Summer is the perfect time to add healthier foods to your diet. This means more fruits and vegetables in every meal. Through Washington’s short growing season, you can stock up on fresh local produce at your neighborhood farmers market. When we think of fresh produce, we naturally think about a salad, but salads today are so much more than a slice of iceberg lettuce with a dollop of Thousand Island dressing. Salads can be an endless combination of ingredients and flavors. The great thing about eating healthier is that it can be as simple as throwing some extra items onto that bed of greens. As with any salad, the proportions of each ingredient can vary according to personal preference.

Meatless Cobb salad

The Eating Bird Food website has a variety of salad recipes that take advance of fresh summer produce.  Here’s a meatless Cobb Salad that adds some plant-protein heft.

  • Over a bed of spinach, mixed greens, or romaine lettuce add chickpeas (from a can), cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, and red onion. Include corn and carrots, fresh and uncooked.
  • This recipe suggests tempeh bacon for a savory flavor. What is tempeh bacon? It starts with tempeh, a plant-based protein made of cooked soybeans that has been fermented. You can find this at your local grocery store. Marinate slices of this premade tempeh in a mix of soy sauce, maple syrup, liquid smoke, garlic powder and pepper. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, turning once halfway through, or until crispy.
  • Slices of avocado will bring some healthy fats to the dish.
  • Top all of this with a red wine vinaigrette made with Dijon mustard, garlic, maple syrup, olive oil, sea salt, and pepper.

Pacific Northwest Summer Salad

The Sisters Fruit Company of Cornelius, Oregon, offers a Pacific Northwest Summer Salad featuring ingredients synonymous with the region.

  • Toast chopped hazelnuts over medium-high heat.
  • Over a bed of baby greens, add fresh blackberries, diced strawberries, and diced red onion.
  • Add dried fruit and blue cheese crumbles.
  • Break a portion of smoked salmon into chunks and add to the mix.
  • Top with the toasted hazelnuts.
  • Toss with a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette by combining ¼ cup fruit syrup, ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil, and ¼ cup Dijon mustard. Salt and pepper to taste.

Seafood Cobb salad

Lemon Grove Lane suggests a Pacific Northwest take on the classic Cobb salad with the traditional chicken swapped out for local seafood. The cooked items can be made in advance.

  • Hard boil a couple eggs.
  • Fry several slices of bacon and cut into bits.
  • Grill corn with a little butter and salt.
  • Drizzle seafood (shrimp, scallops, salmon or whatever is in season) with olive oil, salt and paper. Grill until done.
  • Make dressing from olive oil, mustard, shallots, salt, pepper and and 2 ounces of goat cheese. Process in a blender.
  • Over a bed of fresh butter lettuce and Romaine, add cherry tomatoes, corn, slices of avocado, and bacon bits.
  • Add dressing and toss until coated.
  • Top with grilled seafood removed from skewers.

For more information on how nutrition can improve your health, consider Kinwell’s “Lifestyle Medicine: Intro to Nutrition” program. These group medical appointments explore how a plant predominant diet can prevent and treat weight-related conditions. Talk to your Kinwell clinician or call (206) 690-5852 to learn more.