Loaded Vegan Greek Salad

I’m a little bit of a Greek salad addict. They’re very little work, and you just feel like a boss when you’re eating one. They’re so healthy, and I honestly want to put hummus on everything anyway, so this checks more than a few boxes for me.

I love Greek salads because they incentivize me to chop a load of veggies and keep them in my fridge for easy picking throughout the week. I find I’m way more likely to eat veggies if they’re already chopped for me. Plus I can grab them and toss into stir fries or on other salads with lightning speed. And as I mentioned, another big win is hummus. I often triple the recipe and keep a giant tub of hummus in my fridge when I make a Greek salad, and am always grateful for any excuse to make it. You can go ahead and use store bought hummus if you’d like, but if you want to make your own, I promise it’s super easy, way healthier, and can pack a lot more flavor. Check out my classic hummus recipe here.

Method:

I make this salad with kale, but you can use whatever green you like. To serve raw kale, rip the leaves off of the stems, and discard the stems as they are too tough to eat. Raw kale has oxalic acid in it to deter predators in the wild, so simply massage between fingers before serving. This breaks down the acids and makes it safe to eat. Alternatively, if you prefer a warm salad, you can saute the kale in a pan with a teaspoon of olive oil and some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. If you are oil free, opt for a water saute with 1/4 cup water and steam until slightly wilted. An other option to make the kale crispy is to pop into the toaster oven at 400° instead. This skips the oil and gives the kale a little added texture.

I just use Kalamata olives and artichoke hearts from a jar. You can use frozen artichokes if you like, simply heat in a skillet for 2-3 minutes or microwave. Cut bell peppers lengthwise into long strips, removing seeds. If you are having a warm salad, you can roast the peppers first over the open flame of your stove or roast in the oven. Halve cherry tomatoes and julienne carrots into strips or cut into disks you’d rather.

At the end, I simply drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste and mix in my home made hummus to use as dressing. I also recommend trying this Greek Spring Onion and Dill Yogurt Dipping Sauce as an alternative dressing. Mmmm I want this salad again right now just thinking about it.

This is also a yummy meal prep salad. You can make ahead, sans dressing, and keep in the fridge for a few days, adding the dressing when you’re ready to eat it.

Substitutions:

• I make this salad with kale, but you can sub spinach, spring mix, or romaine if you prefer. The kale salad can be heated as well, but I’d shy away from heating the other greens as they will cook down a lot and you’ll be left with very little volume to your salad.

• For a hot salad, spritz your veggies with a fine olive oil mist, sprinkle on salt and pepper, and roast the peppers, carrots, and tomatoes in the oven for 30 minutes at 400°.

• Substitute any veggies you like for this one: broccoli, capers, cauliflower, cucumbers, etc.

• Add vegan feta cheese or use my Greek dill dip I mentioned above.

If you made this recipe, tag me on Facebook or Instagram, and I would love to see your spin on it! For more salad inspiration, check out my Pinterest page as well!