Maybe you call them bowl meals. Meals in a bowl? Power bowls? There are lots of names for eating salad for dinner: and it’s a lot more delicious than it’s ever been. Growing up, salad for dinner meant…well, taco salad. But today, there are all sorts of ways to make healthy, delicious and filling salads that turn into dinner. You may have seen them on Instagram, because this way of eating is quite the rage these days. But for good reason! Bowl meals make it easy to eat a wide variety of healthy whole grains and vegetables.
Salads for dinner: the anatomy of a bowl
To be able to eat a salad for dinner as a main dish, it’s got to be filling! As you’ll see in the recipes below, dinner salads are loaded with filling ingredients to make sure you stay full for hours afterwards. Here the components of a great dinner salad:
Whole grains: Whole grains keep the salad filling: you’ll see brown rice, quinoa, farro, freekah, and bulgur wheatLeafy greens: Often you’ll see leafy greens as the base of the saladRoasted or raw vegetables: A mix of textures of roasted and raw vegetables adds contrastNuts and seeds: Nuts and seeds are important for plant based protein and to add a crunchEggs and dairy: Hard boiled eggs and cheese add filling protein and savory flavor to dinner saladsSauces: Sauces are where the salads for dinner shine! The sauce brings it all together.
And now…our best salads for dinner!
More main dish salads
Looking for more dinner salads? Here are some more ideas: Pro tip: we used couscous in this bowl because it’s so quick to cook: bring it to a boil and then turn off the heat for 5 minutes! If you prefer, substitute a whole grain like quinoa or brown rice. For the grain, we’ve chosen a unique one: freekeh! It’s a whole grain similar to bulgur wheat that has a quick cooking time and a distinct, nutty flavor. You could use any other whole grain you’d like: quinoa, brown rice, farro, etc. A simple lemon Greek yogurt sauce makes for a fresh, bright counterpoint to the caramel, roasted flavor of the veggies!
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1 15-ounce can chickpeas 1 tablespoon olive oil ½ teaspoon cumin ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the couscous
1 cup couscous (or sub quinoa for gluten-free) ¾ teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
For the bowl
1 small cucumber 1 pint cherry tomatoes 8 cups salad greens 1 recipe Best Tahini Sauce
