Salad: A One Pot Meal Guide

Hassle free 10 min meals for people who are always on the go.

Health does lie in minimalism. And by minimalism I mean, less processing of ingredients that maximizes health benefits. When you don’t have time to cook everyday you can follow this guide to create filling, nutrient dense meals in a jiffy.

Today, I am sharing a quick guide with you all so that you can create and play with ingredients that you have on hand. Remember you can create nutritious dishes with basic ingredients. Eating healthy is effortless. All you need to be good at, is a lot of planning. Once you get hang of it there is no looking back

Here Is Your Guide To Quick Meals

• Grain Base:
  • Brown Rice, Quinoa, Broken Wheat, Steel Cut Oats, Barley, Couscous, Chickpeas, Moong Sprout, Cowpeas, Black Beans, Kidney Beans, Whole Wheat Pasta, Rice Noodles, Whole Wheat Tortilla Wrap, Rice Paper Wrap, etc.
  • Cook these with water, little salt and olive oil. Store them in airtight container and refrigerate. They last up to 2-3 days.
  • For one person you would need roughly 1/4th cup to 1/2 cup of dry grain per meal.
  • If you are using canned goods, please strain and rinse with water.
  • All the grains can be cooked in rice cooker or instant pot or crock pot.

• Veggie Base
  • All kinds of Lettuces, Spinach, Spring Mix, Kale, Cabbage, Zucchini Noodles (Zoodles)
  • You can buy ready salad mixes.

• Vegetables As Topping:
  • Peppers, Celery, Tomatoes, Shredded Carrot, Finely Chopped Cabbage, Steamed Broccoli/Cauliflower, Cucumber, Radishes, Onion, Corn
  • Prepare them in different cuts and store them in airtight container.
  • Chopped Vegetables stay good for 2 days in refrigerator.
  • You can also add baked yams, sweet potatoes or roasted vegetables to salads (Try sesame broccoli) .

• Proteins:
  • Vegan: Beans, Tofu, Healthy Falafel, Sprouted Legumes, Tempeh, Edamame
  • Vegetarian: Egg/ Egg White, Paneer (Cottage cheese)
  • Meat: Lean Cuts of Meat, Grilled Chicken

• Fats:
  • If you want to use oils please use sparingly. If using other fat sources be very mindful of adding oils. You can use Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sesame Oil.
  • Other fat sources: Avocado, Olives, Cheese, Yogurt, Coconut Milk
  • Seeds: Chia, Flax, Sunflower, Pumpkin, Sesame, Poppy. Add them to dressings or as a topping but not more than a 1 tsp per person.
  • Nuts: Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Peanuts (or their butters in dressing: Thai Peanut Sauce), Desiccated Coconut

• Herbs, Condiments & Spices:
  • Citrus: Lime or Lemon Juice, Balsamic Vinegar, Rice Vinegar, Apple Cider Vinegar, Red Wine Vinegar
  • Ginger, Garlic, Parsley, Cilantro, Mint (Cilantro Mint Chutney), Rosemary, Basil
  • Pickled vegetables adds a zing to salad try pickled radishes
  • You can add turmeric, red pepper powder to dressings.
  • You can also add hot sauce or pickled jalapeno brine to salad for some steam😉
  • A low-sodium soy sauce works well if you are looking for Asian flavors.
  • And the basic ones yet very powerful : Salt & Pepper

• Other Ingredients
  • You can add dried fruits like raisins, goji berries, cranberries to your meals.
  • A lot of people enjoy fresh fruits in their salads. You can try fresh berries, apples, peach, mango, pineapple, oranges, kiwi, pears, etc.
  • You can sparingly use maple syrup, monk fruit extract, agave, palm sugar or brown sugar to sweeten your dressing.
  • A dressing needs fat and water based (usually citrus/acidic/vinegar) ingredients to form emulsion. You can add condiments and herbs to make them interesting.

Here are some salads that I have created that will give you some idea on how this works.

• Quinoa Salad
• Lettuce & Celery Salad
• Thai Cabbage Salad

You can pick as many items you would like in your salad. Another takeaway message is, always always always add a source of fat and protein to your salads to have satiety and balanced blood glucose levels.

The key is to get maximum benefit from minimum efforts. Experiment with these ingredients to make Asian, Mexican, Indian, and all sorts of hot or cold salad bowls.

Love,

Neha 🙂

Also try other recipes:

• Moong Sprout Salad
  I call moong sprouts as ’emeralds’. They are versatile and packed with nutrients.
• Hearty Barley Soup
  Celebrating the grain power with this hearty soup bowl.
• A Complete Vegan Meal
  No added oil or sugar. This is a perfect whole foods, plant-based ( #wfpd ), vegan meal.
• Salad: A One Pot Meal Guide
  Hassle free 10 min meals for people who are always on the go.
• Ladi Pav
  Pillowy soft, delicious pav 🙂
• Lauki Stew
  Creamy lauki stew, it’s the best thing that happened to lauki (Opo Squash).