Don’t you just love a big ass salad? They fill you up, but if done right are loaded with healthy nutrients & super flavorful. So when it comes time to making a big ass salad I always have a goal in mind, 7 different fruits & veggies in the bowl. This helps me do couple of things. One, I get a wide variety of nutrients in the hopes of balanced nutrition. Two, it keeps things interesting. I mean there can be so many variations. I eat a ton of salads so this helps to ensure that they are never boring. Third, it really helps in using up those random produce items you have on hand. How do you keep your salads from being boring?
Five Spice Salad
Big salad with tons of variety & flavors!
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpeas see notes
- 2 tbsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups kale
- 1 1/2 cup arugula
- 1 cup green cabbage, sliced
- 1/2 cup carrots, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup mint, chopped
- 1/4 cup green onion, sliced
- 1 avocado, sliced
Orange Miso Vinaigrette
- 1 tsp white miso paste
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar sub apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Place chickpeas (see notes) on tray. Drizzle with oil & Chinese Five Spice Powder. Toss to coat. Roast for 20 minutes.
- Prepare all your vegetables & herbs. Chop, slice & massage it up!
- Make the vinaigrette by whisking together all the ingredients until well blended. Taste & adjust as needed with extra oil or vinegar depending on your taste preference.
- Place all the veggies, herbs and chickpeas in a large bowl (except the avocado). Add 1 tbsp of the vinaigrette & gently toss the salad.
- Plate the salad. Add sliced avocado on top to garnish. Serve remaining vinaigrette on the side.
Notes
Are you a planner? Budget conscious? Go through chickpeas in bulk? If yes to any of these you may want to use dried chickpeas & cook them yourself. Just follow the directions on the package. Short on time? Don’t want to cook one more thing or do one more dish? Canned it is! Just make sure to thoroughly wash & pat dry. Any added moisture on the chickpeas will make it harder for them to crisp up when you roast them.
My taste buds prefer acidic vinaigrettes. You’ll notice in my recipes that I tend to have more acid then oil. If you lean on the opposite side of the flavor spectrum just add more oil to balance.
Enjoy!!!