This simple spring mix salad is perfect for summer! With a mix of fresh fruit, berries, chickpeas, and a ginger-lime dressing, it's bright, healthy, and delicious!
With the weather warming up, I’m craving so many more salads! One thing the lockdown has forced upon us is creativity in the kitchen. I've found that we're generating much less food waste since we're trying to avoid the store as much as possible and it's really pushed me to try new flavor combinations.
And that's exactly what we've got today. I fun summery spring mix salad that uses fresh herbs, fruit, and is tossed in the most delicious ginger-lime dressing. It's easy to make, can be customized to your heart's content, and is perfect for the warmer weather ahead!
What is Spring Mix?
Spring mix is a blend of baby greens and usually is made up of at least 4 – 5 different types, sometimes even more. The one that I love most, uses baby romaine, baby red leaf lettuce, baby spinach, and even some baby chard. It's a mix that is light, full of good nutrients, and goes well with so many different toppings!
Our Summery Spring Mix Salad Ingredients
We almost always buy spring mix as our salad base because it's so versatile. I wanted to create a salad that was fresh, bright, and on the lighter side, and for some strange reason I was also craving it to be a little sweet. Here's what we're using in our salad:
- Spring mix greens
- Green apple: which adds sweetness, tartness and a little sourness
- Blueberries: which are sweet, juicy and delicious
- Crispy chickpeas: which add crunch and plant-based protein
- Mint: which adds complexity to the flavor and all-around brightness
And then we're finishing it off with a sprinkle of pistachios which add more crunch, some healthy fats and also a gorgeous pop of lime green!
The Ultimate Ginger Lime Dressing
Now let's talk dressing. I love making dressings at home and usually have at least 2 in rotation at all times. Our go-to is Matt's Shallot Dressing and is what we put on pretty much everything, but this salad felt like it needed something a little different. Something with some zing. With some spice. With a little sweetness mixed in.
And I came up with the most delicious ginger-lime dressing! Even better is that it's only 6 ingredients!
- Olive oil
- Freshly grated ginger
- Apple cider vinegar
- Maple syrup
- Tamari
- Lime juice
It's perfectly salty, has a touch of sweetness, is tart, bright and adds just the right amount of zing!
The Perfect Salad for BBQs
What I love about this spring mix salad is that it uses so many seasonal produce items. And it can be adapted for whatever season you're in!
Since we're approaching summer, I felt like I wanted to give you a simple side salad that could be enjoyed as a main dish, or brought to an outdoor party and enjoyed as a side dish. This truly is a perfect salad for all the backyard BBQs I'm sure we'll be having this year!
And if you see some ingredients in here that you (or your guests) aren't a fan of, as I said it's totally customizable. Feel free to play around with it. Try different toppings. Heck, try a different dressing if you want! This salad is for you to enjoy how YOU like it!
Substitution Ideas for our Spring Mix Salad
One of my goals, when I share my recipes, is to help you make them your own if you don't have the exact ingredients. So I love to be able to give you substitution ideas when I can. This spring mix salad is a perfect example of recipe that you can totally customize based on what you have on hand. Here are some of my ideas:
- Spring mix: if you can't find spring mix, any green will work! You could do kale, arugula, spinach, romaine, or anything else you love.
- Apple: if you can't find green apple, a red apple would work, but you could also use peach, nectarine, or pear.
- Blueberries: I think blueberries work really well with this salad but strawberries would be good, chopped cherries, or even dried fruit!
- Crispy Chickpeas: the chickpeas are here mainly for protein, so I think you could really swap them with whatever protein you'd like. Maybe grilled chicken, grilled shrimp, baked tofu, etc.!
- Mint: feel free to swap the mint with whatever fresh herbs you'd like – basil, parsley, chives or even cilantro!
- Pistachios: again, pistachios can be swapped with whatever nut or seed you'd like!
And for the dressing, I think this lemon-basil vinaigrette would be DELICIOUS! I hope you love this salad and enjoy it all season long.
More Summery Salads to try:
- Tropical Kale & Quinoa Power Salad
- Herbed Spring Quinoa Salad
- Quinoa Greek Salad with Chickpeas
- Thai Peanut Chopped Spinach Salad
- Blueberry Quinoa Power Salad with Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette
Summery Spring Mix Salad with Crispy Chickpeas
Ingredients
for the salad:
- 5 oz spring mix (about 6 cups)
- 1 cup crispy chickpeas (or protein of choice)
- 1 small green apple , thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/4 cup fresh mint
- 1/4 cup pistachios
for the dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons tamari (or soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- Juice of 1 large lime
Instructions
- Add the salad ingredients (minus pistachios) into a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, tamari, vinegar, syrup, lime, and ginger. Pour dressing over the salad bowl and toss to combine.
- Garnish with nuts/seeds (if desired) and enjoy!
Nutrition
Great salad! Doubled the lime juice, used toasted walnuts instead of pistachios and had air-fried chickpeas (dried 5 minutes at 390, coated with olive oil, fried unseasoned 11 minutes at 390, then fried seasoned another 2 minutes) seasoned with paprika, Tajin, garlic powder, cumin, and salt. Was delicious as it was, but I’m really looking forward to adding some feta or goat’s cheese for some extra oomph.
It sounds so good with all the flavor you added!! Would be delicious with goat cheese 😉