I love this rainbow crunch chopped salad! It is full of beautiful and deliciously healthy veggies and truly makes a rainbow in the bowl. The dressing is a red wine vinegar and orange vinaigrette that brightens and enhances all the flavors featured.
This salad can be used as the main course or as a side dish. I love it as the main dish and it will leave you feeling full and satisfied but it is still light and fresh! I have feta and chicken listed as optional ingredients and I can tell you that this salad is great with or without those ingredients.
Because this salad has heartier vegetables in it, it holds up well in the refrigerator and is great for leftovers because nothing wilts while marinating in the dressing. If you are planning to make this for multiple meals or as a meal prep, you can keep the dressing, feta and chicken separate and add them when you are ready to eat the salad.
The red kale in here can be a little chewy if you are not used to kale in salads. So my advice is to chop it super fine. You can also “message” your kale before adding it to this salad, by rubbing it with a little oil so it softens the green, however, I don’t bother with this step and just add the finely chopped kale and it is fine.
What you need to make this rainbow crunch chopped salad: (printable recipe is below)
Serves 4-6
- 1 cucumber – peeled, seeds removed and chopped
- 4-5 large strawberries – hulled and chopped
- 1 bunch red kale – stems removed and chopped finely
- 6 mini bell peppers – chopped, 2 of each color, red, orange, yellow
- 1 crown broccoli – chopped
- 2 green onions – sliced thinly
- 1 1/2 cups purple cabbage – chopped or shredded
- 1 orange – peeled and segmented, save zest for dressing (optional)
- 1 cup chopped cashews – I use roasted and salted
- 1/2 cup feta crumbles – optional
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken – chopped
Salad Dressing:
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or other flavor neutral oil)
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- Zest from orange (optional)
Instructions:
- Chop all veggies, nuts and chicken (if using) and place into large bowl with feta (if using).
- To make the dressing; in a small bowl, add red wine vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper then microwave for 45 seconds and stir so all of the sugar is dissolved.
- Add oil, cold orange juice and orange zest (if using), to the vinegar mixture.
- Whisk together then pour over salad and mix everything all together.
- Serve and enjoy!
Here are a few other recipes you may also enjoy:
Grilled Steak and Nectarine Salad
Kale Peach and Wild Rice Salad
Beet and Mandarin Orange Panzanella Salad
Rainbow Crunch Chopped Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber peeled, seeds removed and chopped
- 4-5 large strawberries hulled and chopped
- 1 bunch red kale stems removed and chopped finely
- 6 mini bell peppers chopped, 2 of each color, red, orange, yellow
- 1 crown broccoli chopped
- 2 green onions sliced thinly
- 1 1/2 cups purple cabbage chopped or shredded
- 1 orange peeled and segmented, save zest for dressing (optional)
- 1 cup chopped cashews I use roasted and salted
- 1/2 cup feta crumbles optional
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken chopped
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or other flavor neutral oil
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- Zest from orange optional
Instructions
- Chop all veggies, nuts and chicken (if using) and place into large bowl with feta (if using).
- To make the dressing; in a small bowl, add red wine vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper then microwave for 45 seconds and stir so all of the sugar is dissolved.
- Add oil, cold orange juice and orange zest (if using), to the vinegar mixture.
- Whisk together then pour over salad and mix everything all together.
- Serve and enjoy!