Picnic Salad WOW
Posted by Alayne Gardner-Carimi on
Memorial Day and More
While Memorial Day is a time to honor fallen military personnel, it has also evolved into a broader celebration that includes commemorative events and leisure activities. It has become the unofficial beginning of summer. We can honor those who gave us the freedom to enjoy life by living our best lives, balancing solemn remembrance with joyful activities. Memorial Day picnics are a delightful way to bring our families and friends together and enjoy being outside.
3 Quick Tips for Picnic Salad Success
Put the WOW in Your Picnic Salads
By using vomFASS artisanal oils and specialty vinegars for your “secret sauce” and adding a few simple tweaks, your picnic salad can be “the one” everyone loves, wants the recipe for, and whose serving bowl is licked clean. Yesterday's tired creamy potato and bland pasta salads (made with (gasp!) store bought dressings full of chemicals and preservatives) can move aside for more tasty oil and vinegar combinations!
Rethinking picnic salads involves moving beyond the traditional options and embracing more creative, nutritious, and transportable choices. This year, let’s bring more bounce to the ounce with salads full of flavor and flare. By rethinking picnic salads with these creative options, you can enjoy a delicious, nutritious, and exciting meal.
Adding whole grains like...quinoa, barley, millet, farro, or wild rice can add a lot of beneficial nutrients and flavor to your salads. Grains add substance and texture, making salads more filling and nutritious. And, unlike refined carbs such as pastas, whole grains are less likely to cause a spike in blood sugar. A well-crafted mixture of grains and veggies is packed with texture, contains a wonderful balance of nuttiness and freshness, and has enough boldness to support a variety of flavors.
Add some protein and heft by including...beans. Chickpeas, black or white beans, and even lentils are good additions to picnic salads. They add some protein, make picnic salads a bit more filling, and to add variety in texture. The mild flavor of white beans pairs especially well with spring greens that have a peppery bite. Toss greens, sliced onions and tomatoes with corn and black beans for a Mexican-style salad. Turning a salad into a main dish is as simple as rinsing a can of beans and tossing them with lettuce and other vegetables. Dress with oil and vinegar.
Thinly sliced hardy Spring vegetables can...create a hearty, crispy salad without extra carbs when sliced thinly. Take those firmer veggies like asparagus, fennel, radishes, kohlrabi, jimaica, carrots, or cabbage and slice very thinly on a mandolin. Toss them together with fresh herbs and maybe some nuts for more crunch, but don’t add the dressing until just before serving.
Roasting vegetables brings out...their sweet flavor and robust nature, and can make a perfect prep-ahead salad. Roasted veggies will last a few days in the refrigerator. The dressing can be prepped ahead too. Just make sure you give the veggies some time to come to room temperature. When it’s time to serve, just toss the veggies with the dressing, and maybe some rough-chopped romaine lettuce, and you’re good to go.
With a little planning, you can put together a tasty menu of dishes that are easy to transport and eat without needing to be reheated or fussed over. The best picnic salads are the ones that can be made in advance and actually improve as the flavors meld together in the fridge while they await their final destination.Try one (or both) of the new recipes below.
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Photo Credit: MDahl
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