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Loading...Guide to Spring Salads and Vinaigrettes
- Shelley Stonebrook
- March 8, 2012
- 8:30 am
- 37 comments
Whether as a side or a main course, I LOVE creating spring salads. In spring, some common salad ingredients such as tomatoes and cucumbers aren’t yet in season—but that shouldn’t hold you back from creating something delicious! Here are some of my favorite ingredients to use in spring salads:
- Butter crunch lettuce
- Fresh spinach
- Pea pods
- Pickled beets
- Shredded carrots and parsnips
- Sliced radishes and white salad turnips
- Black beans (fresh-cooked, not canned)
- Green onions
- Toasted almonds
- Dried cranberries
- Fresh spring herbs (parsley, chives, dill)
If you want to grow some of these spring crops in your garden or in containers on your deck or patio, see Growing Spinach, Grow Great Lettuce, Growing Peas, Growing Carrots and Triumphant Turnips.
For salad dressing, I definitely ditch the ranch and other common, store-bough concoctions, and instead opt for fresh vinaigrette. To make a great vinaigrette, experiment with these ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Different vinegars (red wine, balsamic, cider, etc.)
- Honey or agave nectar
- Fresh minced garlic
- Seasonings (some of my favorites: onion powder, ground mustard, ground ginger)
- Dijon or spicy mustard
- Fresh salt and pepper
For more details, see Spring Vinaigrette Recipe, and for a really unique salad dressing blend, see Rhubarb Vinaigrette Recipe.
Have fun creating delicious, healthy salads! What do you like in your spring salads, and what are your favorite salad dressing recipes?
Photo by Emily Heller
Related: Enjoy Healthy, Tasty Spring Asparagus, 4 Delicious Recipes for Spring and Italian Spring Soup Recipe
Read more: Diet & Nutrition, Eating for Health, Food, Side Dishes, Vegetarian, dressing, eating in season, recipes, salad, salads, spring recipes
Shelley Stonebrook
Shelley Stonebrook is an Associate Editor at Mother Earth News—North America’s most popular magazine about sustainable, self-reliant living—where she works on exciting projects such as Organic Gardening content and the Vegetable Garden Planner. Shelley is particularly interested in organic gardening, small-scale, local food production, waste reduction, food preservation and cooking. In her spare time, she posts in her personal blog, The Rowdy Radish.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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Sweet! *_*
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Thanks Katie.
thanks Just planted Lavender this year cant wait to dry some
thanks
37 comments
+ add your ownSounds good,thanks for sharing
Delicoius, thanks.
Yummy thanks.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks.
sounds good, thanks for sharing
lovely ideas, thanks!
Thank you
Happy Easter
thanks for sharing
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