Salads!!! I feel that they don’t get a good rep. If you give them just a little but more attention, they can be game changing. Think about it. You get home late from work and have spent the little bit of energy you had left driving home. No way are you going to do anything intricate for dinner.
Salad is your answer!
My husband and I have been enjoying customizing our salads each week. We love looking in the fridge and seeing what we could throw on top. A few toppings turned into a few more and now we are making what we call kitchen sink salad at least once a week! It is the best!
Here are some ideas for protein that we use!
- Sauteed Steak- no need for a marinade! When we have a bit left in our budget, we grab the best looking, reasonably priced steak and sauté it up with seasonings and butter! Let it rest and cut it to your liking. You can make it bite size and go with cubes, or if you are like us, we enjoy slicing the steak thin and placing it right on top of the salad. We feel fancy when we prepare the salad this way because it looks like a restaurant worthy salad.
- Chicken-there are so many ways to prepare! We have breaded chicken with egg wash, Italian panko, air fry until finished, and cut into strips! You can marinade your chicken and grill in the warmer months! Last week I placed a few chicken breasts in a marinade ahead of time so when we wanted salad, the chicken was just ready to sauté in a pan with oil and butter. This was game changing!
- Chicken marinade: 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 cloves garlic crushed and roughly chopped, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp minced parsley, salt and pepper to your liking, and a splash of lemon juice ( I even add a couple thin slices of lemon for added freshness)
- Baked Salmon-if fish is your thing, like us, go for it! You can bake the salmon anyway that you prefer, let the salmon cool, and shred. Sprinkle it all over your salad and enjoy! I preferably love pomegranate seeds on top of our salmon salads. It makes things so fresh and adds a crunchier texture to offset the soft fish.
Here are topping ideas that we use!
- dried cranberries
- pomegranate seeds
- sunflower seeds
- pumpkin seeds
- small diced apples
- mandarin oranges
- crunchy tortillas strips
- CHEESE! our favorite is freshly grated parmesan
- croutons-store bought OR homemade
- olives-my favorite is KALAMATA!
- small diced pickles- I love the sweet ones but my husband likes the dill better so we switch between the two
- candied pecans- these are AMAZING
- take 1 cup of roughly chopped unsalted pecans, add a drizzle of honey, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. Stir and spread out thin over a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for minutes at degrees checking halfway. Let them cool, give it another chop and there you go! Store at room temperature in a tightly sealed container. They are delicious!
Salad dressings ideas!
- Our favorite salad dressing is by a brand called BRIANNAS Salad Dressing
- especially the Asiago Caesar Dressing!!
- Not only do they have the most falvorful salad dressings filled with great ingredients, they also have marinades!! YUM!
- They have sugar free dressings, dressings made with avocado oil, organic dressings, you name it, they have it!
- Check out their website for endless options OR head to your local Walmart, Kroger, or Meijer for some in store selections
