What exactly is a power salad? Better yet, how do you make one?
A power salad is a salad that has enough ingredients to make for a delicious and satisfying lunch or dinner. Typically, a power salad has more than just vegetables in them — they’re a full meal. To make a power salad is easy. Add all the ingredients that you want, such as various colored vegetables, mix in some grains, add any type of protein you like, include some seeds or nuts and toss everything together.
The best part of making one of these salads is that it doesn’t require a great deal of time to prepare or usually even a trip to the grocery store. You can use any leftover food items that you have in your refrigerator. It’s an ideal meal to make when you want to avoid making a trip to the supermarket, and you don’t want to throw away the small quantities of leftover goodies you already have in the refrigerator. Other foods that you can consider adding to this salad if you have them in your refrigerator include cauliflower or broccoli florets or bell pepper strips.
In that way, you could also term this a “clean out your refrigerator salad.” Here is the recipe that is ideal for those times when you need something hearty, nutritious, colorful and easy to assemble.
INGREDIENTS
Salad
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1/3 bag spinach and arugula mix
- 1 beet, peeled and shredded
- 1 tomato, cored and chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and shredded
- 4 purple heirloom potatoes, boiled and cut into cubes
- 1 roasted chicken leg or thigh, skin removed, deboned and shredded
- 1/4 cup seeds, like sunflower, pumpkin, chia or sesame seeds or flaxseeds
- Salt, to taste
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 chili pepper, like jalapeno, cayenne, poblano or Serrano, cored, seeded and sliced (optional)
- Mint leaves, for garnish
- 2 tablespoons dressing
Dressing
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of ground black pepper
- Dash of tamari sauce
DIRECTIONS
- In a small pot, add one cup of water with a pinch of salt and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Rinse the quinoa and set aside. Add the quinoa, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the quinoa is tender about 15 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and allow it to cool.
- While the quinoa is cooking, make the salad dressing. In a small bowl, add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, black pepper and tamari sauce and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- If using seeds, add the seeds of your choice to a skillet and roast them for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, add the quinoa, spinach and arugula mix, beet, tomato, carrot, heirloom potatoes, chicken, seeds, salt, black pepper, and chili pepper if using. Toss the salad well, drizzle with dressing and garnish with mint leaves if using and serve.
SERVES: 2
Total time: 30 minutes Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes
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