When I was a teenager, my favorite fast food restaurant was Wendy’s. At the time, I didn’t really care about getting something “healthy,” but I still gravitated towards the salads just because I’ve always liked them. One of my favorite salads to get was a one that had grilled chicken, mandarin oranges, and some kind of fried crunchy noodle stuff that went on top. I honestly don’t remember if it had any other vegetables in it besides the lettuce. Well, I ate that salad so often that after a while, I didn’t even want to look at another salad with mandarin oranges in it.
Now, years later, I have rediscovered how amazing mandarin oranges are in salad and I created my own (WAY HEALTHIER, WAY MORE COLORFUL) copy-cat version of that fast food salad I loved so much.
My version has romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, carrots, purple cabbage, cucumber, mandarin oranges, and peanuts. I topped it all off with an easy sweet ginger vinaigrette that is made with six simple ingredients. It has that perfect ratio of savory to sweet that my taste buds crave.
For all of my girls out there who are doing the Tone It Up Bikini Series- this salad is perfect for M3 (lunch) or M5 (dinner). If you’re looking to up the protein content, feel free to add some tofu or grilled chicken to the salad.
If you try this Rainbow Salad with Sweet Ginger Vinaigrette, let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram @busygirlhealthyworld!
Active Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients: For the Rainbow Salad:8 cups romaine lettuce, chopped 2 cups purple cabbage, chopped 2 large carrots, sliced into thin sticks 1 English cucumber, sliced into thin sticks 1 large red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips 1 can mandarin oranges, drained (to yield about 1 cup oranges)
1/4 cup peanuts
For the Sweet Ginger Vinaigrette: 1/2 inch fresh ginger root, peeled 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup rice vinegar 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
For the Rainbow Salad: combine all salad ingredients in a large salad bowl.
For the Sweet Ginger Vinaigrette: put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
*For meal prep, divide salad ingredients between four containers. Add 1/4 of the dressing to each serving when you’re ready to eat it.
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 264 Fat: 18g Carbs: 27g Protein: 5g Sodium: 179mg Sugar: 17g
*Nutrition information is based on the products I used personally in this recipe. Different products may yield slightly different information.
