These three ingredients are my current favorite salad toppers from Trader Joe’s! A little crunch, a little chew and a hearty bed of kale underneath.
Base Salad + Toppers
I like to keep some kind of base salad in my fridge so that I can add toppings and proteins based on what I’m craving. Sometimes I massage kale in olive oil and sea salt or a simple dressing or I have a homemade dressing and fresh greens ready to go. Other times it’s a full-on prepared salad or a jar of something good from Plenty, like the Citrus Curry Farro Salad!
I massaged this kale salad in a white balsamic dressing. The recipe is below! I love how neutral it is so that it works well with any toppers I add last minute. Additionally, here are three more homemade dressings I love.
Favorite Salad Toppers
I love a salad with a great combo of flavors and textures: a little cheese, something crunchy, something chewy. So these three are all from Trader Joe’s – the king of yummy packaged real foods.
- Chewy dried mandarin oranges (I’m hooked!)
- Roasted and salted truffle marcona almonds (can’t get enough!)
- Parmesan crisps (the best “croutons” imaginable)
We enjoyed this as a side salad with dinner. In addition, it will make a great lunch with any kind of protein on top!
White Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp honey
- Big pinch salt
- 3 grinds black pepper
- 1 pinch garlic powder or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and whirl!
Notes
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
I need to try parmesan crisps (although I’m not a fan of cheese) if they’re like replacement croutons – I’m addicted to croutons! Definitely not a very healthy topping haha!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
The Many Thoughts of a Reader says
Bear with me, not really a kale eater. Did you massage it with olive oil and sea salt and then add that dressing too? Thanks!
Kath Younger says
I just massaged it in the dressing 🙂
Melissa says
Great ideas and I love the simple, healthy salad dressing recipe! I’ve always been wanting to and have been meaning to try topping my salad with some granola! I think it would be a fun and flavorful alternative to traditional bread-based croutons.
Kath Younger says
Oooooo!!! That could be a new thing!!!