Sweet Potato 5: Quick and Easy Summer Dinner Salads

Have we told you we’re contributing to iVillage.ca? This summer is flying by at such a pace that we’ve been on iVillage.ca for a month now and just realized we haven’t said anything about it here on SPC. If you haven’t checked out the newly launched Canadian site, take a trip over there. It’s great! Lots of fun and juicy content from parenting to celeb gossip and plenty of Canadian faces, too. We’re feeling pretty fancy to be included. Since we’re doing a weekly column there, we decided to share them with you here, too (a couple of weeks later, naturally). Laura wrote this one and it’s person for hot summer nights when the last thing you can face is turning on the oven. Let us know if you try any of these – we love hearing from you! – C.M.

photos by Maya Visnyei

If you say salad to most kids you get that face. You know the one—it’s the same cranky expression you receive when you tell them they can’t have the blue ring pop out of the birthday party loot bag. (To the Nice People Who Make Ring Pops, can you make those with fruit? Please and thank you.) However, for most parents, especially in the summer months, a big salad is an easy and healthy way to knock off dinner. I, personally, love a salad filled with tuna, asparagus, cheese and onions—the more you shoe-horn into my salad, the better. Actually, overstuffing a salad with fresh, seasonal ingredients is also a way to make it more kid-friendly. Including lots of lean protein, veggies, nuts and even some fruit, gives kids lots to pick and choose, from so they’ll still wind-up with a nutritious meal. And, hey, if the errant piece of baby spinach winds up on their fork, who can complain.

Here are our favorite easy dinner salad recipes, starting with this family favourite:

Salmon Dinner Salad – this omega-3 rich meal (shown above) is perfect for summer suppers, because you can make all the delicious part ahead. It’s also ideal for entertaining, spread out on a long table.

Chicken and Asparagus Salad is an SPC favourite for its ease as well as nutritional punch.

Grilled Shrimp Salad is a great meal for entertaining that could also feature salmon or chicken.

Cobb Salad is an American luncheonette classic that offers plenty of vitamins and minerals courtesy of avocado, chicken and tomatoes.

Asparagus and Potato Salad can be made more hearty with chopped hard boiled eggs as well as some chopped carrot.

This article was originally published on iVillage.ca where you can follow us every week!