A friend years ago introduced me to the concept of what we called 'The Big Salad', which is a giant kitchen sink salad but with things that follow a rough layout of 2 proteins, a bunch of veggies soft and roasted or raw and crunchy, toppings soft and crunchy, one sweet ingredient, herbs, dressings that are acidic and sweet, coarse finishing salt, and lettuce cut in a way that holds the dressing and ingredients. This may not feel revolutionary but I came from a house that made salad in one of 3 standard ways, as many restaurants do, and having a big salad with loads of good colors, textures, and tastes made things so interesting and delicious- and definitely a meal that is fun to shop for, easy to clean the fridge out with, and I always look forward to eating it for lunch or dinner. As a bonus it always keeps me fuller longer as well.
Obviously, there is no recipe for this one but I made one this week that just sends and I'm including it here for future memories and inspo!
Ingredients:
Red Butter Lettuce, thin sliced horizontally
Crunchy Veggies: carrots, radish slices, mini heirloom color tomatoes, scallions, red onion thin sliced, green olives
Soft Roasted Veggies: sliced portobello mushrooms, asparagus sliced, golden beets cubed, garlic cloves, marinated orange hot peppers, gigante beans
Herbs: parsley, cilantro, taragon (all finely chopped)
Proteins: shredded rotisserie chicken, crunchy roasted chickpeas
Crunch: pepitas
Sweet: craisins
Dressings: lemon EVOO, blackberry ginger balsamic vinegar, pepper, coarse finishing sea salt
Directions- toss and devour!
