If ya know me, I make a mean salad (also ask my husband who hates veggies). This is a BAS – the size of your head or a small animal! A gloriously gigantic salad that the internet has deemed a “Big-Ass Salad” or (BAS for short). And boy, does a BAS fill you up in a happy food tummy kind of way. (This ain’t your grandma’s salad that’s for sure).
Over the years, I like to think that I’ve perfected Big-Ass Salad-making. So I’ve created a step-by-step foolproof plan for you to make your very own. Why? Because the world is a better place when you eat Big-Ass Salads.
1. Get the right bowl & chopper. First, you need the right bowl. And trust me when I tell you that you need the OXO Good Grips Salad Chopper & Bowl in your life. And don’t be cheap and just get the chopper; you are definitely gonna NEED that big bowl too!
2. Mix your Big-Ass Salad ingredients. For a truly yummy salad, I find a mix of organic baby spinach with chopped veggies, a little cheese, some nuts and some protein is the perfect combination that gives you enough crunch, a ridiculous amount of nutritional variety and a beautiful meal.
Here’s a rundown of what I always have in my Big-Ass Salad (add or subtract, depending on your tastes):
- Baby spinach
- Chopped Veggie Mix (a delicious mix of red and green cabbages, carrots, broccoli, jicama, bell peppers, radishes and celery—and the chopping is done for you!)
- Half a cup or so of chopped broccoli, cauliflower or zucchini
- Half of a red, orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped (I’m obsessed with these lately)
- Handful of cherry tomatoes
- Quarter cup of broccoli sprouts
- Some fruit—either half of a chopped apple or a handful of cranberries (for sweetness!)
- Chopped sliced turkey or deli ham, a salmon burger, chicken sausage or tofu (really any type of protein you enjoy eating. I usually use left over dinner proteins and them to my lunch BAS. Remember, don’t skimp on this—the veggies will fill you up, but the protein will help you stay full!
- Quarter cup of nuts—almonds, chia or flax seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds or a mix (they all rock!)
- A sprinkling of cheese (goat cheese or feta are my personal faves)
- Freshly cracked black pepper and Himalayan pink sea salt to taste
3. Make the best dressing EVER. Your salad is already pretty from the fresh veggies, but this is where the magic happens. If I’m in a pinch, I’ll simply drizzle some extra virgin olive oil or walnut oil over my salad along with some balsamic vinegar and call it a BAS day. But if I have the time? I make a Creamy Orange-Almond dressing in my blender that is LIFE-CHANGING. You simply blend one peeled orange, one tablespoon of rice wine vinegar and one tablespoon of almond butter. The result is a creamy, slightly citrus-y and savory dressing that is filling, clean and ridiculously good for you.
BAS tip if you have company: Making salads for more than one? Simply double, triple, etc., the dressing recipe for each Big-Ass Salad you’re making. Note that “one serving” gives you quite a bit of dressing to use, so that every leaf and chopped veggie is covered. The only downside of the dressing is that you need to eat it pretty much as soon as you make it—but that just proves its freshness!
4. Mix it UP! After you have all of your ingredients in your OXO bowl (excluding the dressing), use the OXO chopper to give you those delicious bite-sized morsels you find in fancy restaurant chopped salads. After you have OXO’d your BAS, toss in your dressing and really mix it all up. Whether it’s with tongs, a giant fork and spoon, or your hands, get it mixed so that every bite is a delicious harmony of everything.
BAS tip if you dare: I SWEAR, give this a try! Take a heaping portion of your BAS and put that into a microwaveable safe bowl and nuke your BAS for about 15 seconds. Don’t knock it before you try it! This is a great tasty twist giving you all the YUMMY warm salad feels.
It may seem like this is a lot of work for a “salad,” but like I said, this is no normal salad. You can’t get this at The Cheesecake Factory…this is a Big-Ass Salad that will fill your tummy and fuel your life. Yes, it’s HUGE, but I promise if you eat one of these every day, your body will feel amazing inside and out. I’ve been doing it for a few years now, and they taste so good that I crave them if I go more than a day or two without one. Try it!
Do you make Big-Ass Salads? What’s in yours? Will you try my Big-Ass Salad dressing? Do tell me all of your BAS secrets!