How do you feel when you think of a salad?

Crunchy? Yummy? Colorful? Vibrant?

Or cold? Boring? Bland? Diet food?

Chances are you thought of the latter. I feel the same especially when I go to a restaurant or an event where the salad is just cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce. Thats it?! That’s your salad?!!

Making good salad is super easy. Really! It is!

Here are couple of my tips to note when making salad:

1. Keep the salad leaves small so you dont have to struggle like a giraffe to fit the whole leaf into your mouth.
2. Add a variety of toppings that you love such as cherry tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, carrots, beans, etc.
3. Add some protein like chicken, seafood, eggs, chickpeas, etc.
4. Good fats such as avocados, nuts, seeds, and good quality cheese will give your salad a punch of flavor.
5. And finally, homemade dressings!!! They are the best way to get the flavor you want and to avoid the excess sugar and preservatives added in the readymade ones.

Try this sassy salad and you’ll never call a salad boring diet food again!

Ingredients:

5 cups or more salad mix

2 medium red apples

1/2 red onion, quartered and sliced

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup pecans

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)

For chicken:

1/2 boneless chicken breast, cubed

1/2 tsp garlic powder

pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 tsp sesame oil or raw coconut oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

salt and black pepper to taste

For dressing:

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp pure maple syrup

1/4 tsp black pepper

Method:

Wash the salad mix and leave it to drain in a colander. Get all your toppings out from the fridge to let it reach room temperature ( if you don’t like cold salads).

To make the dressing, mix all the dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake it. Chill in the fridge for a few minutes (optional).

To make the chicken, heat the sesame oil in a skillet. Add the chicken cubes, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Saute until the chicken is well done and slightly crispy. Top it with sesame seeds. Allow it to cool.

In the meantime, lay out the pecans and walnuts on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven for 5-10 minutes on low temperature. (You can skip this step if you are short on time, but trust me it’s worth doing it!)

Dry the salad mix with a paper towel to remove any excess water. Add the chopped apples, red onion, dried cranberries, toasted nuts, and the chicken. Mix well. Add the dressing just before serving and mix thoroughly.

I know there are few steps to this salad but it’s so worth while and guess what? You can enjoy a huge serving of this guilt free goodness.

You deserve it.

Make this salad, and comment below on how you tweaked it.