In this episode of Abbey’s Kitchen, Abbey is super excited and a little giddy to be sharing three of her fav summer salads! And, yes, you might be thinking… surprise a dietitian loves salad, well Abbey is obsessed and legally required by her college to enjoy salads (just joking… that’s not a law). Abbey wants to show you guys that you can love salad as well.
Let’s do this!
The first salad that Abbey is making is her spinach and berry salad. Abbey starts by adding washed and dried baby spinach to a bowl. Abbey wants to emphasize the importance of drying your salad leaves to prevent a soggy salad. Next, add ripe raspberries, blueberries, cooked quinoa, mango and almonds.
Next up, Abbey is making a poppy seed apple cider vinaigrette to pair with the salad. Start with apple cider in a bowl, then add Dijon mustard for a kick, honey, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and finally poppy seeds.
Be sure to dress the salad and add the cheese right before you’re planning on eating it!
The second salad is a kale and chickpea tahini salad. Start with tahini in a bowl. Add lemon juice, maple syrup, olive oil, lemon zest and some garlic. Finish with pepper and salt. Kale is a pretty tough lettuce, so a good trick is to loosen it up by massaging the kale into the tahini dressing with your hands. Let the kale salad soften up in the fridge for an hour or so.
Finally, the third and last salad is Abbey’s watermelon and cucumber salad. This salad starts with “quickled” shallots, aka quick pickles. Abbey swears by this technique because they flavour the shallots really quickly and take that bite away. Mix together sliced shallots, fresh lime juice, little bit of water, honey and a pinch of salt. Let that sit for about an hour until it starts to impart that flavour and get nice and tangy and sweet and salty.
For the salad dressing, we’re going to make a lime chili dressing. This dressing is tangy and sweet and spicy. In a bowl, mix together lime juice, olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard and some super spicy red Thai chilies. If you’re adverse to heat, you can totally leave these out. Whisk it all up!
Now it’s time to cut up some avocado. Now it’s time to assemble the salad. To prevent the avocado from browning once it’s cut, try to assemble the salad as fast as possible.
In a bowl, combine the chopped up seedless watermelon, cucumber, avocado and finish with the dressing. Finish with the pickled shallots, feta cheese and mint.
Now Abbey is going to assemble the kale and chickpea tahini salad. Add the marinated kale to a big serving platter. Add the crispy chickpeas, pomegranate arils and toasted pine nuts.
Now Abbey is going to finish off the spinach and berry salad. Add the salad to a serving bowl. Add dollops of goat cheese and then drizzle the poppy seed apple cider vinaigrette.
Now, you’re ready for a fantastic healthy summer salad party!
For more tips on staying healthy, recipes, dieting, and information fit for consumption by foodies everywhere stop by Abbeys blog.
