Suggestions for sturdy salads?
August 18, 2022 2:12 PM   Subscribe

I'm looking for suggestions for sturdy salads that I can make a few days ahead and keep in the fridge, add some lean protein to, and have it for lunch. What are your favourite recipes? (I'm good for mason jar salads!)

Making a sturdy, vegetable-heavy salad on the weekend and adding some pre-cooked chicken to it has helped me eat healthier lunches.

For an example of what I mean by sturdy, I make one that is a Greek tomato, cucumber, chickpea, and feta salad with a lemon vinaigrette but on top of shredded brussels sprouts. I can make it on Sunday and divide it into three or four containers and it's good for several days after. Another example is one I make from packaged broccoli slaw, matchstick carrots, green onions, and a Thai-style peanut dressing.

(The common factor seems to be that they're built on durable vegetables like brussels sprouts, cabbage, shredded broccoli or carrots, etc.)

I like these meals because they are filling, are substantial enough to feel like a meal, and let me have lunch ready in minutes when I'm ready for it. But, I'd like a little more variety so I can have a bit of a rotation going and change things up regularly.

I'd prefer things that are lower in carbs. I don't like boiled eggs or mushrooms, but I'm open to most any vegetable.
posted by synecdoche to Food & Drink (19 answers total) 55 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm a fan of this chickpea, cucumber and sun-dried tomato salad, served cold.
posted by knapah at 2:19 PM on August 18, 2022 [2 favorites]


A local lunch place makes a vegan vegetable and quinoa salad with vinaigrette dressing. They normally use cauliflower, courgettes, sweet potatoes, beetroot and some kind of hummus, adding only a small scoop of quinoa, which could be left out. The veg is blanched and cut into small pieces. I’m not vegan - I like it because it’s so colourful and because there isn’t a salad leaf in sight. To turn it into a more substantial meal I add hard boiled eggs, a tin of tuna or chunks of rotisserie chicken. This would do well for a few days in the fridge.

A salade nicoise would also keep well. Leave out or reduce the potatoes if that’s too much starch.
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:32 PM on August 18, 2022


These veggies are super durable:
Kale
Broccoli - shredded stems
Cauliflower cut into very small chunks
Radish
Fennel
Carrot shreds
Cabbage shreds

There’s a great “dill pickle” bagged salad you can get these days at Costco etc. I don’t even like pickles but it’s scrumptious. It’s kale, cauliflower, cabbage, etc, with a refreshing dressing and really good salty croutons.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:11 PM on August 18, 2022 [3 favorites]


I love this asparagus/feta/pea/farro salad from Serious Eats. It's in my regular rotation. It says "warm" but I prefer it cold. I add a lot more lemon juice than the recipe calls for, and I skip the scallions which I don't like. You could definitely add chicken.

I'm kind of embarrassed to share this but I will sometimes add a splash or two of Olive Garden Italian dressing, sold by the bottle at my supermarket. What? It's delicious.
posted by Kangaroo at 3:20 PM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]


I am always urging people to make bean salad here on Ask. Bean salad! It’s delicious!

We also sometimes do a shredded carrot and tofu salad with a sesame oil and rice wine vinegar dressing.

Roasted veg is great, I like brussels sprouts and carrots and beets, sometimes fennel.

Roasted tomatoes are a great thing to have in the fridge and add to any dish.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 3:23 PM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]


I have made this garlicky kale salad for a week's lunches. I make dressing for the whole week and mix with 2-3 days worth of greens at a time. To make a full (vegetarian) lunch salad I add beans, hardboiled eggs, and/or veggies roasted while I was making the dressing.
posted by esoterrica at 3:37 PM on August 18, 2022


Another lemon-garlic-parmesan kale salad. So good! They say in the recipe to serve it right away, but I've kept it for a couple o days without a problem.
posted by pinochiette at 4:00 PM on August 18, 2022


if you like tabbouleh you will go bonkers over Jennifer Aniston's favorite salad. the recipe makes a huge batch, will stay well in fridge for days. could definitely be augmented in many yum ways.

a dressed kale salad will stay perky and fresh for surprisingly long and you can go crazy with augments: nuts, cheese, protein.
posted by supermedusa at 4:05 PM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]


Carrots, bell pepper, cucumber (seeds removed, I find they get odd sometimes), and chickpeas will last a long time. I like adding tomatoes, and they seem to do fine in the fridge for a few days, but the salad might last longer without them. I usually serve it with a lemon juice-olive oil dressing, but lots of different dressings will work, and it goes well with lots of protein add ins.
posted by mollweide at 4:11 PM on August 18, 2022


Smitten kitchen had lots of good hearty salads. This one, she calls it a poolside slaw, but its similar to an Asian chicken/protein salad, is my current fave.
posted by j810c at 5:29 PM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]


A hearty salad that I love - and that just gets better over the course of a few days -- is made from roasted butternut squash, lentils, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate, feta, cinnamon, cumin, garlic, salt, lemon juice, olive oil and a few other goodies. The NYTimes version is here but it stands up well to adjustment. I always use actual pomegranate seeds rather than pomegranate molasses, for example. It's hearty but not heavy. It's sweet but also tangy. I feel the need to go make some now...
posted by sonofsnark at 6:02 PM on August 18, 2022 [4 favorites]


One of Nom Nom Paleo's cookbooks has a great recipe for an endive and apple salad that can keep a few days (I don't add the dressing until I'm about to eat it). I'm not seeing it on-line, but this one has similar ingredients and I bet it's good.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:09 PM on August 18, 2022


Saying it to get it out of the way, and because it's what I do - Moosewood Daily Special cookbook. 100+ salad recipes in there, you're bound to find something.

Another good source is the salads section of the recipes over at the web site for Rancho Gordo beans. Tons of bean-based recipes - and a few without beans - going back years.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:23 PM on August 18, 2022


I do farro dressed with pesto, Calabrian chile paste and chopped garlic and shallots, add lots of lemon and Parmesan, and then a fruit- chopped stone fruit for eating now or soon, blueberries if it’ll be in the frig all week.
posted by beignet at 8:38 PM on August 18, 2022


A batch of this Protein Power Goddess Bowl keeps well for several days.
posted by lulu68 at 9:21 PM on August 18, 2022


I can eat lentils every day, all the time, and for your purpose, a Puy Lentil Salad is perfect.
If you can get it where you live, roasted duck breast is even better than chicken with this.

My sister-in-law makes a kale salad similar to this. It's delicious and keeps very well.
posted by mumimor at 11:01 PM on August 18, 2022


This cauliflower (and chickpea) salad with lemon-tahini dressing is great. Parsley would probably get mushy if dressed ahead of time, so I would sub kale for it in your case.
posted by O9scar at 1:45 AM on August 19, 2022


So I meal prep this about once a week.

In separate containers:
2 cans White beans, drained
1 box Whole grain pasta, cooked and drained
2 Red peppers, chopped
1 Red onion, thinly sliced and rested in cold water
2 Zucchini or cucumbers, thinly sliced
2-4 Carrots, shredded
1 pint Cherry tomatoes, halved
Kale, chopped

Then when I want a salad I throw some kale massaged with a spritz of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper into my container, drop in random handfuls of stuff from my different containers, and add a freshly heated fake chicken patty torn into shreds. (I'm vegan. Obviously replace with real chicken or whatever makes you happy.) The different containers are key--I can keep all this stuff usable for much longer when everything isn't combined together, sharing moisture.

I sometimes make my own dressing but I've been depressed and lazy lately, so I do Annie's Goddess dressing mixed with just a touch of maple syrup to cut the tang a scoche.
posted by MagnificentVacuum at 8:53 AM on August 19, 2022


My in-laws make this lentil salad. The dressing has lots of ingredients but if you have them, it's not hard.

I like this brussel and broccoli slaw.

I've been making massaged kale salad lately. Sometimes I do a ceasar, but I also just do it with oil, lemon and plenty of salt. I liked this recently with parmesan, fresh cherries and candied pecans: roughly this.
posted by vunder at 12:21 PM on August 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


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