Here is a simple meal salad that can easily be meal prepped on the weekend and tossed together quickly during busy work nights or fully prepped and taken for lunch. It’s got a little kick to it from the sauce. I like Primal Kitchen products because they do not add sugar or unnecessary ingredients that I can’t pronounce. However, you can use whatever BBQ sauce you prefer.
If you want to prep for the week I’ve included some tips to help you plan. The salad toppings can be heated before building the salad for a nice mixture of warm and cold. Or, it can be fully prepped ahead of time and stored in the fridge as a grab-and-go option.
Food prep tips
- Cut up tempeh and tofu into bite size pieces and store in the fridge in separate containers. If preferred, you can also cook these and reheat them when you’re ready to prepare your salad.
- If you prefer the grab-and-go option, cook the proteins and then coat with BBQ sauce. Add to salad along with other precooked toppings and store in the fridge until ready to eat.
- Salad greens – Option 1) Buy bagged salad, greens or baby spinach. Toss in bowl when prepping. Option 2) Chop up your preferred lettuce or greens to use for a couple of days and store in the fridge in serving size containers.
- Slice and cook mushrooms and bell peppers in large batches. (I cook a 24oz tub of portobello mushrooms and 3-4 bell peppers at a time to keep on hand for tossing into recipes like this one).
- Buy cilantro microgreens (sprouts) instead of fresh cilantro. No chopping and a big boost of vitamins and phytochemicals. Be sure to rinse thoroughly before adding to salad.
- Buy small avocados and cut them in half. Use ½ in each day’s salad. This way there is less to go to waste since you will consume it faster.
- If eating on the grab-and-go salad it’s a good idea to cut the avocado and add it to your salad the day you plan to eat it.
- Buy grape tomatoes. Less waste since you do not need to dice a large tomato to use over several days. You can also use diced canned tomatoes in a pinch. Just scoop out what you want and don’t use the juice.
- Buy a high quality balsamic vinegar. It will make a huge difference in the taste. I use this one from Baker & Olive.
The ingredient list below is what I use. However, feel free to embellish and improvise this recipe with veggies you have on hand or prefer. The beauty of this recipe is the flexibility of it! Just don’t skip the cilantro, BBQ sauce or vinegar.
Ingredients
- Salad greens
- Cilantro microgreens or chopped cilantro
- Mushrooms
- Bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)
- Grape tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Tofu
- Tempeh
- Avocado
- White Balsamic vinegar (Sicilian Lemon recommended)
- BBQ sauce
Build your salad
- Chop & rinse salad greens and cilantro sprouts. Place in a meal size salad bowl.
- Pan fry tofu and tempeh in a skillet until browned (no oil is needed if using a non-stick skillet). Combine cooked (warm or chilled) tofu and tempeh in 1-2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce. Coat proteins thoroughly. Then, add to bowl.
- Add cooked bell peppers and mushrooms to bowl (heated or cold depending on preference).
- Add chopped cucumbers and sliced grape tomatoes to bowl.
- Top with diced avocado and approximately 2 tablespoons of vinegar.
The combination of the cilantro, vinegar and BBQ sauce really make this salad flavorful. The proteins and fat from the tofu, tempeh and avocado make it satiating. Hopefully, this can save you some time in the kitchen on busy nights and help you stay on a healthy eating track at lunch time. Preparation is key to healthy eating consistency. On days I don’t prep or have healthy ingredients cooked and ready, I really struggle not to hit the takeout menu after a long run or day at work.