7 Fun, Kid-Friendly Salad Recipes That Go Beyond Iceberg Lettuce
by Julie Seguss, 05/13/13
Looking for a fun way to encourage your kid to eat more veggies? Try a few new, exciting salads – your kids will enjoy helping to prepare them and the whole family will savor them. Salads are a great food to get your child started cooking on his own, too. As long as you do the chopping first (though some salads don’t require any!), no dangerous jobs are needed to prepare a delicious salad. Plus, we bet your kid will love picking and choosing different veggies to toss in – playing with colors, flavors and a variety of dressings. Salad making may even encourage your kids to try vegetables they’ve never eaten before! So read on to discover seven easy-to-make veggie-packed salads that are healthy for the whole family.
Image © ccharmon
Strawberry Salad
Strawberries will add a splash of kid-pleasing sweetness and color to any salad. Try mixing slices into a spinach salad. Add other fruit like nectarines or pineapple, or try tossing in chunks of avocado, cucumber for crunch or a bit of cheese. Top with a balsamic or fruit vinaigrette to enhance the flavors.
Black Bean, Corn and Blueberry Salad
You may surprised by the addicting power of this unexpected fruit-veggie-legume mix. Combine 1 cup blueberries, cooked kernels from 1 to 2 ears of corn and 1 can rinsed black beans. Toss with a vinaigrette made from 1 Tbsp olive oil, t tsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, juice from 1/2 lime and 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro. You can also add romaine lettuce if desired, but then you may wish to double the vinaigrette recipe. When making this salad in the summer, you can use blueberries and corn from your local farmer’s market. Get the full Black Bean, Corn and Blueberry Salad and vinaigrette recipe here.
Image © rusvaplauke
Cranberry, Walnut, Orange Salad
If your child loves oranges, she’ll scarf down this salad in seconds. The juiciness of oranges, sweetness of cranberries and crunch of walnuts all come together to make every bite of this salad far from boring. We also love that this recipe requires no cutting, so it’s an easy one for kids to make on their own. Simply peel the oranges apart, throw in a handful of cranberries, break up a few walnuts using your fingers and toss it all in a bowl with spinach and a dash of your favorite dressing.
Image © Snack the Planet
Southwest Salad
Turn taco night into taco salad night with this easy recipe that’s so flavor-filled your kids won’t even think about the fact that they’re eating a healthy portion of veggies. Toss together black beans, corn, chopped tomato, diced red or white onion (if your kids aren’t anti onion) and chopped scallion. Then add the juice of one lime, 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro and a few pinches of salt, pepper and chili powder. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then add the chopped avocado and enjoy. Want more veggies? Dice and mix in green, red, yellow and/or orange peppers as well. Serve with taco chips (who says you need a fork to eat a salad!) or in a more traditional salad-style over a bed of romaine lettuce with a bit of ranch dressing. Find the full recipe on Snack the Planet.
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I haven’t tried strawberry salad yet but it sounds so refreshing!
Awesome salad ideas – nice sleuthing Julie! And who’s that little cutey-patootie in the first image tossing a salad!!!!?
Wow all of these salads look amazingly delicious! I wish tomatoes were in season, so I could make that one tonight
i don’t have kids, but i’m going to make myself that southwest salad tonight! yum!
These salads sound amazing!!! Don’t know Which to try