Garden Green Salad

Every year, I grow the items used in this salad in my own garden. All these veggies grow rather easily where I live, and I love how low maintenance they are to take care of. When I worked on the farm, I harvested most of the items used in this recipe on a much larger scale, and it inspired me to try growing them at home once I realized how easy it was.

This simple salad is full of garden fresh goodness, and it’s one of the easiest side dishes to prepare, and extremely versatile. I love fresh veggies, and if you have found yourself here then I’m guessing you do as well!

I love this salad with some basil vinaigrette or rhubarb dressing. If I want to add meat, I usually do baked salmon with pesto or a scoop of tuna salad. This is a nice light side with smothered chicken, gnocchi, or some jambalaya. 

The recipe notes have plenty of additional variations to help guide you if you’d like to use other ingredients than what you’ll find in the recipe, but I’m going to give you a few more ideas here.

1. Swap snap peas out for radishes.
2. Use shredded or chopped carrots.
3. Cherry tomatoes instead of chopped tomatoes. 

Definitely visit the recipe card notes for more suggestions!

How To Make A Great Garden Green Salad

Salads like this one are often the default when we’re in a hurry and need to throw something together quickly, or when we forgot we promised to bring something to the office potluck. I don’t see this being a default as a bad thing, because a garden salad like this one is loaded with veggies, and no cook. We could all do a lot worse than this when we’re in a hurry.

One thing I love about a salad like this is that you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want, you are only limited by your imagination and the availability of veggies. The variety of types of greens not only adds color but flavor depth as well. Different salad greens really do have distinct flavors to them, and they help give your salad flavor!

Tips For The Freshest Produce

Here is some additional info about some of the ingredients:

Greens- Whatever greens you love or can find where you shop are great here. I used a combination of Spring Mix and Dandelion greens here. Yes, Dandelion greens are in fact edible!

They taste much like arugula, with a peppery and slightly bitter flavor that I actually really like.

Make sure your greens are not browning anywhere and don’t smell bad or appear soggy.

Snap Peas- These are so easy to grow, even in containers! I like their crunch and mild sweetness.

Look for snap peas that are a nice shade of light green that are not browning or feel soft or mushy.

Cucumbers- You can use any cucumber variety you want to here. Your cucumbers should be firm with no soft spots or browning.

Tomatoes- Any tomato will do here, whether its heirloom, cheery, or anything in between. Just look for tomatoes that are firm but give just a touch when squeezed lightly, and watch for soft spots or signs of rot or mold.

Dandelion Greens and Spring Mix- Give your greens a good look before using, whether you grew them or not. Check for soggy or wilted leaves and get rid of anything starting to rot.

What are your favorite items to put in a salad? Let me know in the comments below, and don‘t forget to sign up for my newsletter for all the latest updates. Happy Cooking!