Spring Salads

Great ideas for enjoying the season’s bounty

With the amazing produce spring brings, one of the best ways to enjoy it is in a fresh salad. A spring salad can be as simple as tender greens tossed with vinaigrette, or you can step it up by adding seasonal treats like snap peas, asparagus, radishes, rhubarb, baby artichokes, and more fresh spring vegetables.

Eating Seasonally

Spring brings a bounty of fruits and vegetables in every color of the rainbow. As it approaches, there’s nothing we look forward to more than the coming weeks of warmer weather, longer days, and – most importantly – markets full of spring produce. 

In grocers’ and farmers’ markets around the country, signs of spring are all around. Make good use of the fresh, vibrant new vegetables and fruits.

What’s in a Salad?

Salads are among the easiest and quickest dishes to prepare. Anything you want to call a salad is a salad, from canned tuna mixed with a jar of mayonnaise to a variety of exotic greens tossed with oil and vinegar. Because salads are so versatile, many ingredients can be prepared in advance, and leftovers can be thrown into the mix.

Leafy Greens

These days, even average supermarkets have a good assortment of greens, and it always pays to combine at least two or three – preferably more – with varying flavors and textures. There are literally hundreds of edible green, leafy vegetables, and each has its own personality.

Arugula, Bibb lettuce, Boston lettuce, mache, and mesclun are available year-round but thrive in the cooler weather of spring and fall. Be sure to choose crisp lettuces free of blemishes. The leaves should be bright and fresh-looking. Lettuce should be washed and thoroughly dried in a salad spinner to remove any excess moisture. Refrigerate washed-and-dried greens in an airtight plastic bag for three to five days.

Simple Additions

Try adding a few of these easy, delicious ingredients to any salad for extra flavor, color, and texture.

• Fresh herbs, chopped or torn into small pieces
• Nuts or seeds, crumbled or chopped if necessary
• Sliced pears, apples, strawberries, grapes, or other fruit
• Section citrus fruit, such as grapefruit or orange
• Very thinly sliced Parmesan (use a vegetable peeler to produce them curls) or other hard cheese
• Diced roasted red or yellow peppers (or canned pimentos), olives, capers, or anchovies
• Finely cut celery or fennel
• Crumbled hard-boiled egg

Getting Creative

Embrace the fresh vegetables of spring by creating a healthy side salad or hearty main-dish salad of your own. Now that you know the salad basics, experiment by combining a few of your favorite fresh ingredients. The amount of delicious creations you can come up with is as endless as your imagination, so go ahead and have some fun with it.