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.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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 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.