Herb Skinny Salad: Recipe Trial from Real Girl’s Kitchen

Summer is here and SoCal has no shortage of hot, plentiful sunshine! On a quest for some healthy and refreshing dishes, I happened upon this amazing salad recipe from Haylie Duff over at Real Girl’s Kitchen.

{Side note: I absolutely ADORE the Duff sisters… like, really really REALLY adore them. But you want to get to that recipe, ya? Onward}!

This “Herb Skinny Salad” was featured in Haylie’s detox getaway away with the girls, and it was so unique, I had to give it a try {see the Real Girl’s Kitchen episode here}. So at family lunch this weekend, I decided to prep this salad to a) prove that my kitchen skills do in fact exist, and b) contribute a healthy, new dish to our recipe books. Overall, it was a piece of cake (mmmm… cake) and easily fed our hungry party of 6 with plenty to spare!

Bonus: It just so happens to be gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, organic, vegetarian AND vegan all at the same time {and add raw if you opt out of using the toasted pine nuts}. Take that Whole Foods!!!

What you’ll need {for all ingredients, choose organic if you’d like}:

1 bunch romaine lettuce

5 thinly sliced radishes

1 thinly sliced carrot

1 thinly sliced cucumber

1/4 cup chopped green onions (or green garlic)

1/2 cup chopped mint

1/2 cup chopped dill

Handful of cherry tomatoes (in my case, 1 medium tomato)

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1 cubed avocado

1/2 squeezed lemon

drizzle of olive oil

sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper

First, rinse the romaine, tearing off the whitish ends near the root, and continue tearing the leaves with your hands to form the salad instead of using a knife {a tip from Haylie: this helps the edges not to turn brown}. Once the main body of greens are prepped, thinly slice up your radishes, carrot and add them in. Beautiful already!

Continue by chopping your cucumbers {I cut mine in half first, then sliced the two halves at the same time to make them a little easier to eat}, green onions, tomatoes, and avocado. Luckily, I was able to find an avocado that was perfectly ripe – a tip to use at the grocery store is to pick off the brown nub at the top, and if it’s green underneath, the avocado inside is green and ready to show off {just remember to press softly to test for actual fruit ripeness – you may want to buy one a couple days before to ensure it’s good to go}.

Instead of using store-bought dressing, Haylie opts for a homemade version instead {which guarantees it’s free of any preservatives}! Using your dill, mint, freshly-squeezed lemon juice, drizzle of olive oil and a dash of coarse sea salt and pepper, you should have the perfect balance of flavor and texture. Add in the toasted pine nuts, and you’re ready to party!

As the summer sun was setting, the Herb Skinny Salad received rave reviews. For future batches, I would love to try using a little less dill, but everyone commented on just how delicious, simple, and unique the flavors were {not to mention how crazy healthy it is}! This is easily a year-round salad to accompany a large family meal or to enjoy as a dish all on its own!

Check out Haylie’s cookbook and blog, watch full episodes at Ora TV, and stay tuned for more recipe attempts from yours truly.

Wish me luck

xoxo