Meal Prep 5 Salads for 5 Days 5 Key Ingredients - August
Welcome to my first post on Substack!
Welcome to the Salad Lab’s Substack! This is the only place to find my brand-new salad recipes, easy-to-use shopping lists, The Salad Lab news including new product launches, and fun salad making tips.
Hi, I’m Darlene Schrijver, mother of two, born and raised in Northern CA and currently living in beautiful Sonoma County, CA and author of the best-selling cookbook The Salad Lab: Whisk, Toss, Enjoy!
After starting out with a few videos and a dream, I now have a best selling cookbook, a line of USA handmade wooden salad bowls and tossers and sets of Salad Lab scientific measuring beakers.
For this first Substack-subscriber recipe, I wanted to share a game-changer. This is really five recipes in one! I spent many years meal prepping, and I would always run into the same problem: I would prep for the week and after 3 days we would want something different. So here is my latest experiment.
View the video here:
If you try this experiment, let me know what combination was your favorite and please tag me if you post a photo of your salad. I love seeing what you create.
5 Salads For 5 Days Recipe
Serves 5 meal-sized salad
I don’t know about you, but I get tired of the same salad after the 3rd day of meal prepped lunches. I have created this “5 salads for 5 days” series to conquer the monotony. With 5 staple ingredients (6 if you count the base greens) I have switched up the proteins and tweaked the dressing with an added ingredient for 5 different delicious salads in one prep session. I am loving fresh squeezed lime juice these days so I thought we would try a lime juice-based dressing for August. Which one is your favorite?
START OUT:
1 small chicken breast
¼ teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
4 oz. medium shrimp shelled and deveined
¼ teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 ½ cups chopped cherry tomatoes
1 ¼ cups thinly sliced red onions
WHISK:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 teaspoon of lime zest
Flake sea salt & cracked pepper
Pinch red pepper flake
Tahini Dressing
1 1/2 tablespoons Tahini
Mango Lime Dressing
1/4 cup mango puree
Cilantro Dressing
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
Balsamic Dressing
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
Dill Yogurt Dressing
2 tablespoons n/f Greek Yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
TOSS:
10 cups baby kale (romaine, baby gem, spinach or hearty green of choice)
3 cups english cucumbers or Persian cucumbers
2 cups diced red or yellow bell peppers
5 baby avocados cut in half, pit and skins attached until ready to toss
1/2 cup canned drained black beans
4 oz. thick sliced turkey breast cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 oz. crumbled Feta cheese
4 oz. smoked salmon cut into
1/2 inch cubes
EXPERIMENT:
Have fun with this. Experiment with your favorite hearty greens or try two different types. Vegans, substitute grilled marinated tofu for chicken, grilled portobellos for shrimp, grilled marinated artichokes and vegan feta for the turkey & feta, and carrot "bacon"and/ or smoked tempeh for the smoked salmon and the only dressing you need to sub is some vegan yogurt and agave for the honey. Experiment with your favorite sweeteners if you don't like or have honey.
START OUT:
Season and grill (or pan sear) the chicken breast on medium heat for about 5 minutes each side and the internal temperature reaches 165 dFh. Grill shrimp for approximately 3 minutes on each side to an internal temperature of 145 dFh. Prepare the quinoa as instructed on the package. Let everything cool and chop all proteins into ½ inch cubes. Dice tomatoes and drain out excess juice in a mesh strainer with a light press of the back of a spoon. Half from root to stem and thinly slice onions, soak in ice water for 10 minutes, then drain.
WHISK:
In a large beaker, deep bowl or jar add olive oil, lime juice, water, honey, garlic, zest, salt, pepper and red pepper flake and whisk until well combined. Separate out 3 tablespoons of base dressing into 5 small containers and add the extra ingredient(s) for each recipe. Tahini dressing - add tahini, Mango Lime dressing - add mango puree, Cilantro Lime dressing add cilantro, Balsamic dressing add balsamic vinegar and Dill Yogurt dressing add dill and yogurt. Seal in air-tight containers and store in the refrigerator.
TOSS:
In 5 meal sized salad storage containers separate out into equal portions of base greens, add a layer of parchment or paper towel and add tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions and mini avocados. Seal up containers and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Tahini Grilled Chicken Salad
To the base salad, scoop out avocado, add the griddled chicken, Tahini dressing and toss (or shake:) until well combined.
Mango Lime Shrimp Salad
To the base salad, scoop out avocado, add the grilled shrimp and Mango dressing and toss (or shake:) until well combined.
Cilantro Quinoa Bean Salad
To the base salad, scoop out avocado, add the quinoa, beans and Cilantro dressing and toss (or shake:) until well combined.
Balsamic Turkey Feta Salad
To the base salad, scoop out avocado, add the diced turkey, feta and Balsamic dressing and toss (or shake:) until well combined.
Dill Yogurt Smoked Salmon Salad
To the base salad, scoop out avocado, add the salmon and Dill Yogurt dressing and toss (or shake:) until well combined.
ENJOY:
I'm having it with a limeade iced tea or iced matcha & a big glass of water.
Shopping list for August’s 5 Days of 5 Salads Meal Prep
10 cups spinach, baby kale or other hearty green of choice
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
5 small Persian or 3 English cucumbers
3 red bell peppers (yellow or orange)
1 large red onion
5 mini avocados
1 small ripe mango
6 limes
1 small boneless chicken breast
⅓ lb deveined and peeled shrimp
½ cup quinoa or 1 cup prepared
1 can black beans
4-6 oz thick sliced Turkey Breast
1 small block feta cheese
3-4 oz smoked salmon
Extra Virgin Olive Oil small bottle
Balsamic Vinegar small bottle
Plain Greek Yogurt small tub
1 bunch fresh Dill
1 bunch fresh Cilantro
1 small jar honey
Maldon flake sea salt (or kosher salt)
Black peppercorns
Fresh garlic
Paprika
Darlene I love your salads!! My favorite, which I make several times a month, is your Kendall Jenner salad! I have friends asking for the recipe! So simple. And I love your Holland Bowl salad bowl! Keep the recipes coming!! Thank you!!
Love this!! I have been struggling with what to pack for lunch and you have solved my problem!