Recently I ran into a friend I haven’t seen for a while, a big guy, as in very tall (6’2”, 6’3”, something like that) and while not heavy, substantial; a guy who took up a certain amount of space.
But he was downright svelte now, and when I complimented him on his slender new physique (see Note), he excitedly told me that it was all due to Just Salads, a custom made salad chain that is replicating itself all over the place. He eats one every day for lunch, he said, with quinoa and roasted vegetables, and misc. seeds and sprouts….”Delicious! And the weight just fell off! “
It was just a very sweet but interesting (and ever so slightly amusing) thing to have this quite manly man telling me about his daily salad habit, and something that I think many of us can’t quite picture our fathers saying.
So, not only have salads taken their rightful place as meals, they have broken through the gender glass ceiling. For sure, no longer is a salad defined as just a pile of lettuce leaves, now they are only defined by the creator.
This Baby Romaine, Chickpea, and Root Vegetable Salad is the salad I made last night. The colors are truly pleasing – definitely get an assortment of carrots in different colors if possible. Many assortments of baby lettuces also contain a variety of colors.
I did serve salmon on the side (or served this on the side of salmon; semantics), but it still could easily qualify as a main course vegetarian salad. And today the leftover salmon will get chunked up and eaten right in the leftover salad.
This is a salad that causes people to ask me, “So, will your kids really eat that?” The answer. Sometimes. It depends on their mood, it depends on how hungry they are, it depends. They ate it last night.
More Vegetarian Salad Recipes:
- Endive and Radicchio Salad with Fresh Mozzarella
- Kale Quinoa Salad with Honey, Lemon and Dijon Dressing
- Chickpea Salad
- Mediterranean Lentil, Red Onion and Avocado Salad
Baby Romaine, Chickpea, and Root Vegetable Salad with Slightly Spicy Dressing
Ingredients
For the Salad
For the Slightly Spicy Dressing
- 1 teaspoon sambal oloek Indonesian fresh chili paste; you can use another chili paste or hot sauce to taste
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup olive or canola oil
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- Kosher or coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions
- In a large bowl toss together the lettuce, chickpeas, scallions, carrots and radishes.
- In a small container add the sambal oloek, honey, oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Cover and shake to mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat the salad with the dressing.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition values are provided as an estimate. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a qualified healthcare professional.
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