Sumptuous Salads

When you're not in the mood for lentil soup, put the quick-cooking pulse to good use in this nutritious, meat-free salad.

Turn a humble can of beans into this impressive salad. It's already a main dish, but you can make it heartier by adding seared salmon or sizzled shrimp.

Related: Great Recipes for Canned or Dry Beans

Chef Sarah Russo of Chicago-based Salad Club uses roasted plantain to add a delicious and unexpected starchy sweetness to this salad. Be sure to choose a ripe one—more black than yellow, but not totally black.

Related: Hearty, Healthy Salad Recipes

This healthy, colorful salad is filled with feta, pistachios, juicy clementines and crisp apple, and gently softened by homemade salad dressing—a warm shallot vinaigrette. 

Honey and orange juice boost the natural sweetness of beets. We couldn't resist adding goat cheese, but the salad's equally good without.

Two things make this grilled watermelon amazing. High heat draws out moisture and intensifies watermelon's sweetness, and the rub creates additional caramelization for even deeper flavor notes.

Related: Summer Salad Recipes

This main-dish salad is bursting with color and fresh flavor. The recipe comes from The Birchwood Cafe Cookbook (University of Minnesota Press, $29.95). (Note: You'll end up with extra dressing, but that's just fine ... stash it in the fridge to wake up any salad.)

Related: Homemade Salad Dressings

This fresh and colorful salad is a perfect side to grilled chicken or pork tenderloin. As you eat, the citrus juices mingle with the oil, so you don't even have to mix up a dressing.

Related: Date Recipes—Plus, What You Need to Know About This Fruit

Turn breakfast into dinner! This salad is loaded with all the flavors of your favorite bagel shop—smoked salmon, avocado, cucumber, jammy eggs, bagel chip "croutons" and creamy dressing.

Related: 20 Favorite Salmon Recipes

Packed with healthy nutrients, this dish is perfect for any occasion. Serve as a side with a pork tenderloin roast or turkey breast or as a meat-free dinner salad with warm, crusty wheat rolls.

Ham adds just enough smoky richness to chef Abra Berens' vibrant salad to elevate a simple slaw to a lunch-worthy meal or a potluck stunner. Find other great salads in her book Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables.

Our hearty salad tastes equally good warm from the pan, cold from the fridge or even at room temperature, so it's perfect for make-ahead meals and leftover lunches. Other grains, such as barley, faro or wild rice, also work well in this salad.

It's not just a salad—it's a crunchy, juicy, sweet, salty, tart, buttery, nutty potluck dazzler.

Related: Delicious Potluck Salad Recipes

Turn a classic BLT into a main dish salad. The favorite combination of bacon, lettuce, and tomato are added to a mix of vegetables and toasted bread to make a delightful meal. Creamy mustard dressing makes the perfect topping.

Related: Smoky, Sizzling Bacon Recipes

The red pepper dressing is a revelation, well worth making for any lettuce salad. You can use beef instead of lamb if you like.

Heart-healthy walnuts and lean pork tenderloin make this dinner salad as nutritious as it is colorful. You can pop a package of whole-grain take-and-bake rolls in the oven after you remove the pork. By the time you've assembled the salad, the rolls will be ready.

Sirloin strips marinated in raspberry-chipotle vinaigrette get caramelized edges on the grill. Pile skewers on mixed greens with goat cheese and veggies, then pass the tongs and dressing.

Pecans, feta cheese, a Red Delicious apple and zesty vinaigrette combine for a memorable salad. 

Apples, dried cranberries and grapes meet crunchy celery and wheat berries in this colorful salad tossed with apple-cinnamon dressing.

Combining cinnamony pumpkin-pie spice with fresh mint lends North African flavor in a flash. Try this simple salad as a side dish to grilled chicken.

Related: Fresh Slaw Recipes

Italian Rice Salad includes fragrant, nutty-tasting brown basmati rice, bell peppers in a variety of colors, red onions and plenty of garlic. "It's kind of soft, kind of crunchy, a little sweet and a little tangy," says Ohio cooking school expert Bev Schaffer, who gave us the recipe.

Crisp, shredded Brussels sprouts, toasted hazelnuts and tangy cranberry-orange dressing provide a burst of fresh flavor to balance a rich holiday roast. We like the hearty texture of raw Brussels sprouts, but if you prefer them a bit softer, blanch them first and then plunge them into cold water and pat dry.

Related: Brussels Sprouts Recipes

Apple cider and lemon juice add a touch of pucker that keeps this hearty grain salad from tasting too sweet. For a nutritional boost, use whole wheat couscous.

This festively red-and-green salad actually tastes better dressed hours ahead and served at room temperature, so it travels beautifully. Fresh cranberries and an assertive, gingery dressing balance rich meats and sides. And it's hearty enough to keep vegetarians at the table satisfied. Sold yet?

Sweet squash and apple pair with sharp Gorgonzola and tangy dressing in this autumn salad from Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay, Michigan. The dressing calls for verjus, a tart pressed grape juice. You can order verjust online or find it as specialty stores, but wine vinegar makes a good substitute.

Related: Easy and Delicious Butternut Squash Recipes

Salty bacon flavors juicy grapes and crunchy broccoli. The classic side-dish salad comes from the Triangle Ranch B&B in South Dakota.

Tangy Granny Smith apples combine with radicchio and fennel in this refreshing side-dish salad. Mustard and citrus flavor the dressing.