Vegetarian Salad Recipes Archives

5 Healthy Green Salad Ideas

Who said healthy salads had to taste boring and lifeless? If you’re looking for a light meal for dinner or lunch, try the following green salads for a tasty and filling option. Use them as inspiration for future meals, or add some tasty fruits and vegetables to make them your own.

RELATED: 5 Tasty Ways To Cook Quinoa

Arugula salad with grapes and black pepper vinaigrette

This salad makes for the perfect late afternoon snack since it’s packed with vegetables, a touch of spice and some juicy grapes to fill-up on.

5 Healthy Green Salad Ideas

Roasted chickpea bowl with cherry tomatoes

For more of a textured dish, roast a handful of chickpeas and toss some crumbled feta over the top. Finish off with some sliced vegetables and fresh Spanish onion to taste.

5 Healthy Green Salad Ideas

Broad bean, mint and ricotta salad

Try and incorporate some broad beans into your salad to give it some extra body for dinner. Our favourite is this one featuring tasty ricotta and mint for that super-fresh taste.

5 Healthy Green Salad Ideas

Sweet and spicy cucumber noodle salad

Take it one step further by baking your very own cucumber noodles with the help of a spiralizer. Don’t forget to add some other vegetables and sweet fruits to make this salad one-of-a-kind.

5 Healthy Green Salad Ideas

Herbed quinoa garden salad

Finish off with a tasty quinoa salad; an ideal dish if you want to keep it light and fresh. Add some textured lettuce to make it super healthy and crunchy!

5 Healthy Green Salad Ideas

Images via Top With Cinnamon, Sassy Kitchen, She Knows, Pinch of Yum

Felicia Sapountzis

Vegetarian Salad Recipes

Light Guacamole Salad Recipe

We aren’t the type to resist anything with avocado, so when this certain recipe came along, we just had to share it! The perfect, light meal which is loaded with greens, protein and natural fats, all of which are actually good for your body. Don’t forget to add in some tuna, egg or tofu for added texture.

RELATED: Avocado Summer Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

1 red onion (sliced)

2 ripe avocados (cut into thick slices)

5 cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)

Coriander and mint leaves

3 tbsp of olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

Juice of 1 lime

Method

Whisk together the lime juice and olive oil. If you prefer your meal on the spicy side, feel free to add some chilli flakes into the dressing.
Slice the avocado, cherry tomatoes and red onion, then arrange them on each plate.
Add the coriander and mint leaves, then toss the salad with the dressing.

Image via Donal Skehan

Felicia Sapountzis

Vegetarian Salad Recipes

Spicy Cucumber and Chilli Salad Recipe

The spicy chilli invites a taste sensation and is ultimately a match made in heaven paired with a cool-cucumber and vinegar topping.

The entire meal takes about 5 minutes to prepare, and is washed down best with a refreshing fruit juice, or a sneaky white wine during the later hours of the evening.

RELATED: Detox Salad Recipe

Ingredients

1 tsp peppercorns

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

Splash of lemon juice

1/4 clove of garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp Greek yoghurt

2 cucumbers (sliced)

Pinch of chives

Pinch of parsley

Season with salt and pepper

Method

Finely chop the cucumbers and set aside. For extra crunch, leave the skin on and slice horizontally.
Crush the peppercorns and chilli flakes until they have combined. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and yoghurt. Mix well, then toss with the cucumber and other herbs for a fresh taste.

Image via Kirbie Cravings

Felicia Sapountzis

Vegetarian Salad Recipes

Crispy Goat’s Cheese Salad Recipe

Goat cheese, or chèvre, is high in flavor and low in fat. It is higher in calcium and protein than its brothers made from cows milk. This goat cheese salad is great to accompany a large meal for the family, or to enjoy on your lunch break.

Ingredients

16 oz. Goat cheese

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup bread crumbs

Olive oil for frying

4 cups of small-leafed greens (baby spinach leaves, arugula or loose leaf lettuce)

6 fresh figs, quartered

Salt and pepper

Method

Using your hands, mould the goats cheese into tiny balls (no larger than half an inch in diameter). Put your flour in a small bowl, or on a plate, and roll the goats cheese balls, coating them evenly in the flour.
Transfer your goats cheese balls to the lightly beaten eggs, coating them in the mixture.
Next, pour your bread crumbs onto a plate or into a bowl, then cover your goats cheese balls in the crumbs.
Heat oil in a small skillet on medium-high heat (you should only need to use around a 1/4 cup – you don’t want to deep fry the goats cheese, just crisp the bread crumbs on the outside.) Put the crumbed goats cheese balls in the frying pan and cook on all sides, rotating as required to cook evenly. You don’t want to deep fry the goats cheese, just crisp the bread crumbs on the outside. You can cook several balls at a time if you have the room, just make sure you always test one first. Once fried, transfer to paper towel on a plate and set aside.
Put leafy greens and figs in a bowl. Add goats cheese balls and serve. Season with salt and pepper, if required.

Image via yuppiechef.com

Rebecca Mitchell

Vegetarian Salad Recipes

Brown Rice, Asparagus and Goat Cheese Salad Recipe

Brown rice is the healthy alternative to white rice. Because it is unrefined – unlike white rice – brown rice still contains whole grains and natural vitamins, fiber, protein, calcium and magnesium, often lost in the refining process of white rice. It has a low glycemic index, meaning it releases energy slowly, allowing you to stay full and energised for longer. Asparagus is also rich in vitamins A, C, E and K, as well as fiber and folate. If this tasty salad wasn’t healthy enough, goats cheese is also low in fat and healthier than other cheeses made from cows milk.

Ingredients

Serves 6

1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice

2 tsp salt

2 tsp vinegar or citrus juice

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

2 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 shallot, minced

1 tsp grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice

4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (1 cup)

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

Method

Bring 3 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add rice and salt to water and cook until rice is tender, stirring with a fork occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Drain rice, transfer to a baking paper-lined tray and spread evenly. Drizzle rice with vinegar or citrus juice and let cool.
Heat vegetable oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and arrange evenly in a line, as best you can. Cover and cook for 2-5 minutes until bright green but still crisp. Uncover, increase heat, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook until tender and well browned on 1 side (approx. 5 minutes). Using tongs, rotate asparagus spears to ensure all are cooked evenly. Transfer to plate and let cool completely. Cut into 1 inch-long pieces.
Whisk olive oil, shallot, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in bowl.
Transfer cooled rice to large bowl. Add asparagus, goat cheese, almonds and 3 tablespoons of parsley and dressing; toss to combine. Keep remaining parsley to serve.

Image via coldlife.com

Rebecca Mitchell

Healthy Lunch Ideas

Detox Salad Recipe

Naturopath Michèle Wolff, author of Digestive Solutions, shares an easy January cleanse recipe for detox salad. The salad rids the body of toxins, cleanses your digestive system and gives your body a boost of vitamins and nutrients. Eat it anytime you need a healthy pick-me-up!

Ingredients

Large handful of rocket
Large handful alfalfa sprouts
Large handful chopped parsley
Sprinkle of sunflower and sesame seeds
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Olive oil to taste
Crushed garlic, if desired

Method

1. Combine all ingredients together and serve. You can also add a boiled or poached egg, and goat’s cheese for added flavour.

Michèle Wolff is a leading health practitioner and a qualified naturopath, nutritionist, herbalist and nurse, owner of Ultimate Detox Solutions. Her new book ‘Digestive Solutions – 101 Proven Methods to Solve Your Tummy Problems Naturally’ is available from bookstores and good online booksellers. Visit www.digestivesolutions.com.au.

Julia Blanter

Healthy Lunch Ideas

Healthy Lunch Ideas: Chickpea, Eggplant And Tomato Salad

This is a delicious healthy salad packed with Mediterranean flavours that makes a great side dish or lunch!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

500g lebanese eggplant, halved

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon fresh basil

400g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 punnet cherry tomatoes halved

50g baby spinach leaves, washed

Method

1. Heat half of the oil on a large frying pan and sauté the eggplant in batches for 2-3 minutes each side until golden and tender. Set aside and cool.

2. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan on medium heat. Add the garlic and balsamic vinegar and reduce for a minute or so, shaking pan. Remove from heat, pour into a jug and cool. Stir in basil and season to taste.

3. In a salad bowl, combine chickpeas with eggplant, tomato halves, spinach leaves and the cooled dressing. Season and serve.

Julia

Healthy Lunch Ideas

Healthy Lunch Ideas: Mango, Avocado And Macadamia Salad

Looking for a tasty new lunch idea? This colourful salad is packed with flavour and nutrients – with a little spice and plenty of crunch. It goes great with grilled fish or meats too.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

1 ripe mango

1 ripe avocado

100g rocket

1 cup dry roasted unsalted Suncoast Gold Macadamias, crushed

Dressing:

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons of Suncoast Gold Australian Macadamia Oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard

1 long red chilli, deseeded and sliced

Method

1. Chop the mango and avocado into small cubes of the same size and set aside; make sure you don’t bruise them and keep them in a good shape.
For the dressing: Mix the lime juice, oil, garlic, mustard and sliced chilli together.

2. Put the rocket in a large bowl, add the mango and avocado and the dressing and gently toss to combine. Top with the macadamias.

What’s your all-time favourite salad?

Julia

Healthy Lunch Ideas

Healthy Lunch Ideas: Gluten-Free Club Sandwich

The club sandwich would have to rank up there as the world’s greatest sandwich, with grilled chicken, crispy bacon, salad and zesty mustard dressing. What’s your favourite sandwich?

Ingredients

4 thin slices smoked bacon, cooked and crispy

2 firm ripe heirloom tomatoes, cored and chopped

1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped (3 cups)

4 scallions, chopped

Mustard dressing

2 slices of PureBred White Farmhouse bread

2 grilled Chicken Breasts, cut lengthwise into thin slices

Method

1. Crumble bacon. Combine tomatoes, lettuce and scallions together, add dressing and toss together.

2. Spread a little of the dressing on the bread toasted and place on bottom of serving plate. Top with dressed lettuce. Top with sliced chicken breast and crumbled bacon.

What’s your all-time favourite sandwich?

Julia

Duck Recipes

Smoked Duck And Peach Salad

This salad takes 5 minutes to put together and makes an easy dinner or serve as party of a family-style weekend lunch. Just pick up some smoked duck breast at the deli – smoked chicken works equally well.

Ingredients – serves 4 as a light lunch or starter

2 x 240g smoked duck breast, thinly sliced

3 ripe yellow peaches, cut into wedges

½ small red onion, thinly sliced

4 cups picked watercress

100g firm ricotta, broken into large pieces

Hazelnut vinaigrette

80ml (1/3 cup) hazelnut or extra virgin olive oil

3 tsp Dijon mustard

60ml (1/4 cup) verjuice

½ cup (60g) hazelnuts, toasted, skins removed, roughly chopped

Method
1. To make vinaigrette, whisk oil, mustard and verjuice in a bowl until emulsified. Season and stir
through hazlenuts.

2. Arrange salad ingredients on a platter or large wide salad bowl.

3. Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve.

Greek salad? Salade nicoise? What’s your favourite summer salad?

Julia

Vegetarian Recipes

Meat-Free Mondays: Paul McCartney’s Super Vegetable Salad

We love Paul McCartney’s vegetable salad recipe served with grilled fish, or if you want to keep it completely meat-free, try it with grilled tofu, a veggie burger or oven-baked wedges. Taken from the Meat Free Monday Cookbook.

Ingredients

28 cherry tomatoes

3 florets of broccoli

12 green beans, cut into 2cm lengths

2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 2cm pieces

1 lettuce – I like Romaine

3 spring onions, finely chopped

100g polenta

A handful of chopped herbs of your choice

250g tofu, cut into slices

Olive oil for frying

For the dressing

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)

1 tsp maple syrup (if you like a bit of sweetness)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C and roast the cherry tomatoes for 10 minutes.

2. Cover the bottom of a pan with cold water and place a steamer above it. Put the broccoli, green beans and carrots in the steamer, turn the heat on quite high and steam for about 15 minutes, occasionally prodding the carrots with a fork to see if they are done. Some people like them slightly crunchy, others prefer them a little softer.

3. While the vegetables are steaming, make a salad with the leaves and spring onions.
Combine the polenta and herbs in a bowl. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Dip the tofu in the polenta mixture, then fry until golden.

4. Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing, but only pour over at the last minute. Assemble your meal by first putting the salad on the plate, then the warm vegetables and finally the tofu. Pour over the dressing then add a little seasoning sauce of your choice.

What’s your favourite salad recipe?

Julia

Quick Recipes

Warm Red Curry Steak Salad

A fantastic salad for either lunch or dinner, packed with vegetables and aromatic Thai flavours. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Ingredients – serve 4

4 x 200g lamb rumps, fat trimmed

Cracked white pepper

600g Jap pumpkin, skin on, cut into 2cm thick wedges then into 6cm pieces

12 French shallots or baby onions, peeled

1 ½ tbsp olive oil

200g cherry tomatoes

1/2 tablespoon good-quality red curry paste

270ml can light coconut milk

1/2 tablespoon fish sauce

2 baby cos lettuces, leaves separated

Steamed jasmine rice, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220C. Put the pumpkin and peeled shallots into a roasting dish and drizzle with ½ tablespoon olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes.

2. Brush the lamb rumps with the remaining oil and season with cracked white pepper. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium/high heat and brown the outside of the lamb rumps. Place into a baking tray and place in the oven. Roast for 15 minutes for medium, 20 minutes for well done.

3. Whilst the vegetables and lamb are cooking, heat a little of the thick coconut cream from the top of the can with the curry paste and cook in a pan over a medium heat until the oil starts to separate from the curry paste. Add the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar and cook over a high heat until the sauce reduces by a third and thickens slightly.

4. Remove the lamb rump from the oven, cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Add the cherry tomatoes to the roasting tray and cook in the oven for 10 minutes or until the skins start to shrink.

5. To serve, arrange the lettuce leaves on 4 serving plates, top with the roasted pumpkin, sliced lamb, shallots and tomatoes. Drizzle with the curry sauce. Accompany with steamed jasmine rice.

What’s your favourite summer salad recipe?
R

Julia

Beef Recipes

Beef And Zucchini Salad With Mint Oil

This 30-minute meal is brilliant for summer when you want something fast and low-fat that’s also full of flavour. The bright mint oil makes the beef pop.

Ingredients – serves 4

600g oyster blade steak

3 medium zucchinis, sliced into ribbons using a vegetable peeler

2 bunches of asparagus, woody ends discarded, cut into 3 cm pieces

16 cherry tomatoes, quartered

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing

1 tbsp lemon juice,

1 small red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced (optional)

8 mint leaves, shredded, plus extra to garnish

Method

1. Steam the zucchini slices and asparagus in two batches, for about 5 minutes, until just tender.

2. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, chilli and mint and pour over the vegetables while warm. Toss gently to coat and set aside.

3. Preheat a chargrill pan over high heat. Brush the steaks with oil and cook for 6 minutes on one side, turn over and cook for a further 5 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Cover with foil and rest for 5 minutes.

4. To serve, scatter the cherry tomatoes over the salad. Thinly slice the steak and arrange on top.

Tips: Softened rice vermicelli noodles can also be added to this salad, toss them in with the zucchini.

Sliced mini lamb roasts are also delicious served with this salad.

What’s your favourite beef recipe?

Julia

Quick Dinner Ideas

Rump Steak With Fresh Latin Salad

How good does this look? Juicy steaks cooked quickly on the BBQ served with a zingy Latin salad makes a healthy summer dinner idea that the whole family will love.

Ingredients – serves 4

4 x 200g rump steaks, fat trimmed

1 mango

¼ bunch coriander, chopped

1 red capsicum

½ avocado

1 red onion

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

400g can corn kernels

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp chilli flakes

Pepper

200g light Greek yoghurt

Zest of 1 lime

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp chopped chives

Method

1. Brush the steaks with olive oil and place them on a hot grill. Cook on one side until some moisture appears on the top, then turn and cook on the other side. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes and loosely cover with foil.

2. For the salad, dice mango and vegetables. Mix all together in a bowl and add corn and coriander. Season with lemon juice, olive oil, chilli flakes and pepper.

3. For the sauce, combine the yoghurt, zest of 1 lime, paprika, chives and pepper. Mix well and serve.

Tip: add any leftover mixed lettuce leaves to the salad.

What’s your favourite BBQ dish?

Julia