Beat the Heat with Creative Summer Salads

No matter how you toss it, a main dish green salad is a quick and nutritious meal, especially on a hot summer night when using the oven or stove feels unbearable! Summer is the perfect season to enjoy an abundance of fruits and veggies in your salads.

While classics like Caesar and Waldorf are delicious, it’s fun to explore nontraditional options. If you’re searching for tasty salad ideas, look no further, check out the suggestions below.

Summer Salad Guide

Dive into these tips and tricks for making nutritious and flavorful salads that will keep you cool and satisfied all summer long. Get ready to explore a variety of ingredients and discover new favorite combinations that go beyond the traditional salad bowl.

Growing Greens: Salad greens are easy to grow in your home garden and are an important source of vitamins and minerals. Dark green leaves are good sources of vitamins A and C, iron, folic acid, and calcium. While iceberg is very popular, especially in restaurant salads, it doesn’t offer as many nutrients because it lacks in dark green color. In general, the darker the green, the more nutrient dense your choice.  Branch out this week and make the base of your salad spinach, arugula, or romaine.

Fresh Herbs: Adding fresh herbs is a wonderful way to get more flavor in your salad without needing to load up on dressings. Garnishing with fresh basil and parsley provides an elegant touch in salads inspired by Italian flavors. Dill goes great with citrus and legumes, while cilantro brings out Mexican and Asian flavors. When herbs are fresh, a little goes a long way. If you buy a bunch of fresh herbs and are worried you won’t use it all at once, simply freeze it and thaw for fresh flavor at your fingertips.

Don’t Forget Fruit: While summer is a perfect time for fruit salads, fruits add a nice sweetness to vegetable salads as well! If you’re using fruits in your salad, toss citrus juice like lemon or lime on cut fruits, like apples and pears, to keep them from turning brown. Fruits and vegetables can also share the stage in a savory salad. Using cubed watermelon or avocado as a base for vegetable toppings can lead to creating a fun, new salad to add to your menu!

Super Salad Toppers: There are lots of nutritious ways to top a salad. Enhance eye appeal and nutrition by adding colorful fruits and vegetables. Some more nutrient-dense salad toppers that add a nice look and texture to your meals are artichoke hearts, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds, but watch portion size!

Kabob Kickers: Try kicking up your salad by adding kabobs! Including protein-rich foods helps promote a feeling of fullness after meals. Kabobs with grilled chicken, lean beef, or pork with a combination of vegetables such as peppers, onions, and zucchini would be the perfect topper for a mixed green salad.

Fun Salads to Try

Now that you know how to make a mouthwatering salad, you can use your creativity to create your own masterpiece.  To help you get started, here are 4 of my own salad recipes:

1. Wilted Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Dates and Macadamia Nuts. This is the perfect salad for lunchtime on a hot summer day. Find the recipe here.

2. Mango Red pepper Salad with Spice Crusted Tuna and Lime Dressing. If you love adding fruit to your salad, this salad is perfect for you. The combination of tuna, mango and lime is extremely satisfying.  Find the recipe here.

3. Roasted Apple and Butternut Squash Salad with Olives. This salad is great for the adventurer.  You may have never thought to combine all these foods and turn them into a salad, but I promise you’ll love the way it tastes!  Find the recipe here.

4. Edamame Chickpea Salad. Although there are no leafy greens here, this is just as much a salad as any other. Find the recipe here.

You can enjoy salad anytime of the year but summertime is the best time to enjoy because salad is so refreshing, and you can make a different salad EVERY DAY!  Be sure to always wash your produce before eating, cut away damaged or bruised areas of fruits and vegetables, and don’t leave salad out in the heat because bacteria can form.

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