soak slices in ice water for 10 minutes to mellow them a bit). 

Hearty. These are what give your salad staying power so you're not hungry in 2 hours. If you're picking a protein-rich option, you may need only one. But if you're going with only fruits and veggies, load up!

• Roasted or grilled veggies of any kind are some of my favorites: potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, corn, mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, beets, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower. 
• Non-crunchy, fiber-filled fruits and veggies help round out a salad: tomatoes, berries, artichoke hearts, mangoes, oranges. 
• Protein-rich options abound: beans of any kind, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, poached eggs, hard-boiled eggs, tuna, salmon, shrimp, chicken, turkey, ham, steak.

Rich. The main goal of having at least one rich element to your salad is satiety. Fat helps us to feel satisfied with our food. If you've walked away from a salad feeling like it was rabbit food, it was probably missing this element. Remember that a small amount of something rich is often sufficient. A salad weighed down with gobs of cheese feels less like salad and more like gobs of cheese with a few lettuce leaves. Good choices: nuts, seeds, crumbled bacon, avocado, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, croutons, cheese, olives, creamy dressings.

Tart. The finishing touch of a great salad is including something tart or acidic. It pulls everything together and elevates it. Try adding a bit, then tasting to see if you need more: vinaigrette, pickled veggies, capers, pomegranate seeds, dried fruit. 

Some of these elements overlap a bit. Pomegranate seeds are both tart and crunchy. Nuts and seeds provide crunch as well as richness. And note that you always, always, always need some sort of dressing, even if it's just simple olive oil. But if you include at least one element from each category, you'll have a tasty, nourishing, satisfying salad on your hands. 

I recommend that you put your ingredients in a large mixing bowl, toss well, and taste for seasoning (you may need a sprinkle of salt and pepper) as well as to make sure there's enough dressing (start light-handed and add more if needed). Grab a fork and dive in! Plates are optional.

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This salad has it all: kale (leafy) + apples (crunch) + roasted sweet potatoes and beets (hearty) + pumpkin seeds (rich) + pomegranate seeds and vinaigrette (tart). It's sweet and crunchy and tart and wowza! THE COLORS.

The key to any kale salad is either to massage it or to dress it in advance. Doing either of these helps the greens to break down a bit and tenderize. I would rather dress them in advance than massage them. Happily, this means that you can make a batch of these salads early in the week and pack them for lunch all week long. I prefer tuscan kale to curly kale in a salad. Its leaves are much flatter and a bit less aggressively leafy. I also prefer using golden beets to regular beets: less staining.

The version of this salad I'm giving you here is a bit labor-intensive. If you'd like something a bit quicker to put together, you could do the following: use pre-cleaned and cut bagged kale; microwave the sweet potato and then cube it; use pre-steamed beets available in the refrigerated produce section and skip roasting; buy pomegranate arils already prepped and cleaned rather than a whole pomegranate (or sub in dried cranberries). Then, cut your apples, make the dressing, and assemble. 

My Very Favorite Salad

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato
1 bunch golden beets (about 5 medium beets)
1 smallish bunch tuscan kale (about 4 packed cups once prepped)
1 large crisp apple
1/2 cup pomegranate arils
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Get out a large rimmed baking sheet. 

Peel sweet potato and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Place in a small bowl, drizzle with a teaspoon or two of olive oil, and use your hands or a spoon to toss together. Dump potatoes on one half of the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cut the beet greens from the roots as close to the roots as possible. Reserve beet greens for another use, compost them, or substitute them for the kale in this salad. Peel beets (a sharp paring knife might work best), cut off the remaining root end, and cut beets into 1/2 inch pieces. Place in the same small bowl as before, drizzle with a teaspoon or two of olive oil, and use your hands or a spoon to toss together. Dump beets on the other half of the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place baking sheet in oven and bake for about 20 minutes, turning veggies over halfway through cooking time, until both beets and sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool for a bit.

Wash kale leaves well and dry thoroughly. Strip leaves away from stems and discard stems. Stack 3 - 4 leaves in a pile, roll up into a tube shape, and slice down the tube so that you have ribbons of kale. You may want to cut your little pile of kale ribbons length-wise as well for smaller pieces. Repeat with remaining kale and place in a large bowl.

Core apple and chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Place in bowl along with the kale. Add pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds, and cooled sweet potatoes and beets as well. 

Place olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a small jar; cover tightly with a lid. Shake vigorously and taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Note that this will be a pretty acidic dressing but that we'll be getting some extra oil mixed into the salad from the roasted veggies that will help mellow it out a bit. 

Pour dressing over salad and toss well with a pair of tongs. If making for later meals, pack into containers and refrigerate. If making for now, let sit for at least 10 minutes, then enjoy. Yield: 3 lunch-sized salads. Pairs beautifully with protein like roasted chicken or salmon if desired.