I love salads, but I’ll be the first to admit that they can get a bit boring after a while!
Recently, I have challenged myself to have one salad a day because they are such a great way to pack in a lot of veggie servings and I tend to slack on my veggie consumption in the Winter time. We don’t have our CSA share brimming with veggies and the grocery store stock can look a bit worse for wear this time of the year. (Last week, I bought some romaine that looked so weak and frail I almost shed a tear.)
Sadly, in the Winter it is often: veggie consumption down, carb consumption UP.
But…..I do feel (and look) my best when I’m eating lots of vegetables, so I decided to make an effort to pack more into my day. The only downfall with my salad challenge is that salads can become boring pretty fast if I don’t get creative!
The other day I was eating a rather boring salad and I thought to myself, Wouldn’t it be fun if I could make a high-protein salad topper that would be easy to sprinkle on my salads? Then the wheels got turning and I started to think of different flavour combinations and I pretty much ran to the kitchen to try it out.
These salad toppers are high in protein, fibre, healthy fats, and pack in a ton of nutrients. They will give your salads (or bowls of cereal!) some extra staying power too. Have fun mixing up the flavours and making different salad combos. 
[print_this]
Pump It Up Customizable Salad Toppers
Chewy, flavourful, and super addicting these high-protein salad and cereal toppers will give those boring bowls a boost. Have fun making all kinds of fun flavours! I have included the nutritional info below.
Yield: ~1.5-1.75 cups (6 servings)
Base recipe:
- 2 tbsp regular oats
- 2 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat flour)
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a non stick mat. Mix the flax egg in a small bowl and set aside. After 5 minutes, Mix all of the above ingredients together in a bowl. Now add in your desired ‘flavours’ by selecting one of the options below or by creating your own flavour!
|
Savoury Flavour: (Garlic Herb) |
Sweet Flavour: (Cinnamon Sugar) |
YOUR FLAVOUR? |
|
|
|
Directions (continued): After mixing in your seasonings, spread the mixture onto your prepared baking sheet as flat as you can by using slightly wet hands or a spatula. You want it as thin as you can get it so it cooks faster. You can now sprinkle on additional herbs if making the savoury flavour or you can sprinkle on sugar if making the sweet flavour. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, flip, and break up the pieces with a spatula and bake for another 5 minutes. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. Makes about 1.5 cups or a bit more.
I served my salad with my Better than Balsamic dressing.
Nutritional info (per serving, serves 6): 160kcals, 11 grams fat (1 gram sat fat, 5082mg Omega-6, 1972 Omega-3 fatty acids), 10 grams carbs, 5 grams fibre, 7 grams protein, 0 grams sugar. (Note: This info includes the base ingredients only).
[/print_this]
This recipe really could not be any easier! I was just shocked at how quickly it came together. The great thing about this recipe is that it is completely customizable too. The flavour combinations are endless. :)
I’m sure you can mix up the seeds too depending on what you have!
Now you pick what flavours you want to use. I made Savoury and Sweet versions that were both so good.
Mix together and then spread the mixture onto a pan as thin as possible. The thinner you spread it, the faster it will cook.
Sprinkle on additional herbs, or if making the sweet version, sprinkle with cinnamon and coarse sugar. Mmmmm.
Bake for 15 minutes at 350F and then remove from oven. Flip the large piece and then break up up with a metal spoon. Bake for another 5 minutes and then cool completely on the pan.
In under 30 minutes, you have the most amazingly delicious healthy salad or cereal topping.
I baked mine up chewy, but if you wanted them crispy you could bake them longer. It is totally up to you. They do firm up slightly when cooling, so keep that in mind.
I’m going to warn you, they are SUPER addicting! I loved eating them like a ‘cracker’ too. They would be amazing with hummus (what wouldn’t though?).
This morning, I discovered that the Sweet cinnamon sugar flavour is also incredible on cereal! It is chewy and really amps up a bowl of cereal in a flash. I’m sure it would also rock in a bowl of hot oatmeal or VOO.
Anyone want to join in the salad challenge with me? I’m curious to see what other flavours you guys can come up with! If you have any ideas or make any other versions, leave me a comment below!
~~
Yesterday, I got some exciting news. 
I have been selected as a finalist in Best Health Magazine’s Health Blog Awards in the Eat Well category.
Voting is now open and I would greatly appreciate your vote! All you do is enter your name and email address and then click to vote. You can vote daily if you’d like to. Voting is open until March 21 and winner’s are announced on March 31st. When you vote you are entered to win a chance at a free subscription to the magazine. :) Thank you so much for your support! 
Have a great day. It appears I have a long day of bakery work ahead of me today. ;)
This is such a great idea!!! How on earth did you come up with something so creative so quickly? Oh right — you’re a genius! ;)
This IS amazing. Great recipe! Congratulations on being a finalist!
What a creative way to incorporate some fun into a salad!
I have been trying to eat a salad a day for about a week and just ordered some hemp seeds from Amazon so I could make your salad topper, looks great! Can’t wait to try it!
Oh, this is so fun! Something crunchy just makes a salad complete. I like walnuts and dried cranberries on my salad. mmm delicious!
Instead of dressing, I use hummus. When I was a kid, I’d use tomato sauce. My strange food habits started early!
These look awesome! They are like better croutons!
Looooooove this crunchy topping idea. I usually throw pepitas on top, but this is so much more fun. Chris will love it too. We eat a salad with dinner almost every night. I just love them. :) Off to vote…congrats!
Lovely recipe!
Have to try it!
I was flipping through my local newspaper today (“The Leader Post” – in Regina) and was pleasantly surprised to see you in there!!!!!!!! I first noticed all the Green Monster ingredients, and was like “woah, the Leader Post knows about Green Monsters!”, and then I saw you!!!
Very cool :-)
The salad toppers look wonderful. I love adding more oomph to my salad- makes the leaves and stuff taste better.
Congrats on your nomination- good luck!
What a great idea! I love adding leftover couscous or quinoa on top of my salads. It’s a nice texture change, and if I heat the leftovers up, its a lovely temperature difference too.
This has nothing with toppers, but I have a question making juice since you have great recipes on healthy smoothies and the “green monster”. I was wondering what to get the Vitamix blender or a juicing machine? Will Vitamix perform the same without the mess of the pulp clean up from a juicer? Thank you so much.
The VM is a blender and the juicer simply extracts the juice and does not make use of the pulp or fibre. I would always suggest a blender over a juicer any day. Ive heard that the $40 Oster brand came in second place by comsumer reports if you are looking for a budget friendly option.
Those look so fun! At first I thought they were going to be a cracker, but when you said chewy, I was sold! I hate croutons but these look like a way yummier topper idea :)
Those crackers look lovely!
Your recipes and passion for healthy eating have truly inspired me. I know you must hear this a lot but it is so true. I have always had a passion for cooking and baking (which is why it took me 9 years to loose the 60 extra pounds I was carrying around) but passion for healthy cooking was lacking. I thought when I was on a diet nothing was supposed to taste good and if it did it probably shouldn’t be on my plate. But now I see that I was so wrong. I just hit my goal weight this week and now I look forward to staying healthy using tons of your recipes. Thank you for all your hard work.
Thanks for the nice comment, Aleasha! Happy to hear of the wonderful changes you have made. congrats!
Great idea Angela!
Although I can’t eat cold salads in the winter, I love the idea of adding the savoury ones to my garlic-sauteed greens, or the sweet ones to roasted squash or sweet potatoes.
One question – I know you don’t count calories, but how do you fit into your daily meal plan all the tasting of your cooking and baking that you must have to do?
I always let my hunger guide me. So if I am doing more taste testing than usual, I won’t eat as big of a lunch or dinner. It all balances out I find!
Oh yummy! My mom makes toppers for salad and oatmeal out of nuts, seeds and spices. It’s such a great idea. It also makes the salads so nice and hardy!
what a great idea, i’m always looking for some crunch to add to my salad but it usually involves lots of fat and extra calories. these are the perfect alternative to croutons.
i voted for you!!! because you DEFINITELY deserve it!
YEAH FOR OMEGAS!!! :D