Raw Rainbow salad
A healthy rainbow salad packed with raw veggies to give extra crunch and texture. Plus, It’s the ultimate superfood salad for when you are in need of a healthy detox!
Let me start by telling you how this salad came about; As you know from my osso buco post my husband and I recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary. So there was a lot of what we do best, FOOD! (LOL)
There was 3 or 4, okay maybe a few cocktails, some fab brunches, a bit of Lucy Liu and bit of Chin Chins. Pretty much all our favourites in one weekend and It’s safe to say we indulged.
So I wanted to start the week with a semi detox. Something fresh, healthy and light and that my friend, is how this delicious salad came to be.
What on earth is a raw rainbow salad?
There are so many different kinds of vegetables out there. All different shapes, sizes and colours. Rainbow salad is about using fresh vegetables to replicate the colours of the rainbow.
This is exactly what I love about this salad. My job here is to show you the basics of putting together this delicious salad. Then you can create your own using the same concept and adding whatever fresh veggies you have at home.
Why raw?
When we eat vegetables raw we are eating them at their best because this is when we get the most of their amazing benefits. Vegetables are packed full of vitamins, minerals and enzymes that we need to nourish our bodies and foster good health.
Here are some fascinating facts about the way we eat vegetables:
- Eating raw onion can help protect against heart disease
- Raw capsicum contains 75% more antioxidants than when it is cooked
- Raw broccoli contains 3 times more cancer fighting compounds tham cooked broccoli
What goes into a healthy, Raw Rainbow Salad
The possibilities are endless when making a rainbow salad. Iv’e bolded the ingredients that you will need if you are following my recipe!
- First start with a leafy green base such as Kale, spinach or Silverbeet
- Add super greens like green beans, broccoli, peas, asparagus, zucchini
- Add colour with carrots, purple cabbage, radishes, beetroot corn or capsicum
- For sweetness add in cherry tomatoes dried cranberries or raisins
- Add some good fats such as avocado, walnuts, pistachios or almonds
How do you make a raw rainbow salad
Putting this healthy rainbow salad together is super quick as there is 0 cooking involved! it’s all in the prep work with this one.
Start by washing all your vegetables well.
Remove the stems from the leafy greens and shred them finely.
Shred your cabbage very finely with a knife or a mandolin slicer.
Use a vegetable peeler to slice the carrots and zucchini into thin ribbons.
Cut your broccoli into small florets and trim and finely slice the stem.
Roughly chop your almonds.
dice your avocado.
For the dressing!
Here is a list of the ingredients you will need to put together this creamy, zesty dressing that goes perfectly with this rainbow salad!
- Natural yoghurt
- Red wine vinegar
- Good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Lemon
- Dijon mustard
- crushed Garlic
It’s as simple as adding all of the ingredients to a bowl, seasoning well and then whisking until It’s all combined.
This dressing is very similar to the one I use for my Greek salad and I love it because It’s so versatile you will find you can use it for many other salads too!
Putting it all together
Putting together the rainbow salad is so easy. Once you have prepped your veggies It’s as simple as adding everything to a large bowl including your nuts and cranberries, drizzling over that creamy dressing and gently tossing it all together until combined.
Check for seasoning and you can sprinkle over some extra nuts and cranberries for garnish if you like!
How to serve the raw rainbow salad
I love it on It’s own as a light lunch and It’s so delicious served with a dollop of hummus or tzatziki. I could literally eat this every day!!
If you want to beef it up a bit you can add grains such as quinoa, farro or pearl barley. Add lentils, chickpeas or mix in your favourite beans.
This salad is perfect as a side served with crispy skin salmon , grilled chicken or steak.
Here are some other fab ideas of how you can serve your rainbow salad:
- Rainbow salad wrap
- rainbow salad bowl with hot smoked salmon
- Served alongside grilled fish
- In a Pita wrap with falafels
- Mix in some tinned tuna
How long does rainbow salad keep
The salad will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
For the best experience I love to serve it as soon as I have dressed the salad. In saying that, my husband took leftovers to work for the next 2 days after making it and the salad still had a lovely crunch.
You could always prepare the salad and keep the dressing in a seperate container until needed.
I Hope you will enjoy this healthy and nutritious salad! For some more food inspiration here are some other healthy recipes:
- Crispy skin salmon with brown rice salad
- Healthy oven baked beef burgers
- Yoghurt & muesli breakfast cups
- Tabouli Salad
- Chicken and broccoli stir fry with soba noodles
Have you made this recipe? You can leave a comment and rating below. I love hearing your feedback.
Healthy rainbow salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale stems removed and shredded
- ¼ purple cabbage shredded
- small bunch baby spinach roughly sliced
- 1 zucchini sliced into ribbons
- 2 carrots peeled and sliced into ribbons
- 1 head of broccoli cut into small florettes and stem trimmed and finely sliced
- ¼ cup almonds roughly chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ½ avocado diced
For the dressing
- ⅓ cup natural yoghurt
- 1 tbs red wine vinegar
- 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- zest and juice from 1 lemon
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 small clove garlic crushed
Instructions
- For the dressing place all ingredients in a bowl. Season well with salt and pepper and whisk until combined.
- To assemble the salad, add all the salad ingredients to a large bowl. Top with the dressing and gently toss until well combined.
- Serve immediately.
I absolutely adore EATING THE RAINBOW!! So I am all about this salad life!
Love it!!!
This is my kind of salad! I love raw salads and always make my own dressing. I never thought to put yogurt in it. Will definitely need to try! You are so cute in your pics too! Thanks for sharing!