If I owned a restaurant one of my main priorities would be to ban wimpy salads from the menu. It would be a Big Salad Only Zone enforced with salads the size of my head! *insert evil cackle* Salads that dreams are made of. We’ve all been presented with that sad restaurant salad garnished a few tomatoes and onions on top of a pitiful bowl of wilted lettuce. So tragic, isn’t it? The worst is when they have the nerve to charge $10 for such a thing. It’s just about enough to make a grown woman or man cry.
Let’s stop this insanity before it’s too late. I’ve created a Change.org petition…(just kidding!!).
How about offering a salad that’s satisfying enough to be a full meal rather than a disappointing side? Why not create something customers will rave about to their friends and bring in more business? I know it sounds crazy, but it just might work. Many restaurants already do meal-sized salads with great success; we just need to make hearty vegan salads more common on menus everywhere!
This salad is one I’d love to see on a menu at a local restaurant. A large bed of chopped romaine forms the base followed by rows of julienned carrots, red pepper, carrots, cilantro, toasted sliced almonds, and warm & comforting roasted sweet potato rounds. I just love beautiful food. Roasted sweet potato is a comforting, stick-to-your-ribs addition and a nice temperature contrast to the cool, raw veggies. My creamy almond butter maple lime dressing brings it all together. See the bottom of the recipe for other salad dressing suggestions if you are looking for options.
On the side, I served it with my Super Power Chia Bread spread with coconut oil. It’s a satisfying, delightful lunch that really goes the distance!
Restaurants: your move.
The Big Salad
Yield
3 salads (estimate only)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A hearty & vibrant chopped salad paired with a sweet and tangy almond butter maple lime dressing. Please note the measurements for the salad are approximate. Add as much or as little of each vegetable as you desire!
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 large sweet potato, sliced into 1cm rounds
- 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
- 1 head romaine, chopped, washed, and spun dry
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 large carrot, julienned
- 1/2 cucumber, diced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- handful or two of cilantro leaves, chopped (or try parsley)
For the dressing (makes 1/2-2/3 cup):
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup raw almond butter (or roasted peanut butter)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup (or other sweetener), to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, to taste (optional)
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly coat the sweet potato slices with coconut or grapeseed oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping once half way through baking, until lightly charred and fork tender.
- Prepare salad dressing. Mince garlic clove in a mini food processor and then add the rest of the ingredients. Process until smooth. Note that the dressing will seem thin at first, but it will thicken up as it sits.
- Add chopped romaine into a large bowl. Layer on the vegetables (and almonds) in rows, if desired. Or simply mix everything together. Drizzle on dressing and enjoy!
Tip:
For other dressing options, see: Lemon-Tahini Dressing, Cashew Lemon Tahini dressing, or Balsamic Vinaigrette
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Cheers to Big Salads…and old reruns of Seinfeld. They never get old.
“But you had to have the BIG SALAD!!” – George Costanza
I totally agree with you! A sign of a good restaurant is the quality of their big salads. I am so disappointed when bagged lettuce with some carrot slivers and a generic store bought dressing arrives at my table for lunch. Sometimes if i know that is going to be the case I either eat before hand and just enjoy the company of my friends or sneak my own toppings and dressing into the restaurant to pump up the bagged salad.
You are absolutely right! Big salads are the way to go. I hate seeing someone pay a ridiculous amount of money for a salad only to get something that would have them hungry again within 2 hours. THIS salad would possibly induce a food coma which makes it the queen of all salads, yo! Now, open that restaurant!
Mmmmm! So fresh and clean and awesome!
Definitely agree with everybody here…when a restaurant serves a side salad of spongy iceberg lettuce that’s a sign to make a break for it.
Beautiful pictures!
What a gorgeous salad and that dressing sounds amazing!
This is so pretty! I would love to see this on a menu, plus the portions are spot on. So many restaurant salads are either tiny or bigger than my torso. Not to mention the dressings are usually heavy and gross.
Now off to buy ingredients to make this for lunch :)
The salad is so bright and colorful, and the dressing…oh the dressing…I have a thing for a yummy dressing!
Restaurants also need to follow your lead on the healthy, yet insanely delicious dressing! Balsamic vinegar is great, but creamy vegan dressings brimming with flavor bring things to another level!
And I love that you included sweet potatoes! Roasted vegetables on salads are an all time favorite.
Have you eaten at Urban Kitchen up on the North Service Road just east of Dorval? Now that’s a big salad!
But I agree, there’s nothing more infuriating than iceberg lettuce at a restaurant.
Andrea, I’ve been wanting to go there! Thanks for the tip :) I drive by there all the time. Do you know if they have vegan options?
You pick all your own ingredients, and they have a few kinds of beans, avocado and a lot more. Lots of choices for oil based dressings too.
And the salads are huuuuuge. I work just down the street, so it’s one of my favourite places to go to treat myself for lunch.
sounds amazing! Will go there soon :) Thanks Andrea.
Preach it! Petition it! Could not agree with you more. I am always “that” person who has to ask for the side vegetable ($$$) to be added to my salad and then remove 1/3 of the ingredients that actually come with salad that are just garbage (fried sticks, bland croutons, etc). It’s ridiculous too what they charge for VEGETABLES for heavens sake!
Love your salad and eat like this and thoroughly enjoy it for many meals!
hah I love that you order a side of veggies for your salad – genius!! ;)
i’d sign that petition in a heart beat! i agree- big salads are what dreams are made of!
Yum! I love big salads – have to make one every day. I cannot stand it when restaurants give you tiny side or entree salads. Sometimes, as a vegan, that’s the only menu option and its nice when they (rarely!) have some substance! Going to have to try this one this week. That dressing sounds devine!
Yes please! One of my biggest pet peeves is wimpy looking salads – like the ones with just a few bits of iceberg lettuce and a couple of tomatoes and cucumbers. Not to be nasty about iceberg or anything, but it kinda sucks compared to other greens! This salad sounds delicious Ange!
This is great inspiration! I have so many butternut squash and cucumbers right now from the garden and I think instead of the sweet potato I could just substitute the squash as ANOTHER way to use it! I don’t think I can handle another batch of soup or puree right now. Thanks for the lovely inspiration.
Looks great! Since I am allergic to almonds I don’t really know what almond butter tastes like and, therefore, what would make the best substitute?! I can’t really imagine using PB on this salad (in the dressing). Do you have an idea?
I would suggest my lemon tahini dressing (linked at the bottom of the recipe) it would work really well on this salad I’m sure.
Delicious!!! Totally with you on the banning wimpy salads….far too many of them here in Ireland..lettuce, tomato and cucumber with a drizzle of oil….BORING! This looks sensational!
Who eats wimpy salads? Not this girl. I am also a fan of big BOLD salads that are packed with yummy ingredients. I love this salad dressing.. anything with almond butter wins me over!
Funny – I was writing about big salads today. Had some fab salads on holiday in Munich, and I’m bringing the spirit home with me :-)
That dressing sounds like the perfect compliment to the ingredients in that salad. I can’t wait to make a big batch !
I have been skipping the salads lately because I’ve been too lazy to chop veggies (lame, I know, it’s too hot here to want to do anything!). I think I’m going to have to get back to it, this looks so good!
I’m pretty sure I would live at your restaurant if you opened one. Are you trying to hint at something, Angela? ;)
I can honestly say I have no desire to open a restaurant. Maybe a smoothie bar would be fun though!
I wish I had this for lunch! Can you tell me where you got the bowl from? Looks like the perfect salad bowl.
You are right it is the perfect size! I love these bowls – from Ikea :)
now that’s a $10 salad!
Awesome Salad! I love it when your recipies are oil free or easy to omit the oil. I would love to see this one in a resturant! I hate wimpy salads too!
I fully support your hearty vegan salad initiative! You’re right, many restaurants do meal-sized salads with meat, but it’s tougher to find one that’s vegan. Add roasted sweet potato to anything and I am one happy girl!
Beautiful salad, Angela.
I used to think salads were meant to be side dishes only since they never left me satiated, till I began making my own giant ones that included plenty of protein & healthy fats. I can’t wait to try this dressing!
Even as an omnivore, I would routinely order a salad like this in restaurants. I’d even splurge $15 or so.
Love the Seinfeld reference, too. :-)
That looks SO GOOD! :) Now I’m craving a big salad! :)
This salad looks amazing! Since I eat a salad about 98% of the time at restaurants, I have experienced my fair share of salads, and the bad ones completely ruin my desire to ever return. It really shouldn’t be hard to make a delicious salad. Over the weekend I had one with sweet potato (first time I’d ever tried that on a salad), and I love it now! Funny that you posted this a couple of days after my first sweet potato on a salad. I want to leave work this instant to make it, but alas, I cannot.
Isn’t sweet potato on a salad the best? I love it so much. Same goes for adding a grain like quinoa on the base.
Great recipe Angela ! Thank you very much. I had some mini carots that needed to be used up before I used my sweet potatoes, so I roasted those in coconut oil instead with walnuts still in the shell. I also aded some pormegranate seeds radishes and watercress. I substituted the sesame oil for some tahini and threw in a few raisins too :)
Thank you for getting my creative juices flowing !
I saw your book in the store. It looks amazing ! Which food preparers have inspired you the most ?
yum! Big salads are a staple in my daily. don’t know what I’d do without them :)!
I have never been a fan of restaurant salads, so when I’m going out to eat with omnivore friends and they say “you can probably have salad” I just want to scream!
I would totally sign your change.org petition! ;)
Wow I think this is one of the first times that a salad made my mouth water! I think it was the addition of the sweet potatoes! Such a good idea! I agree, most restaurant salads are a huge disappointment and very over priced for some reason. Thanks for the dressing recipe, it sounds delicious!
Don’t you love huge salads with all kinds of delicious and healthy fix-in’s? YUM
Cheers to banning wimpy salads!!!
I’m so with you on that! I always need a salad with STUFF in it. Quinoa, beans, avocado, cheese, raw veggies…something! It can’t just be lettuce. So boring! I love your addition of sweet potato! I’ll have to try that one!
Just say NO to wimpy salads!!! I paid $10 for a beet salad last week that literally had 2 beets, 1/4 of an apple and maybe 10 arugula leaves. What. The. Heck?!?! Next time I want YOUR salad!
I would totally visit your restaurant! Half the time I order a salad at a restaurant, I leave still hungry. Where is the substance?! And why am I paying $10+ for a bad of lettuce and three cherry tomatoes?!
You’re so right that it’s hard to find a good, filling salad that isn’t full of meat, cheese & other fillers! This one looks so good – what a great addition the sweet potato is!!
This looks SO good! And your dressing is one of my go-to dressings for my own Big Salads! We have a Big Salad for dinner at least once a week. My friend calls hers Hugh Jass salads. :)
This is SO true! I didn’t come here for a little cup of wilting lettuce, I need stuff in my salad!
THIS LOOKS FANTASTIC!!! NOM NOM!
I love this salad! So colorful! I just ate at a restaurant the other night and order a salad and it was the saddest looking thing and cost me $15 :( ! My husband order ribs that were less than my salad.
I just posted today about how I need some salad variety in my life and bam this salad is it. I’ve never thought of putting cooked sweet potatoes in a salad but now I can’t wait to try it.
Now that’s a salad!
Angela, this salad looks so colorful and nutritious! Sweet potatoes are my favorite vegetable.
I pretty much never order salad out now unless I know the place as I’m always disappointed with the meager plate which arrives :( This dressing sounds amazing!
Yum! Just made this dressing (with some miso and rice vinegar added) and poured it over a big salad of spinach, arugula, carrots, onion, cilantro and basil, with chickpeas. It’s great!
I am so with you on the wimpy salads! I recently went to a sushi restaurant with some friends and ordered an avocado salad, excepting something with at least a little substance, but no, it was literally lettuce with a few slices of avocado. So not only did I look like I was starving myself, but I was also still SO HUNGRY! It was awful, and so not worth $10!!
Yes, thank you for saying it! I also like the sweet potato idea, never have I ever thought to put those in my salad.
Mmmm this sounds awesome. I love love love big salads and am continuously disappointed with the salads that some restaurants have to offer. I would love to walk into a restaurant and have this served to me!
Perfect Salad! Complete and tastefully nutrient.
[ Smiles ] Another easy to make vegan recipe that is both healthy and delicious!