Garbage Salad with Creamy Lemon-Peppercorn Dressing

Name: Garbage Salad with Creamy Lemon-Peppercorn Dressing
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups Classic Herby Ranch Dressing (this page); 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 1 teaspoon fresh minced or ½ teaspoon dried tarragon (optional); ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard; ½ teaspoon ground black pepper; 2 heads romaine lettuce, thinly sliced; 2 cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped; 1 to 2 cups fried onion straws, croutons, and/or ½ cup toasted nuts (I use all three!); 1 cucumber, thinly sliced; 1½ cups cooked chickpeas or other legumes (rinsed and drained, if canned); 1 (14-ounce) can hearts of palm or artichoke hearts, drained and sliced; 2 carrots, shredded; ½ cup sliced pepperoncini peppers or any olive variety; 1 small to medium raw red or golden beet, peeled and shredded; 1 cup Shiitake Bae’con (this page) or any cooked plant-based bacon; 1 cup plant-based cheese crumbles or crumbled raw or Roasted Tofu (this page); 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved; 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced; ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil; 2 cups Mayonnaise (this page) or any plant-based mayonnaise; 2 garlic cloves; 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast; 1 tablespoon onion powder; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar, red wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar; 2 teaspoons fine pink Himalayan salt, or to taste; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; ½ teaspoon ground black pepper; ¾ cup chopped fresh herbs, such as dill, chives, thyme, cilantro, basil, flat-leaf parsley, oregano, and/or rosemary, or ¼ cup dried; Unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk (optional)

8 steps

Contrary to popular belief, plant-based eating doesn’t mean only salads. There are loads of creative ways in this book to eat vegetables and grains without tossing them into a bowl. But this isn’t one of them—this is the best salad in the world. Why? Because you can throw anything in it! Don’t have apples? Add pears or grapes. Don’t like spinach? Use kale or arugula. Don’t eat gluten? Replace croutons with crunchy nuts. You get the idea. Top it off with the creamy lemon-peppercorn remix of my Classic Herby Ranch that’s everything you want a salad dressing to be.

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 06:36:31 GMT

Nutrition balance score

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Ingredients

8 servings

dressing

2 cupsranch dressing

classic, herby, this page

2 tablespoonsfresh lemon juice

1 teaspoond tarragon

fresh minced /2 drie, optional

½ teaspoondijon mustard

½ teaspoonground black pepper

salad

2 headsromaine lettuce

thinly sliced

2 cupsbaby spinach

1 ½ cupschickpeas

cooked, or other legumes, rinsed and drained, if canned

1 x 14 ouncehearts of palm

can, or artichoke hearts, drained and sliced

2carrots

shredded

½ cuppepperoncini peppers

sliced, or any olive variety

1red beet

small to medium, raw, or golden, peeled and shredded

1 cupShiitake Bae’con

this page, or any cooked plant-based bacon

1 cupplant-based cheese crumbles

or crumbled raw or Roasted Tofu

1 cupcherry tomatoes

or grape, halved

1granny smith apple

peeled, cored, and diced

¼ cupfresh basil

thinly sliced

Classic Herby Ranch

2 cupsMayonnaise

this, or any plant-based mayonnaise

2garlic cloves

3 tablespoonsnutritional yeast

1 tablespoononion powder

1 tablespoonfresh lemon juice

2 teaspoonsdistilled white vinegar

wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoonsHimalayan salt

fine, pink, or to taste

1 teaspoongarlic powder

½ teaspoonground black pepper

¾ cupfresh herbs

chopped, such as dill, chives, thyme, cilantro, basil, flat-leaf parsley, oregano, and/or rosemary, or 1/4 cup dried

plant-based milk

Unsweetened, unflavored, optional

Instructions

Step 1

Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, combine the ranch dressing, lemon juice, tarragon (if using), mustard, and pepper. Whisk until smooth. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Step 2

Make the salad: In a very large bowl, combine the romaine, spinach, onion straws, cucumber, chickpeas, hearts of palm, carrots, pepperoncini, beet, Shiitake Bae’con, cheese crumbles, tomatoes, apple, and basil. Toss until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

Step 3

Add half of the dressing. Toss again to evenly coat all ingredients. Add more dressing, a little bit at a time, if desired. Divide among bowls, piling the salad high for a beautiful presentation, and serve.

Classic Herby Ranch

Step 4

When I was growing up, my mom made ranch dressing from scratch, and we loved it so much, I swear we practically drank it. Into it we dunked raw vegetables, fried zucchini, French fries, and even pizza! Keeping with tradition, I make mine from scratch, too, now with plant-based ingredients and herbs from my garden (especially when it’s overflowing in the spring and summertime). Watching my children enjoy something that was such a huge part of my childhood makes me so happy. Talk about full circle!

Step 5

Between the six of us (Derrick counts as three people!), it always disappears quickly, so I make big batches (I double this recipe), but if you want to make less, the recipe also halves easily. The best ranch dressing uses fresh herbs, but there’s nothing wrong with dried herbs if that’s what you have.

Step 6

Makes 2¼ cups

Step 7

Spoon the mayonnaise into a medium bowl. Using a Microplane, grate the garlic into the bowl (make sure to give the Microplane a good whack to release all of the garlic). Add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, garlic powder, and pepper and whisk until smooth. Stir in the herbs. (If you like your dressing a little thinner, add a few tablespoons of plant-based milk.)

Step 8

Use immediately or cover and chill before serving to allow the flavors to meld. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.