5 Ways to Make Hearty Meatless Salads With Grains – One Green Planet

Being a vegan or vegetarian does not have to mean eating skimpy salads while everyone else around you has heavier fare. Though dark, leafy greens are extremely healthy, eating a bowl of them with some veggie pieces on top just won’t cut it to fill you up and provide energy and nutrients. Here are five ways to make hearty meatless salads with grains:

1. Freekeh

After being sted, freekeh is dried in the sun and then set on fire, burning the straw and chaff, which gives it a faint smell of a campfire or toasted nuts. This grain is low on the glycemic index chart and is packed with fiber. For a zesty, flavorful salad, combine freekeh with beets, jalapeno, red onion, cilantro, almonds, and lime. Try this Freekeh Salad with Beets, Cilantro, and Lime. Get in your dark, green leafy greens with this Freekeh Kale Sala,d and try this Freekeh Salad with Cucumber, Pistachios, and Mint.

2. Bulgur

Bulgur wheat is the star of tabouli salad, a tasty Middle Eastern dish. This fine grain is full of fiber and protein. Pair it with fruit for a refreshing, yet filling salad. Try this Colorful Bulgur with Papaya and Pomegranate. Or, enjoy a more savory dish with this Bulgur with Curcuma Veggies, Nuts and Cranberries.

3. Quinoa

Quinoa is a gluten-free grain that has protein and essential vitamins and minerals including manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, folate, and copper. One cup of cooked quinoa has eight grams of complete protein and five grams of fiber, making it a great choice to bulk up salads. Try this Quinoa Salad with Figs, Purslane, and Goji Berries, which is far beyond a typical, boring salad. The figs and goji berries give this salad a supreme, luxurious feel, while the quinoa adds the necessary protein for a satiating, full stomach. All three ingredients are healthy for you, so why not treat yourself? Also, you can make this Pineapple Fried Quinoa for dinner, then refrigerate the leftovers. For lunch, put it on top of a bed of crisp greens.

4. Couscous

Couscous is a staple food throughout North African cuisines, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Libya, and the Western Sahara. The grain will soak up the curry flavor in this Curried Couscous and Vegetable Salad. Try Israeli couscous, which has a shape like barley, but is rounder, and has a slightly nutty, savory flavor.

5. Brown Rice

Brown rice pairs well with black beans, tomatoes, avocado, salsa, corn, cilantro, and pinto beans. Make a Mexican-style burrito bowl as a salad, and while you’re eating it, you won’t see it as munching on a salad. Think about how you would order a burrito or bowl at a restaurant and recreate it. You could always cook tacos for dinner, then use leftover beans, salsa, and vegetables to make a hearty salad for the next day’s lunch. For a different taste, try this Brown Rice Salad with Dill.

 

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental well-being, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, and prostate cancer, and has many side effects.

For those of you interested in eating more plant-based we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 20,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals, and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some great resources to get you started:

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