Who says a mixed greens recipe has to be boring? Not me!
Well, at least not me anymore. I used to cringe at mixed greens... yet I realized not all salads are created equal. Take this gem for instance. This mixed greens recipe is filled with a nutrient-rich leafy green base, tangy green apple, creamy avocado, and crunchy almonds. Seriously, this salad is the perfect way to fuel your body with tons of plant based goodness!
What to do with mixed greens
Making a salad that actually tastes good only takes a few key elements: fresh greens, toppings and a good dressing. As a result, the days of ranch on iceberg are over for good! Hallelujah!
Why are leafy greens good for you?
Did you know you can get not only nutrients, but also water, minerals and fiber from an awesome salad of mixed greens like this one? Obviously these are some pretty powerful plants!
According to a study done by Harvard, greens like kale, spinach and arugula are powerhouses when it comes to providing you with nutrients like Vitamin A, folate and Vitamin C - plus fiber, water and magnesium to help your digestion. Meanwhile, you just thought you were enjoying a yummy bowl of mixed greens topped with your fav homemade dressing. Go you!
To wash or not to wash?
There is a great deal of debate on whether or not you should wash greens before using. Haven't we all been there? You show up to a friend's house for dinner, excited to get in the kitchen to help - only to be mortified to see her dump a plastic box of greens into a bowl for tonight's salad. If it's pre-washed, then is it okay? What about organic?
Turns out, if your packaging states those lovely mixed greens have been pre-washed by a company that uses GMP or "good manufacturing processes", you're good to go.
That's according to most sources, including an article published by the University of Minnesota. On the other hand, a recent study done by Consumer Reports says that we should all be washing any produce that comes into our cooking spaces, whether "pre-washed", organic or otherwise. This is because even those mixed greens carefully washed by well meaning producers can still contain contaminants from ewwwie poo-ies (E. coli, etc.), chemicals and more.
After reading that, um...would you excuse me one sec while I wash up some leafy stuff for this mixed greens recipe?
How to take your salads on the go
Now, back to the reason we're here. On with the salad! The strawberry herb dressing included in the recipe below is ah-mazing. Seriously, I could drink it.
If you want these greens to travel, then you can prep your salad ahead of time in a mason jar. It's seriously so easy! Simply layer the ingredients in the mason jar, but store the (yummy, strawberry) dressing in a separate container. When you're ready to eat, pour the dressing on, give the mason jar a good shake, and enjoy!
More simple salad recipes
Does this recipe have you jonesing for more fresh ways to use those mixed greens in your fridge? Yeah, me too. If you're ready more crunch and more yummy homemade dressings, here's a list of my favs for you!
- Pear Salad with Pomegranate
- Hearty Mason Jar Salad
- Healthy Taco Salad
- Vegan Salad with Spiralized Sweet Potatoes
- Strawberry Arugula Salad
- Berry Salad
If you give one of these or the recipe below a taste, then let me know by rating and commenting below!
Mixed Greens Salad
Rate this Recipe Print RecipeIngredients
FOR SALAD:
- 2 cups mixed greens (loosely packed)
- ½ cup cucumber (thinly sliced)
- ½ cup apple (green, diced)
- ½ avocado (sliced or diced)
- 2 tablespoon almonds (sliced)
FOR DRESSING:
- ½ cup strawberries (diced)
- 1 tablespoon basil (fresh, roughly chopped)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon lemon (juice)
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- pinch sea salt
- pinch black pepper (ground, to taste)
Instructions
- Arrange salad ingredients on a large plate.
- Puree the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Drizzle some of the dressing over salad (you may not need all of it). Eat immediately.
Notes
- Sub in 2 cups of spinach or 1 cup spinach, 1 cup baby kale for 2 cups mixed greens
Terri Cannell
I loved this salad. The dressing is great and I’ll be making this one again. I added some extra strawberries to the salad.
Kim
I think I may be the only one who didn’t love this salad. Maybe because I’m not crazy about strawberries, I didn’t care for the dressing.
Simple Green Smoothies
Yeah, that is probably the reason! I know some Rawkstars used blueberries or raspberries instead!
Carolyn Jones
Bright fresh flavor. This salad just makes me happy
Vicki Conrad
This is a must have all the time salad. Loved it!’
Amanda
I love spinach and strawberries in a salad. This was yummy as the strawberries made the dressing! Thank you!
Betsy
The dressing is delicious. I quadrupled the dressing and put it in a bottle to use during the week.
Cindy Brown
Simple and Awesome
Liz
I adore this salad! The Strawberry Dressing is so fresh tasting ! It’s like Spring in a bowl !
Linda-Lee
Salads are my favorite "FOOD GROUP" and have been since I was a child (I am 65). This one is a wonderful tasting addition to my favorite "Food Group". Thank you!
Dukh Niwaran
Dressing is delicious. I couldn't get basil or tarragon this time of year in Northern California so used mint and marjoram from my herb garden. Added some fresh strawberries. Used a carrot instead of cucumber when the one I had turned out to be rotten. Added some black beans to make more protein and used cashews instead of almonds. Just a few changes but it was a great salad that my family eagerly ate.
Liz
The dressing for today's potato salad was good. I thought about using sweet potatoes, but wasn't sure that would work with these flavors, but I can't eat the regular potatoes. Ended up using a rutabaga, which seems a lot like a potato in texture and look, but with a bit of a garlicky taste. It worked well with this dressing.
Simple Green Smoothies
Love that even though you can't have potatoes you didn't let you stop you. You're rawesome!
Liz
Running a day late for this review. I tried this, but left out the walnut meet and cashew cream due to nut allergies. I had regular sour cream already, so used it. Any idea how to make the walnut meat and cashew cream with sunflower seeds or pepita's? Otherwise, this salad was okay, but with the "meat" it is best as a side dish.
Liz
Running a day late for this review. I tried this, but left out the walnut meet and cashew cream due to nut allergies. I had regular sour cream already, so used it. Any idea how to make the walnut meat and cashew cream with sunflower seeds or pepita's? Otherwise, this salad was okay, but with the "meat" it is best as a side dish.q
MELISSA CUELLO
Excellent flavor. Light and love this mixture of greens!
Anne Ogilvie
Absolutely amazing flavour
Julie
Great salad! Dressing puts calories over the top for my meal calorie maximum.
Beth H
Love this dressing and combo of flavors!! Next time I'm trying pecans. Also going to add a little blue cheese...love that bite with the sweetness of this kind of dressing. Thank you!
Meg Dennis
Very tasty and filling. Loved the dressing!
Ewa
The strawberry dressing is amazing, however I prefer to leave out cucumber (somehow doesn't work for me), and do it with arugula instead of mixed greens. I just love the combination of arugula with strawberries...
Dipti Rath
Simply delicious!
The dressing was outstanding too!
Thank you SGS for such an awesome and simple salad recipe!!
Brittany Olson
This dressing was very tasty but I did miss not having a source of much protein besides just a few almonds. It was also overall a little too sweet for me with the apple and strawberry dressing.
Connie
This salad has amazing. Did not disappoint. Flavorful, yet light. Love the dressing. Definitely going into my recipe book!
Julie
Both me and Hubby enjoyed this salad as a side dish. The dressing totally elevated everything! Liked the different textures(crunch of the apple and creaminess of the avocado).
Jen
This was fabulous! My whole fam loved it. I didn't have almonds, so subbed toasted pecans. Delicious! A friend said she uses pine nuts, which sounded interesting. I saw one reviewer found the dressing meh. Mine was very bright, but I got THE BEST, sweetest strawberries from Sprouts and fresh lemons from our backyard, so I am sure that made it great. I also skipped the maple syrup. I just didn't feel it would add anything to this.
Simple Green Smoothies
Pecans would be super yummy in this recipe!
Tess DePaoli
This salad was easy to make. Just a couple of things I can not have on both salad and dressing. No apple and maple syrup with out these two things both came out yummy. Dressing was good. I will make it again. My avocado was not ready I substituted it with tomatoes. I can not have apple so I put a couple of fresh strawberries instead. Also it was very filling.
Best part of it is I know I am eating healthy and I out create things I can not have.
I want to post photo sorry don't know how yet. 🙂
Barb Pesola
Love the dressing!
Janet Roberts
This recipe I love so much - I have made it for the past 3 days! Started over the weekend and it is so fresh and tasty. I added a chicken breast for more protein.
Janet
This recipe I love so much - I have made it for the past 3 days! Started over the weekend and it is so fresh and tasty. I added a chicken breast for more protein.
Carol Farnsworth
The strawberry dressing was delicious.
Beki Ward
I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect with these ingredients, but it was SO delicious! I’ll be keeping this recipe for sure.
Bonnie
Probably the best-tasting salad that I have ever created. Perfect for luncheon with friends.
Barbara
Loved this salad, used only spinach as my base. The dressing was the best. Since I normally use a bottled raspberry vinaigrette the home made was a nice change, very easy to throw together.
Susannah Armstrong
I loved this salad! I did make a couple of tweaks to ours but it was much more filling than I expected!!
Lilian Shepherd
Let me start by saying my salads are basic and is generally the base of this salad. What made this salad absolutely delicious was the dressing. It was light and delicious, a dressing I would never have chosen but so glad I did. This is added to my salad arsenal.
Becky Cromwell
I loved the fresh flavor combos in this salad! The dressing was literally "lick the blender clean"! This will be in our lunch rotation for sure!
Simple Green Smoothies
Love it, glad you enjoyed it.
Debbie Huffert
So refreshing and good.
Esther
What a refreshing salad! I added microgreens to add texture, color and pack an extra punch of antioxidants. I also tweaked the dressing a bit by adding 1 tbsp of champagne vinegar and substituting agave for the maple syrup. I added about 1/4 c strawberries quartered to the salad to visually compliment the dressing. All in all it was a hit, can't wait to try more.
Nancy
We are more the savory kind of family so it was fun to try a dressing a bit sweeter but it probably will not be a standard fare....but I love the idea of incorporating anti-inflammatory ingredients such as berries into a dressing. Thank you, Jen for all the noodling you must do to create very cool recipes. I loved your soup challenge, too!
Nancy/Salado/Texas
Raha
The dressing was great. It was light and tangy with a hint of sweetness.
Amber B
Not our fave. Maybe slicing some strawberries into the salad would have perked it up? Not impressed with the dressing...it wasn't that sweet it wasn't that sour...it was just bleh. Maybe I'll add some basalmic vinegar or raspberry vinegar next time and see what that does. Something needs tweaking.
Simple Green Smoothies
I totally understand. Sometimes it all depends on the sweetness of your strawberries.
J.R. Pollnow
This dressing was amazing, will be kept on my must have again list! Great tastes all around.