Summer is the perfect season for refreshing fare, and with the season’s bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, the amount of delicious salad combinations is endless. All three salad recipes below can be served with a protein of your choice to make a light and refreshing lunch or a meal for the whole family.
Bok Choy and Spinach Salad
One of our favorite weeknight recipes, this simple Asian salad with chicken is the perfect healthy substitute for heavy Chinese takeout.
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
2 six-ounce skinless and boneless chicken breasts
3 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 cups baby spinach, lightly packed
4 leaves bok choy
1/2 cup sliced scallions, green and white parts
2 clementines
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Directions
1. In medium saucepan, place chicken and broth over medium-high heat. When bubbles appear after roughly 8 minutes, reduce heat and let simmer until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees when inserted into thickest part of breast, about 20 minutes.
2. Cool chicken in broth until cool enough to tear into bite-size pieces. Pour broth through strainer lined with paper towel and reserve for another use.
3. Place spinach in salad bowl. Cut white part of bok choy leaves crosswise into thin slices, and add to spinach. Reserve green, leafy part to use in soup or stir-fry.
4. Add scallions and arrange chicken over greens.
5. Cut one clementine crosswise into thin slices. Remove peel, separate slices into thin wedges, and add to salad.
6. Halve remaining clementine crosswise, and squeeze juice into small bowl. Add lime juice, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, Sriracha sauce (if using), salt and 3 to 4 grinds pepper, whisking to combine. Whisk in oil.
7. Pour dressing over salad. Sprinkle with almonds.
8. Toss salad and divide among 4 wide salad bowls or medium-sized plates. Serve immediately.
Pan-seared Fennel and Orange Salad
Put fresh summer herbs and juicy citrus fruits to good use in this bursting-with-flavor salad recipe.
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 medium oranges
1 fennel bulb
1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 to 6 cups baby greens
1/2 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted (optional)
Directions
1. Make dressing by whisking together lemon juice, orange juice, extra-virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard and fresh mint, and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. Cut about 1/2 inch off the top and bottom of orange, enough to expose flesh.
3. Stand orange up on cutting board. Using sharp knife, cut down and around orange, removing skin and pith, until no skin or pith remains.
4. Hold orange in one hand over a bowl. With other hand, run a small sharp knife along right and left sides of individual sections, loosening and freeing them, one by one, from membranes. Continue until orange is completely sectioned. Discard membrane. Set sections aside. Repeat previous steps with second orange.
5. Rinse fennel and pat dry. Cut about 1/4 inch off bottom of bulb. Cut bulb in half. Trim out and discard heart. Slice bulb into 1/4-inch slices.
6. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. Once oil is hot, add fennel slices, add salt and pepper to taste, and cook for 2 to 4 minutes until caramelized and golden on both sides.
7. Add oranges; then toss mixture with 2 teaspoons dressing.
8. Remove the skillet from heat.
9. Toss salad greens with onion, olives (optional) and remaining dressing. Top salad with golden fennel and toss lightly to combine flavors. Garnish with more mint, if desired.
Summer Tomato and Corn Salad
Soak up the flavors of summer with this seasonal vegetable salad.
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 large ear local yellow or yellow-and-white corn
3 ripe medium tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions, green and white parts
1/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
Freshly ground pepper
4 to 5 large basil leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint, optional
Directions
1. Shuck corn and steam for 3 minutes. When corn is cool enough to handle, cut the kernels off ear and place them in a mixing bowl.
2. Halve tomatoes vertically and cut one half into 4 wedges for garnish. Remove seeds from remaining tomatoes. Chop tomatoes and add to corn, then add red pepper, green onions and sweet onion.
3. In a small bowl, whisk lime juice with salt, mustard powder, and 4 or 5 grinds of pepper until salt dissolves. Pour dressing over salad and toss gently with fork to combine. At this point, salad can sit for up to 15 minutes.
4. Just before serving, stack basil leaves, then cut crosswise into thin strips and add to the salad. Add mint, if desired.
5. Toss to combine herbs with salad. Garnish with tomato wedges. Serve immediately.