A salad that doesn’t need fat to be satisfying
Salads can be a great way to pile on the vegetables, not to mention serve as a fine canvas for showing off late summer’s bounty.
But sometimes — OK, a lot of times — eating a plate full of greens can be a bit boring. Then there are the toppings. Too often, we are tempted to pile on fatty toppings like cheese, bacon, seeds and nuts, or rich dressings, all in an attempt to amplify the flavor.
So we decided to create a salad that is both jammed with healthy vegetables — including a whole mess of greens — but also has tons of flavor (without tons of fat).
The first order of business was the plate full of greens. There is nothing wrong with a mound of greens, but we wanted to jazz it up.
Mixing in a handful of fresh herbs added instant flavor.
To top this off we created a salsa-like mixture of chopped vegetables, some of which are grilled for maximum impact.
A drizzle of pickled shallot vinaigrette and we had a beautiful and tasty salad. But to really make this a meal, we also topped it with strips of grilled chicken. Shrimp or tofu would be easy substitutes.