Seriously Good Salads: Creative Flavor Combinations for Nutritious, Satisfying Meals

By Nicky Corbishley

Say “Goodbye” to Sad Salads

Gone are the days when salads were disappointing meals made with wilted lettuce and a few standard veggies. In Seriously Good Salads, Nicky Corbishley shares 75 of her favorite salads, all packed with fresh flavor, loaded with exciting toppings and covered with delectable dressings.

Salad lovers looking for some extra protein to accompany their veggies will drool over Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad, Salmon Sushi Salad and Chorizo and Lima Bean Salad. Other favorites, like Cheddar, Apple and Walnut Salad, Thai-Style Slaw with Peanut Dressing and Moroccan Couscous Salad with Orange and Apricot, are piled high with yummy cheeses, grains, nuts and more to keep you feeling full and happy. Nicky even includes fantastic fruit-based salads, like Orange Salad with Pistachios and Pomegranate, and all the tasty salad dressing recipes you could possibly want.

With Nicky’s innovative flavor combinations and unique ingredients, it’s easier than ever to turn a boring side salad into a showstopper of a meal the whole family will enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Jul 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781624148262

Book preview

MIGHTY MEAT AND POULTRY

For me, the easiest way to make a salad feel like a full and satisfying meal is by including meat.

Chicken is an easy favorite that works with most cuisines (you’ll find 10-plus chicken recipes in this book), but I’m also including recipes with steak, such as my juicy Coffee-Crusted Seared Steak Bowl and my spicy Bulgogi Beef Lettuce Wraps, pork (you haven’t lived till you’ve tried my Sticky Pork Belly) and even duck (Chinese-style with perfectly crispy skin in my Chinese Duck Salad with Plums).

•  Use leftover meat—such as leftover cooked chicken in my Crispy Chicken Shredded Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing.

•  Use ready-cooked, prepared or cured meat, such as the selection of meats on my Piled-High Cured Meat Deli Board.

•  Take your time and cook from scratch—how about my Firecracker Chicken and Wild Rice Nourish Bowl, made with chicken marinated in my special spicy marinade, then grilled to perfectly charred deliciousness?

If you’re not a meat lover, the other 40-plus meat-free and fish-based salads have got you covered.

FIRECRACKER CHICKEN AND WILD RICE NOURISH BOWL

This spicy chicken salad with a sweet-and-sour sriracha dressing is easily filling enough for dinner and it makes a great winter salad for a cold evening. It takes a little bit of time to prepare and marinate, but it’s so worth the wait!

SERVES 4

MARINADE AND CHICKEN

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbsp (15 ml) sriracha

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

3 tbsp (38 g) light brown sugar

2 tbsp (30 ml) light soy sauce

1 tbsp (15 ml) dark soy sauce

1 tbsp (16 g) tomato paste

1½ tsp (8 ml) cider vinegar

1½ tsp (8 g) tamarind paste

1½ tsp (8 ml) Asian fish sauce

Pinch of ground white pepper

3 medium chicken breasts, sliced into bite-size chunks

1 tbsp (15 ml) vegetable oil

SRIRACHA DRESSING

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil

1 tbsp (15 ml) sriracha

1 small clove garlic, peeled and minced

1½ tbsp (30 g) honey

Juice of ½ lime

Pinch of salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

SALAD

2 cups (60 g) packed baby salad leaves

1½ cups (250 g) cooked wild red rice (from about ½ cup [99 g] raw), warm or cold

1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

¼ red cabbage, finely sliced (about 11 oz [312 g] sliced)

2 radishes, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 cup (85 g) snap peas

10 grape tomatoes, sliced in half

2 flatbreads, toasted or grilled and quartered

2 scallions, sliced into thin strips

1 tsp shichimi togarashi (see Note)

1 tsp black sesame seeds

1 tsp white sesame seeds

4 lime wedges

To marinate the chicken, in a large bowl, stir together all the marinade ingredients except the chicken and oil. Add the chicken, then cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

Brush a cast-iron grill pan or skillet with the oil and heat over high heat until hot. Scoop the chicken out of the marinade with a slotted spoon, place on the pan and cook, turning once, until browned and cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes total. Discard the marinade.

In a small pitcher, stir together all the dressing ingredients.

Divide the baby salad leaves among 4 serving bowls. Arrange the cooked rice, avocado, red cabbage, radishes, red and yellow bell peppers, snap peas and grape tomatoes in the bowls.

Push 2 of the pieces of toasted flatbread into the edge of each bowl, then spoon one-quarter of the cooked chicken on top of each salad.

Sprinkle with the scallions, shichimi and black and white sesame seeds, then garnish each bowl with a lime wedge before serving. Serve with the dressing.

NOTE: Shichimi togarashi is a Japanese spice mixture containing 7 spices. There are variations, but most contain black pepper, chiles, citrus zest, sesame seeds, ginger, dried seaweed and poppy seeds. You can buy it online or from Asian supermarkets.

PORTUGUESE CHICKEN SALAD WITH GRILLED BELL PEPPERS

The homemade piri piri sauce in this recipe is used as a marinade for the chicken and bell peppers, and also makes up part of the simple creamy dressing.

The sauce is so delicious—packed with layers of flavors and a nice kick of heat. I like to double the amount when I make it, so I have some left in the refrigerator for the week.

SERVES 4

PIRI PIRI SAUCE

1½ tsp (8 ml) olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

6 to 12 bird’s eye chiles, roughly chopped (depending on how hot you like it)

2 vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Juice of ½ lime

2 tbsp (30 ml) red wine vinegar

2 tbsp (27 g) light brown sugar

CREAMY PIRI PIRI DRESSING

¼ cup (60 g) mayonnaise

⅓ cup (10 g) finely chopped fresh cilantro

CHICKEN AND PEPPERS

3 chicken breasts, flattened using a rolling pin

1½ tbsp (23 ml) olive oil

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced

SALAD

3 cups (90 g) packed baby salad leaves

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced

4 vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered

8 cooked baby new potatoes, skin on, sliced

½ small red onion, sliced into thin rings

½ small yellow onion, sliced into thin rings

⅓ cup (10 g) chopped fresh cilantro

First, prepare the piri piri sauce. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, or until