I have been eating a big beautiful salad for one meal a day since I adopted a whole food plant based lifestyle in 2013. It was one of the recommendations of Dr. Joel Fuhrman in his Eat To Live book. That was the first WFPB (whole food plant based) book I read. How I make those salads has evolved over time. I used to get out all the ingredients each day and make our daily salads. Some days I dreaded the task. Once in a while we would opt for something easier that didn’t require all that chopping and prep work but then our greens would get tossed because we didn’t get them all used up. I was already batch cooking the rest of our food why not our salads too? What is the difference between having the supplies all separate in the fridge verses assembled into individual salads? Hence batch prepping salads was born.
Automate your food choices by planning and prepping food for the week ahead. My life is so much easier by having a big beautiful salad every day. I don’t have to think about what I am going to eat for lunch, I know it’s going to be a salad. Since the salads are prepped ahead it’s a given that I will eat it. When we are tired or hungry we will grab the easiest thing to eat. For me for lunch that is my salad. It is also a wonderful way to get in a large amount of healthy raw vegetables, lots of fiber, nutrients and antioxidants. It is a boost of nutrition for my body everyday. It is said that we crave what we habitually eat. I have found that to be true. I look forward to my salad everyday.
This is what I currently put in my batch prepped salads each week. I do purchase as much already washed and ready to use organic produce as I can. However, I buy heads of organic romaine lettuce and wash and cut it myself as I find that it lasts longer than pre -cut romaine. Everyone asks me how long will these salad last? That all depends on how fresh the ingredients are that you use. I buy the ingredients and make my salads usually the next day. Making sure the expiration dates on the pre washed produce are beyond the time that I will eat the last prepped salad. Also make sure the ingredients are not too wet as that moisture will cause the greens to to go bad.
We hope you enjoy the video for Simple Salad Batch Prep.
You don’t have to use the exact same ingredients I use for salads. Use this concept as an idea for your own batch prep salads. Incorporate your favorite greens and raw vegetables and find a combination that is pleasing to you.
I buy a large organic red cabbage and slice it myself.
Organic red onion has more antioxidants than white or yellow onions and it looks pretty in the salad.
I wash the organic tomatoes as soon as I get them home. Let them dry on a kitchen towel then put them in bowl on the counter.
Wash, dry and chop the romaine.
Triple washed organic greens.
Ready to eat organic Broccoli Slaw and organic shredded carrots.
Although these salads are good just like this I like to transform them into incredible chopped salads with a variety of amazing ingredients. I can have an entirely different tasting salad everyday! In my next blog post and video I will show you how to take one of the batch prepped salads and transform it into an insanely delicious chopped salad! See the blog post and video here How To Chop A Salad In A Holland Bowl.
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Verna Tracy
I keep returning to this batch salad prep for ideas on what to add to the basic salad.
And more importantly, how to package those additions to maintain the fresh taste after you have batch cooked them?
I have good glass and plastic containers, but none of them keep the air out of the container. It would be nice to have
those additions taste as fresh as possible, just like the salad.
Examples would be roasted vegetables, roasted corn on the cob, potatoes, etc. How to keep them looking and tasting fresh?
Tami Kramer
Hi Verna,
I believe there is a vacuum sealer for the glass canning jars that would take out the air and keeps things fresh longer. I think you have to have a food saver device and this is an extra attachment for them. Do some research and see what you can find for that. I find that roasted peppers and such last for a bout 3-4 days in the fridge in glass containers or jars just fine. Some things just have to be batch prepped every few days instead of once a week. Under cook things that you plan on reheating so they aren’t over cooked when you do that. Hope that helps. Happy Cooking!
Kelly
you are AMAZING!!! I am so glad I discovered you on YouTube! Where have you been all my life so far?
Tami Kramer
Hi Kelly! I am glad you found me too. Welcome to our plant based community.
Happy Cooking,
Tami
Terri
Hi Tami, What size Holland Bowl do you use? I think it was mentioned in a video, but I don’t remember what was said. And I think your plastic salad containers are 9 cups? I want to try salad batching. It’s a great idea!
Tami Kramer
Hi Terri,
We use the 15 inch bowls for chopping our salads. If you use our affiliate link and purchase a minimum $140 bowl you will get a free mezzaluna knife with your order. It won’t show up on your invoice but they will include it with your shipment. Here is our link https://hollandbowlmill.com/nutmeg-notebook/?wpam_id=1
Happy Chopping!
Tami Kramer
We do use 9 cup containers but the size you need will depend on how big your salads are. I make ours a little smaller now and we could get by with a bit smaller container.
Experiment and find what the right size will be for you! This is a time saver!
Tami Kramer
We have a more up to date method of batch prepping salads here https://youtu.be/VHcA1bNqNfo