Eat Your Veggies Salad

Winter salads deserve as much love as their summer cousins, and my Eat Your Veggies Salad proves it. When leafy greens just aren’t calling your name, chopped vegetables step in with color, crunch, and loads of fresh flavor. This easy mix-and-match salad is all about prepping a batch once and enjoying it for days, whether piled into a bowl for lunch or scooped up straight from the fridge as a quick snack.

Not All Salads Need Lettuce

I was a vegetarian for a long time in the middle years of life, and one of the reasons it was easy to maintain was because I don’t have a sweet tooth. Like, not at all. Savory foods, bland foods, astringent foods (think, bell peppers and celery), salty foods — that’s my jam. Oh, I like doughnuts and desserts and pumpkin cream cold brews — and jam, especially fig jam — but they’re not what I crave.

Tack on the fact that I’m a life-long vegetable gardener, well, it’s easy for me to come down heavy on the side of salads. I consider myself very adept at the art of salad-making — here are some great tips for helping the green-avoiders in your life finally embrace the salad — and I’m here to share that not all salads need lettuce and salad greens. In fact, chunky vegetable salads are a fantastic way to get extra nutrients into your day while excelling at food prep.

Many vegetables last dayzzz in the fridge; dressed greens wilt and go soggy pretty quickly.

If you follow food creators on social, you might have seen your share of chopped veggie salads. Consider this your nudge, as I’m writing this in early winter — when heavy, carby foods rule — to jump on the bandwagon and mix up your own batch. I love this salad because I can chop up a bowlful, and it keeps in the fridge for several days’ worth of lunches and sides for dinner. My favorite lunch lately is miso soup with a side of this salad, scooped up with sweet potato tortilla chips.

Even breakfast: A rice cake layered with cottage cheese, then this salad, and topped with a Chili Crisp Fried Egg. Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about.

The Eat Your Veggies Salad is —

• Completely customizable: Use any mix of vegetables you love or need to use up in the moment.
• Perfect for meal prep: Make once, eat all week for multiple meals.
• No wilted greens: Chopped vegetables stay crisp and fresh in the fridge for days
• Great at helping you meet your healthier eating goals: An easy way to get multiple servings of vegetables daily.
• A no-cook option: Just chopping and mixing.
• A refreshing counterpoint to heavier winter dishes.

If you enjoy a good, hearty, and nutritious winter salad, you might also want to check out my Mediterranean Salad and my Vegetarian Cobb Salad Lentil Bowl. Both are big on vegetables and legumes, and fill you up with lots of protein and fiber.

Key Ingredients

I want to say at the outset here that this is how I’m currently making my winter salad, with my favorite vegetables, fresh herbs, and smoky spices. But, it’s really the concept that matters, not the specifics. Swap my favs with yours.

Bell peppers — I almost always use a green bell pepper and also one of its riper/sweeter versions, red, orange, or yellow for flavor variety and color.

Cucumbers — Use an English or Persian cuke, as they have far fewer seeds than a field cucumber and thinner skin. You can slice them as-is without scraping out the seeds.

Corn — I’ll use just about any kind of fresh or frozen corn (never canned, ick!), but I’ll grab the bag of fire-roasted frozen corn when it’s in stock. It nicely highlights the smoky spices.

Pickled red onions — I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping pickled red onions on hand in the fridge. I love onions, but their raw versions are sometimes a bit much, whereas pickling smooths out that hard bite.

Carrots — A must-have for my salads, summer and winter. Of all the fresh vegetables here, this is one to buy pre-shredded to save time and effort.

Sugar snap peas — If the store has a bin of fresh sugar snaps or snow peas in stock that day, I’ll happily grab a handful.

Black beans — If I’m making the salad mostly for lunches, I’ll add some no-added-salt beans (usually black, because they’re my favorite). The extra protein and bulk ensure the salad fills me up.

Herbs and spices — Lots of fresh herbs, including cilantro, dill, and mint, add so much flavor to the salad. Taco seasoning and smoked paprika push the salad in a southwestern direction, which I love.

Cheese — I found smoked goat cheese crumbles at my local Kroger, and I’m completely smitten. They go on everything, from scrambled eggs to potato soups to this salad. The smoky, tangy, creamy bite is the perfect complement to the veggies and spices. Herbed goat cheese or feta would be a great substitute.

How to Make the Eat Your Veggies Salad

Ready to make the recipe? Skip to the recipe card now to see the full ingredient list, quantities, prep/cooking times, and printable, detailed instructions. Or, keep scrolling for a visual walk-through and summary of making the dish.

Prep notes

Clean and prep the vegetables, chopping them into equal small dice to enhance the eating experience. In my experience, chunky chunks overwhelm whatever else is on the fork, in terms of what you taste.

Start loading up the bowl

There’s really no wrong way to do this, since it’s will be a salad that’s tossed. I begin with the veggies, spices, and herbs.

Measure with your heart

Although I do give the amounts I use in the recipe card, you should add as much or as little of each ingredient as you want. I use about a half can of beans (stash the rest in the fridge for soup) and a cup of frozen corn. And then top with cheese — a little or a lot, or somewhere in between. It’s all up to you. Don’t forget a big squeeze of lime!

Dress, toss, and serve

This salad won’t wilt in the presence of dressing, but of course, you can leave off the dressing until serving. Give everything a good toss to distribute the herbs and spices, and then dig in!

Storing

Store leftovers in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. Monitor the quality of the vegetables at each serving to ensure maximum flavor.

This Eat Your Veggies Salad has become my secret weapon for staying on track with healthy eating during the busy and often over-indulgent winter months. Once you’ve given it a try, I’d love to hear what vegetables and dressing combo you went with. Drop a comment below and let me know how it turned out!

Eat Your Veggies Salad

by Karen Gibson

5 from 1 vote

A simple chopped vegetable salad made with a mix of fresh veggies, herbs, and your favorite dressing. A great winter salad that stays crisp and flavorful for days.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 1 red bell pepper , diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper , diced
• 1/2 English or Persian cucumber , diced
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup pickled red onions , chopped
• 15 sugar snap peas , sliced
• 1/2 can black beans (about 8 oz) , drained and rinsed
• 10 ounces frozen fire-roasted corn , slightly thawed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 2 teaspoons taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (I use cilantro, dill, and mint)
• 1/4 cup tangy cheese , such as goat or feta, crumbled or cubed
• Your favorite vinaigrette*
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

 

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

 

• Chop the vegetables into small dice and add to a large mixing bowl.
• Pour in the beans and corn.
• Sprinkle the spices and herbs over the vegetables, along with the cheese.
• Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss.
• Taste, and add salt, black pepper, and more vinaigrette as needed.
• Store the leftovers in the fridge, keeping an eye on the integrity of the vegetables. If something gets slimy or moldy, toss the entire salad. Leftovers should last 2 to 3 days in the fridge. If you’re concerned about soggy vegetables, keep the vinaigrette separate and dress the salad when serving.

Notes

* Don’t hesitate to use your favorite bottled vinaigrette or dressing. I often use Bragg’s vinaigrette because it’s low in sodium and carbs. Garlic Expressions is delish, too.

Keyword chopped salad, vegetable chopped salad

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!