Craving something light? Here are the best salad ideas

Hot days are here and with them the desire for something light and simple. Here you will find ideas for light salads – vegetable and fruit, meatless and traditional. Choose your own recipe for a tasty salad!

Interesting vege salads

Salad with strawberries

Ingredients (serving for 6 people):

• lamb’s lettuce,
• several leaves of oak leaf lettuce,
• a few endive leaves,
• a head of butter lettuce,
• 1 red onion,
• 1 shallot,
• 6 strawberries,
• 3 tablespoons olive oil,
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar,
• 1 full tablespoon of strawberry jam,
• salt, pepper.

Preparation

Wash and dry the lettuces. Clean the onions and shallots and cut them into peaks. Wash the strawberries and cut them in half. In a small bowl, prepare the dressing from the olive oil, wine vinegar and jam.

Season to taste. Put the lettuce, onion, shallots and strawberries into a large salad bowl. Pour over the dressing and serve immediately.

Salad with rice, tofu and tomatoes

Ingredients (serving for 4 people):

• 150 g long rice,
• 3 tomatoes,
• a few basil leaves,
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar,
• 150 g tofu,
• 30 g green olives,
• 3 tablespoons olive oil,
• salt, pepper.

Preparation

Rinse the rice in cold water, put it in a pot and pour in water in the proportion of one measure of rice to 3 measures of water. Cook according to the instructions on the package. Drain and cool.

Wash tomatoes and cut into quarters and tofu into cubes. In a salad bowl mix all the ingredients.

Prepare vinaigrette of olive oil, wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Place in the fridge. Wash the basil leaves and tear them in your fingers. When ready to serve, garnish with green olives and basil.

Salads – ideas for carnivores

Salmon and avocado salad

Ingredients (serving for 4 people):

• 1 oak lettuce,
• 2 large slices of smoked salmon,
• 50 g thick natural yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon mustard,
• 2 ripe avocados,
• 25 g pine nuts,
• lemon juice,
• salt, pepper.

Preparation

Line 4 plates with lettuce.

Cut the avocado in two halves, take out the seeds and remove the skin. Cut them lengthwise into slices and arrange them on the lettuce. Drizzle them with lemon juice to prevent them from turning darker. Cut the salmon slices into small pieces and arrange them on the plates.

Gently roast the pine nuts in a pan. Prepare vinaigrette in a bowl. Add yoghurt, lemon juice and mustard. Add salt and pepper. Then add the pine nuts. Mix well and pour the dressing over each plate.

Salad with ham and potatoes

Ingredients (serving for 3 people):

• 500 g potatoes,
• 6 pickled cucumbers,
• sour cream for salads,
• 10 pieces of chives,
• 2 tomatoes,
• 2 slices of boiled ham,
• mustard,
• salt, pepper.

Preparation

Wash the potatoes in a bowl of water. Put them in a pot with water and boil for 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes, let them cool down and then peel them.

Wash the tomatoes, remove the seeds. Dice the potatoes and tomatoes. Put all the vegetables into a salad bowl. Mix 3 tablespoons of sour cream and 1 teaspoon of mustard in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the sauce with the vegetables. Cut the ham into pieces and dice the pickled cucumbers. Chop the chives. Mix all the ingredients with vegetables and serve immediately.

Chicken salad

Ingredients (serving for 4 people):

• 4 chicken fillets,
• 2 slices of toasted bread,
• 1 teaspoon mustard,
• 1 tablespoon water,
• 1 head of lettuce,
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice,
• 2 teaspoons olive oil,
• salt, pepper.

Preparation

Fry the chicken fillets in a pan without fat. Cut them into strips. Toast the toasted bread in a pan and cut into cubes.

Prepare a vinaigrette in a bowl: mix lemon juice, mustard, oil and water. Season with pepper and salt.

On each plate put lettuce, 1 chicken fillet cut into strips, a few cubes of grilled bread. Pour the sauce over the whole thing and mix.

Main photo: Hermes Rivera/Unsplash