Easy make ahead salads – how to make salads that last all week

30 Dec Easy make ahead salads – how to make salads that last all week

During summer, easy make-ahead salads can be wonderfully easy lunch and dinner options. I feel like that is what we need sometimes during the summer holidays. Something that can be put together with a minimum of effort in a few moments. And served with your choice of yummy lean protein. The trick is to make salads that last all week, or at least a good four or five days so that you can make them once and feast on them all week.

The only problem is that when we use green leaves for salads, and toss them in dressing, they tend to wilt within a day or so. This doesn’t satisfy your wish to find recipes for salads that last all week!

Green leafy vegetables such as baby spinach, rocket (arugula) and other green leaves are some of the best things we can eat for our health, though. So, one way of making a green salad last longer is to make the salad with all the ingredients in a salad bowl but keep the dressing in a separate jug. That way we can dress and toss the salad in portions as we serve them. And the green leaves won’t wilt! But you can still have the convenience of easy make-ahead salads.

Choosing salad ingredients

In my job as a cook for an NDIS participant and his family, I make meals that can be eaten over a few days until my next shift. In this particular role, I feel that instructions to dress a salad and toss it individually would be too complex. I need to serve portions that can just be pulled out of the fridge and either eaten cold or heated in the microwave. For this reason, I am unable to utilise leafy greens in the salads I make and need to add them to other options like sandwiches and smoothies.

Yesterday I was making smoked trout tarts and wanted to make a fennel and orange salad with a mustard vinaigrette to go with them. However, the recipes that I consulted for the fennel salad all had rocket in them. So, this was not going to work!!

I started to think about other options and realised that the salads I have made in the past that DO LAST for four or five days in the fridge often have ingredients that are a little more hardy to withstand the acidic dressing that I want to use.

Fennel is fine, but I realised that I could swap rocket (arugula) for cabbage, shredded Brussels sprouts, chopped broccoli or carrot and that these kinds of vegetables would have a little more longevity.

Getting creative with salads

Despite what your initial concerns might be, shredded Brussels sprouts and chopped broccoli (or even cauliflower) are quite tasty in a salad. Especially one where the dressing is delicious. And using these ingredients is key to making salads that last all week.

Fennel and orange salad with tangy vinaigrette

This recipe is an adaptation of the classic fennel, orange and rocket salad, using ingredients that will last a lot longer in the fridge than dressed rocket. It is quick, easy and delicious.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Course Salad

Servings 4

Equipment

• 1 mandolin

Ingredients

  

• 1 bulb fennel finely shaved with a mandolin, or finely sliced with a sharp knife
• 6 Brussels sprouts sliced across then chopped
• 1/4 purple cabbage finely shaved with a mandolin, or finely sliced with a sharp knife
• 2 oranges peeled, cut in half then sliced, and chopped
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice from an additional orange
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice from one lemon
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 10 grinds black pepper
• 100 g smoked trout or smoked salmon (optional) to serve

Instructions

 

• Shred the fennel and cabbage with the mandolin and add to a large bowl
• Add the chopped Brussels sprouts (or broccoli if you prefer) and orange pieces to the bowl
• In a jug or measuring jug add olive oil, vinegar, mustard, orange juice, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. Whisk until nicely combined.
• Pour the dressing on top of the salad and toss to combine
• If you are using smoked trout, chop the fish into bite-sized pieces and toss through the salad.
• Serve alongside a main course or as a light meal

Notes

Will last in the fridge for four to five days.

Not suitable for freezing.

I just realised that a nice addition to the salad dressing could have been a couple of tbsp to 1/3 of a cup of Greek yoghurt – maybe next time!

In any case, I hope this helps you in your quest to make easy make-ahead salads that last all week! It can be so wonderful when you are busy (or lazy), to help yourself to a serving of salad for lunch or dinner. I generally have two salads in my fridge during the summer months so that I can have one serving for lunch and one for dinner. I had been having grilled free-range chicken with the dinner serve, but I was noticing that it wasn’t making me feel very healthy and vital, so I have swapped back to baked tofu or tempeh and that can be a very yummy vegetarian substitute.

Enjoy your summer, and eat well!!