Some Salads That Bring Real Flavor

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Whether you’re trying to cut meat out or just to build a great diet, salads are often seen as a necessary but unappetizing option to fill in one of the meals in your life. The basic salad based around the lettuce leaf can be a little bland, there’s no denying that. But those are far from the only salads that exist. You don’t need a ton of mayo or dressing to make a salad taste good. Here are a few types worth trying, instead.

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A touch of umami

Often very underutilized in the western palate, umami can add a ton of impact to your salads. One of the ways to do just that is to make this miso-based slaw from Love and Lemons. A great summer salad making use of a fresh herb mix, peaches, and, of course, the ginger miso sauce that adds that all-important umami flavor. If you feel bored eating your salads, adding a touch of this can make things a lot more interesting, indeed.

Something’s fishy about this one

While many do use salad as an opportunity to have vegan or vegetarian meals, there’s no rule to say that it has to be entirely free of animal proteins. If you want a salad for dinner that has a little more to chew on, then this salmon salad from Bon Appetit, using avocado and fennel both to balance out the fishy taste, can be an absolute sensation in the mouth. Of course, salmon has the added benefit of bringing a lot of those vital omega-3 fatty acids to your dinner, too.

A hearty winter twist

If you feel like your salad is a little too light and a little too lacking in substance, then you should look more at winter vegetables instead of just leafy greens. This radicchio salad from Nourished Kitchen uses a heavier base to add some comfort food factor. The addition of sweetness through apple and pomegranate arils balance out the bitterness of these vegetables nicely, too.

So a-pea-ling

A little bite goes a long way in a salad. If you’re looking to buff up that texture, then legumes are the way to go. A little more substantial than seeds, chickpeas are a favorite of many a salad fantastic, and this green Goddess salad from Eating Well makes very good use of them, with an avocado-based dressing to bring the flavor.

Get experimental

There’s nothing to say what can or can’t go in a salad. If you find an ingredient that you like in particular, jot it down and save it for next

time. Try mixing that ingredient with different vegetables, different fillers, such as seeds and legumes, or even with meats. You can find

your own favorite salad combinations with ease if you’re only willing to get a little experimental with it. If it turns out you don’t like a

combination as much, strip it back a little.

Salad can be delicious as well as nutritious. The examples above are just a few of the ways you can add tremendous flavor to an

oft-underestimated meal.