Rainbow mixed salad bowl

Here’s a scrumptious mixed salad bowl with healthy raw vegetables that’s a feast for the eyes with its beautiful rainbow colours! It tastes just as good as it looks and has lots of nutritious raw ingredients like green peppers, carrots, cucumber, leafy green salad and tomatoes. Avocado, chickpeas and beetroot provide plenty of protein. Packed with nutrients, this multicoloured mixed salad bowl contains loads of fibre, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.

About this rainbow mixed salad bowl recipe

When I first came to Switzerland, one of the things I immediately fell in love with was the national gemischte salat, a mixed salad very similar to this one, which you’ll find on most menus in the German part of Switzerland. The Swiss often eat a smaller, side dish version of this rainbow mixed salad bowl, or a green salad, before their main course.

I’ve also adopted the habit of eating my salad before my main meal or as a side dish with it, rather than after it, the way the Italians do. Or not at all, like the Americans and Brits. In Switzerland, a large plate like this rainbow mixed salad bowl would be chosen as a main course, and it is traditionally garnished with a sliced hard-boiled egg or with tuna. This would usually be called Grosse gemischte salat-teller mit Ei (egg), or Thunfisch (tuna) and would most likely be eaten for a weekday lunch by the Swissies.

Salad is one of my favourite dishes, definitely in my top 10. This may sound weird to some of you, but I don’t eat salad just because it’s healthy. I LIKE it, really like it, I mean. It’s up there with all my other favourites like lasagne, moussaka, chili con carne, Indian curries, aubergine parmigiana, vegan “fish” and chips, pizza… All vegan, of course! Look out for them coming up on my blog! The fact that salad is one of my favourite foods doesn’t mean I would eat it instead of lasagne or moussaka or whatever. I would eat it as well as!

How the Swiss make salads

The thing I love about the way the Swissies make their salads is that most of the components are seasoned separately. Lots of restaurants have a salad buffet where each ingredient is in a separate container and you help yourself to whatever you want. One of my favourites is cucumber with soya yoghurt and dill – they go so well together! Lots of countries pair cucumber with yoghurt and dill – The Greeks have tzatziki and the Indians make raita. I’ve eaten similar cucumber yoghurt dill combinations in Holland, Switzerland, Turkey, and the Middle East.

In this recipe, I’ve paired beetroot with red onion, and tomatoes with oregano and/or basil. Carrot is great with lemon juice, and the Swiss often season sweetcorn with a mayonnaise-based sauce. The whole salad is then seasoned with Italian (vinegarette) or French (mayonnaise-based) dressing. I tend to go for a simple Italian dressing of vinegar, extra virgin oil and salt. It might sound boring but it actually enhances the flavours of the other ingredients. Personalise your salad with your own favourite ingredients and dressings!

How to make this rainbow mixed salad bowl

Ingredients

• Leafy mixed green salad
• Beetroot
• Apple cider or wine vinegar
• Tomato
• Oregano (dried)
• Cucumber
• Soya yoghurt
• Dill (fresh or dried)
• Carrot
• Lemon juice
• Green, red or yellow pepper
• Chickpeas
• Sweetcorn
• Avocado
• Olives (black or green)
• Red onion
• Vinegar (my favourites are apple cider vinegar or Italian balsamic vinegar from Modena)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Unrefined sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh chives

Preparation and seasoning

• Put a handful of leafy mixed green salad on a plate and spread it out.
• Trim the beetroot and remove the skin. Slice it into bite-sized pieces and put them in a container. Pour a generous amount of vinegar over the beetroot and leave it to marinate in the vinegar while you prepare everything else.
• Cut the tomatoes and season them with red onion, oregano, extra virgin olive oil, and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
• Slice the cucumber thinly, either on a mandolin or by hand. Put the slices in a bowl and season them with soya yoghurt and chopped dill.
• Grate the carrots and squeeze a little lemon juice over them.
• Cut the peppers into strips.
• Drain the chickpeas.
• Drain the sweetcorn.
• Cut the avocado into slices and season them with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• Drain the vinegar from the beetroot and season with extra virgin olive oil, salt and red onion (see recipe for simple beetroot salad).
• Arrange all the ingredients in sections on the bed of lettuce.
• Add some green or black olives.
• Cut the red onion into small slices and sprinkle over the salad.
• Just before serving, season the salad with your favourite vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add a sprinkling of fresh chives and serve immediately.

How to serve this rainbow mixed salad bowl

Serve this delicious crunchy rainbow mixed salad bowl as a main course for lunch or dinner. Or put it in a container with a lid and take it to the office. Nutritionally, it’s a complete meal in itself. It really needs nothing more than a slice or two of crusty sourdough bread to mop up the juices. If you want, you could add some vegan tuna to give it that extra kick. I do sometimes if I want to feel full for longer. My favourite is Garden Gourmet Vuna.

How to store leftovers

Any salad which has been seasoned with salt and oil won’t last very long – at the most, a couple of hours in the fridge. It goes limp quickly and water comes out of the vegetables due to the process of osmosis. If the salad hasn’t been seasoned, it will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days.

I hope you like this rainbow mixed salad bowl! If you do, it would be great if you could give it a star rating and leave a comment below! It helps other readers to find my content and posts and ultimately makes my blog more successful! Thanks so much for your support! Deborah xx

While you’re here on Vegan Hot Stuff, maybe you’d like to take a look at some other popular recipes…

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