Spring is the time to celebrate life and growth.
As the days get warmer, colorful flowers pop up all around, and your vegetable garden shows its first sprouts, you may get the craving for light, fresh, and produce-packed meals.
Here at Hitchcock Farms, we show our appreciation for this time of year by providing the freshest seasonal produce for your recipes.
In this blog, we've gathered our top tips for creating the perfect spring salad, and we're sharing our favorite recipes with you.
How to Build a Fresh and Flavorful Spring Salad
Use Seasonal Produce
Using in-season produce is the best way to craft a delicious spring salad.
Seasonal produce is fresh, full of flavor, and in its nutritional prime.
Here are some of our favorite springtime vegetables:
Asparagus
Radishes
Turnips
Spinach
Balance Textures
The best spring salads have a variety of textures in every bite.
If you use a soft leafy green like arugula or butter lettuce, add crunchy veggies like carrots, celery, or radishes.
Great salads also need a salty and crispy ingredient, like nuts, seeds, or croutons.
Layer Flavors
While we all love a flavorful salad dressing, the dressing shouldn't be the only source of flavor in the entire meal.
There are endless ways you can add new depths of flavor to a salad.
Add pickled ingredients for a briny taste, or toss in some citrus for sweetness.
A savory source of fat, such as cheese or nuts, will make a salad especially delicious.
Fresh herbs and aromatics can elevate a salad, too. If you feel like your salad is missing something, try adding some chopped green onions, grated garlic, or fresh cilantro.
Stick to Light and Simple Dressings
Light vinaigrettes are wonderful for spring salads because they add just enough flavor while letting the seasonal produce shine.
Avoid overdressing the salad as too much liquid could cause the veggies to soften and wilt.
Easy & Healthy Spring Salad Recipes
Protein-Packed Main Courses
1. Napa Cabbage & Chicken Chopped Salad
Nothing says spring like a colorful chopped salad full of seasonal produce. This recipe combines chicken, napa cabbage, bell peppers, carrots, and celery with a light garlic ginger vinaigrette.
Serve it as a main dish for lunch, or turn it into a wrap or sandwich.
Combine chopped vegetables with shredded chicken breast, a can of mandarin oranges, and sliced green onions.
Prepare your vinaigrette by mashing together minced garlic, grated ginger, sugar, and salt and then whisking in rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sunflower oil.
2. Barbecue Chicken Salad
Barbecue chicken is always a crowd-pleaser, so why not incorporate it into your healthy spring salads?
This recipe embraces a Tex-Mex theme by combining barbecue chicken, corn, black beans, and crushed tortilla chips.
Tomorrow's leftovers will be even better as the flavors have time to mingle.
Grill and chop the barbecue chicken breasts.
Layer chopped romaine lettuce, barbecue chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, avocado, and cheese in a large bowl.
Drizzle ranch dressing and barbecue sauce on top, and sprinkle some crushed tortilla chips over the salad.
3. Spring Salmon Salad
Salmon is a light and flavorful protein that's perfect for your spring salads.
You can top your favorite lettuce or bagged salad mix with grilled salmon and add cucumbers, tomatoes, or other fresh seasonal veggies.
Coat salmon with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground ginger, and parsley flakes.
Grill the salmon for 10 to 12 minutes or until it flakes with a fork.
Place the salmon on a bed of greens and add your vegetables, feta cheese, and red wine vinaigrette.
Leafy Green Sides
4. Napa Cabbage Chopped Salad
Our napa cabbage chopped salad is the best green side dish for any protein.
Napa cabbage is packed with vitamins, iron, calcium, and fiber to keep you feeling great.
The recipe calls for a homemade garlic dill dressing, but feel free to swap it out for your dressing of choice.
Slice napa cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, and one apple into thin pieces.
Prepare the dressing by pureeing olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, honey, dill, and garlic in a blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Romaine and Apple Salad
Romaine is one of the most versatile and popular types of lettuce, especially for spring cooking.
Its mild, sweet flavor and crunchy texture make a wonderful base for side salads.
This recipe combines fresh romaine, sliced apples, walnuts, and chives for a unique blend of flavors and textures.
Prepare the blue cheese dressing by combining crumbled blue cheese, mayonnaise, vinegar, sour cream, buttermilk, and salt.
Spread a dollop of blue cheese dressing on each serving plate.
Slice the romaine heads from end to end, and place them on the plates on top of the dressing.
Sprinkle the lettuce with chopped apples, walnuts, and chives.
6. Cilantro Jalapeno Caesar Salad
Caesar salad is a classic side dish for steak, pasta, grilled chicken, salmon, and more.
Whenever you need to add some greens to your plate, you can whip up this Caesar salad made with romaine hearts, endive hearts, and pumpkin seeds.
If you're feeling ambitious, take this salad to the next level by roasting your own croutons.
Make your croutons by baking chunks of sourdough bread coated in oil at 400 degrees.
Mix the dressing by combining store-bought Caesar dressing, cilantro, jalapenos, garlic, lime, parmesan cheese, and salt in a blender.
Toss together the chopped romaine hearts, endive hearts, pumpkin seeds, and croutons. Top with more grated parmesan.
Hearty Grain Salads
7. Broccoli Farro Salad
Adding healthy grains to your salad can boost its protein and fiber contents, make the meal more satisfying, and keep you full for longer.
Farro, which originated in ancient Mesopotamia, is still a staple in the Mediterranean diet today.
This broccoli and farro salad is full of Mediterranean-inspired spring flavors.
Slice broccoli with a mandolin or by hand, and add it to a bowl with cooked farro, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.
Slice a cucumber, watermelon radish, red onion, and fresh dill, and combine with the broccoli and farro.
8. Lemon Quinoa Salad
This quinoa salad with a honey lemon vinaigrette is an excellent meal-prep recipe or potluck offering.
Crumbled bacon and feta cheese add an extra kick of protein to the meal.
If possible, cook the quinoa the night before so that it fully cools before you combine it with the other ingredients.
Boil fresh peas until they're bright green, and add them to the cooked quinoa, bacon, and feta.
Add chopped basil, cilantro, and almonds.
Prepare the dressing by blending lemon juice, olive oil, honey, and salt.
Breakfast Salads
9. Strawberry, Egg, and Prosciutto Breakfast Salad
Salad doesn't have to be limited to lunch and dinner. Breakfast and brunch salads are just as delicious and just as healthy.
This recipe, which calls for boiled eggs and prosciutto, is a great way to get some fruits and veggies in early.
Fresh strawberries make the recipe even more flavorful.
Bake sliced prosciutto at 400 degrees until crisp.
Roast asparagus until it starts to brown.
Arrange your greens of choice on a plate, and top them with chopped radishes, strawberries, asparagus, sliced boiled eggs, and crumbled prosciutto.
Drizzle on a strawberry vinaigrette.
10. Sweet Potato Breakfast Salad
This sweet potato breakfast salad has starch, healthy fats, protein, and fiber, making it a great kickstart to your day.
You can use your favorite lettuce as a base and add any vegetables you have on hand.
Cook bacon in a skillet until crispy, then remove it from the pan.
Add diced onion to the skillet and cook until it starts to brown before removing it.
Place diced sweet potato in the skillet and cook for about 10 minutes.
Add the bacon, onion, sweet potato, and sliced boiled eggs to a bed of greens, and drizzle with a green goddess dressing.
Celebrate Spring With Healthy Cooking
As the world comes back to life, it's the perfect time to embrace healthy eating.
At Hitchcock Farms, we're committed to providing fresh, seasonal produce to our partners all across the country.
We hope you have a chance this spring to discover some new favorite salad recipes or to develop your own.
FAQ
1. What are the best greens for spring salads?
The best greens for your salads are the ones you enjoy eating the most.
We love using romaine, kale, cabbage, arugula, and iceberg for our spring salads.
2. Can I make spring salads ahead of time?
You can prepare salads ahead of time with a few simple strategies.
Choose a firmer green, like kale, cabbage, or iceberg, so that the salad base won't wilt.
Make sure all of your veggies are completely dry before adding them to the salad.
Store the dressing separately to keep the salad fresh.
3. How do I store fresh produce for salads?
To prolong its lifespan, store your fresh produce in bags or containers in your refrigerator.
You could place a paper towel in the container to absorb excess moisture.
Some veggies, including asparagus, carrots, and celery, will last longer when submerged in water.
