Summer is prime salad season, and there are so many ways to make them that dazzle both the eye and the palate. Here are some favorite summer salads using seasonal produce.
Some of them can be main dishes; others can complement your plant protein dishes and grilled vegetables. Yes, they might be almost to pretty to eat, but go ahead and dig into these delicious, naturally vegan summer salads featuring fresh seasonal produce.
Watermelon and Vegan Feta Salad: Who was it who first thought of putting watermelon and feta together in a salad? It’s one of those combinations that seems odd at first, but is actually genius.
Pearl Couscous Salad combining herbs, raw veggies, and lush stone fruit makes for a light and refreshing companion to grilled foods or bold-flavored plant-based protein dishes.
Vegan Niçoise-Style Salad: Bearing its French elegance beautifully, this classic composed salad may look fancy, but is incredibly easy to make. The traditional version is often made with tuna, but in this vegan Niçoise salad, it’s replaced with baked tofu, which makes a great stand-in.
Tri-Color Potato and Arugula Salad combines three kinds of potatoes with arugula for an earthy flavor with plenty of eye appeal. If you can’t find purple potatoes, simply substitute another sweet potato or two, and the salad will still be gorgeous and delicious.
Thai-Style Zucchini Ribbon Salad: Ever-popular spiralized zucchini noodles create a variation from the original dish featuring green papaya.
Grilled Corn with Avocado: You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make a beautiful dish highlighting grilled corn. With avocado, red onion, chile peppers, and lime juice, summer corn becomes a delicacy in this room-temperature dish.
Red and Yellow Cherry Tomatoes with Fresh Herbs: The jewel-like colors of this simple salad make it so appealing, both for the palate and the eye. Though you can make this relish-like salad year round, it’s best with the sweetest summer cherry tomatoes and the season’s fresh herbs.
Boston or Bibb Lettuce Salad with Avocado, Green Beans & Couscous: The key to this salad is to use the best possible ingredients—especially the green beans, in season. Avocado, grape tomatoes, briny black olives, and a small amount of couscous nestle with the tender lettuces.
Bok Choy and Red Cabbage Salad with Snow Peas: In this colorful recipe, the combination of crisp snow peas, bok choy, sprouts, and red cabbage is so appealing, and it’s a feast for the eyes, too. It’s all pulled together with the salty-tangy flavors of sesame-ginger dressing.
Colorful Cabbage Salad (with tomatoes, carrots & olives) is a cross between a slaw, a tossed salad, and a chopped salad. It goes with most any kind of meal.
See more fresh plant-based salads & sides.
Leave a Reply