Hellobee Boards

We like to do a summer salad with baby spinach or greens, sliced strawberries, feta or goat cheese, grilled chicken, and nuts if we have them. Or swap the strawberries with dried cranberries and diced apple for a fall type version. Either one is good with balsamic vinaigrette.

Or if we are grilling I'll make veggie kebabs with summer squash and peppers and put that in a salad with mixed greens. And feta or some other cheese.

That's our go to but I'm always looking for more ideas.

I'm obsessed with the Cookie and Kate blog - https://cookieandkate.com/category/food-recipes/salads/

I do a BBQ ranch salad with chicken, black beans, corn, and tomatoes (salad is mixed greens, dressing is half.ranch half BBQ sauce mixed together). I also like the Sweet Kale and Brussel sprout salad (they sell it at Costco and other grocery stores) with chicken and chickpeas. And another one we eat a lot of is chicken sesame salad (coleslaw mix without the dressing, red onion, almonds, mandarin oranges, chicken, red pepper, and any sesame ginger dressing).

I love salad and could exist on it all summer long.

My favorite is cooked farro or spelt, topped with shelled edamame, baby spinach and feta cheese with an apple cider vinaigrette.

Roasted vegetable couscous salad
Vegetables to roast- zucchini, mushrooms, red pepper, potato and garlic / chop in big chunks, season with olive oil, salt and pepper and cumin, and roast in oven at 450 for about 30 min
I use Israeli (pearl) couscous, cook that and add to salad mix, top with roasted veggies, I also add kalamata olives, tomato, avocado and carrot, if I have them, and sometimes a veggie burger (which you can cook in the oven with roasting veggies)

We made a really good salad a couple of days ago with a baby greens mix (like baby spinach, that purple stuff, arugula), with a sprinkle of broccoli slaw on top, with shredded carrot, halved sunburst tomatoes, and red and yellow bell peppers diced on top.

Then I put Primal Kitchen ranch on top (it's paleo but tastes like real ranch!) and it was the best thing ever.

I also have been on a Buffalo chicken salad kick lately. I use paleo mayonnaise, diced spicy pickles, a hard boiled egg, and roasted chicken from Trader Joe's and just chop it all together and then add the original Franks Red Hot sauce on top and it is so, so good. I either put it on top of thinly sliced and roasted seeet potato "toasts", or I scoop it up and eat it with Plantain chips. ETA: and sometimes I add diced grapes for a burst of sweetness.

@Anagram: Love the Primal Kitchen ranch! I just bought the Caesar to try. It's ok, a little too peppery. I'm not sure I'll buy it again.

It's not super easy but we do a lot of poke bowl/salads during the summer. DH gets sashimi grade salmon, toss it in his own marinade, serve with roasted seaweed, tomato, avocado, cucumbers, etc.

@FelicityMerriman: I just wanted to chime in here and say I absolutely love your user name!!!

Chicken Quinoa Salad!

1.5 cups quinoa (so about 3 cups cooked)
~2 lbs cooked boneless chicken, diced
3-4 carrots diced into tiny cubes
1 English cucumber diced into tiny cubes
~1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 scallions
~1.5 cups dried cranberries
~1 Tbsp dijon mustard
~1.5-2 Tbsps balsamic vinegar
~1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
pepper

1. Cook quinoa and let it cool
2. Saute chicken, let it cool, and dice it into small cubes
3. Dice carrots and cucumber into tiny cubes
4. Chop scallions
5. Make dressing: In a small bowl, mix dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper thoroughly. Add extra virgin olive oil and mix thoroughly
6. Mix quinoa, chicken, carrots, cucumber, scallions, feta cheese and cranberries in a large bowl
7. Add dressing and toss

I keep it in the fridge undressed so it lasts longer, and add the dressing at serving time.

Last night I also added a bunch of chopped spinach and it worked well.