SUPER Salad
5:35 PM
I know that Baking Backward is often weighed down by healthy desserts but I really do eat meals too! I love greens and giant salads. I make a huge one every night. Like many people, I can get stuck in a rut when it comes to creating inspiring dinners. I often make a salad I like a lot, and then end up making it day after day for weeks. I wanted to share my recipe for this SUPER Salad today because I invented it just last night! Therefore it's still on my list of 'great new meals', rather than a page from my 'not this again' collection.
I was raised to love salad and incorporate it in to my day no matter what. My childhood nanny actually made salads for me all the time. She is a salad fiend, she even eats salads for breakfast! When I started to cook for myself at age 7, I made a lot of lunches -- sandwiches, salads etc. As an older kid I got really into thai food and started to make mango salads. I loved that Thai salads often balance sweet, salty, sour and crunchy, smooth, soft, raw and cooked. I've been composing most of my salads that way for a long time.
To me a great salad is a balancing act of contrasting flavors and textures. I love adding roasted and steamed ingredients to a salad and serving it warm with a cool dressing. This SUPER Salad has a lot going on.
Steamed vegetables, roasted kale chips, roasted pepper strips, spiced and roasted chickpeas, raw vegetables, pickled artichokes and a creamy lemon dressing. It's full of vegan protein and packed to the brim with healthy vegetables and herbs. Every bite is soft yet crunchy and full of flavor.
Though it may sound complicated, this salad was not hard to make. The vegetables and chickpeas roasted together in the oven and the rest was just a matter of chopping, a little stirring and some light steaming. The end result was well worth the effort.
SUPER Salad
(vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, seed-free)
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Steamed greens:
Add to steamer and steam until bright green with a little bite to the vegetables. Remove from heat.
Pickled Artichokes:
2-3 pickled artichoke hearts, chopped into smaller pieces.
Raw Veg:
Crispy Roasted Chickpeas:
Toss one can (398mL) of drained and rinsed organic chickpeas with onion powder, chilli powder, kelp flakes or sea salt, cinnamon, pepper and a little extra virgin olive oil. Spread out evenly on a baking sheet, bare or topped with tinfoil. Roasted at 400F until crispy and lightly golden on the outside.
Quick Kale Chips:
Toss 2-4 cups baby kale with a little extra virgin olive oil and chili powder, onion powder, kelp flakes or sea salt and cinnamon. Roast on a tinfoil lined baking sheet in a 400F oven until shrivelled and crispy but not burnt.
Roasted Peppers:
Grab 2 bell peppers. Wash, seed and slice. Arrange evenly on tin foil lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, kelp or sea salt and pepper. Bake in 400F oven until the edges brown and the flesh is softened.
* I ROASTED THE CHICKPEAS, KALE AND PEPPERS TOGETHER. *
Creamy Lemon Dressing:
Mix all dressing ingredients together with a whisk or add to a jar, seal and shake well until well mixed. Shake or stir well before dressing your salad.
ASSEMBLY:
Add all your salad greens and roasted ingredients to a large bowl or two large bowls. Drizzle with half the dressing, Stir and enjoy. I like to add an extra squeeze lemon juice at the end.
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