The Everyday Big Salad

Ingredients

• 1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
• 3 cups Arugula
• 1 Cucumber, half-moons
• 1 cup Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 Carrots, shaved with a peeler
• 1 can Chickpeas, canned no-salt-added, drained and rinsed
• 1 Avocado, sliced
• 4 tbsp Pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted
• 3 tbsp Dried cranberries
• 2 oz Feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
• 3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp juice Lemon
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp Black pepper

Method

1. Dry the greens properly. Wet greens repel dressing and it pools at the bottom of the bowl — a salad spinner is the highest-value ten dollars in a kitchen.
2. Whisk oil, lemon, Dijon and pepper in the bottom of the big bowl, then pile the sturdy things on top: carrots, cucumbers, chickpeas, cranberries.
3. Add greens last and toss with your hands from the bottom up, twenty seconds, until every leaf is barely coated.
4. Top with avocado, pepitas and feta. Five textures: crisp, creamy, chewy, crunchy, juicy. Check that you have all five.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

Dress in the bowl you built it in and toss with your hands. Never pour dressing over the top of a finished salad.

🧒 For the kids

Give a kid a plate of the components in rows instead of a tossed bowl. Salad refusal is usually about mixing, not vegetables.

🌿 From the garden

June through October this salad is 80% backyard.

🥡 Leftovers

Dressed salad does not keep. Store components separately.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.