Potluck-Perfect Salads and Side Dishes

August 27, 2019
Bringing a healthy dish to a party ensures that you'll have something to eat you can feel good about (and so will everyone else). We've got lightened-up versions of potato salad, coleslaw, taco salad and more to treat everyone. Bring one of these healthy dishes to your next party and you'll be sure to wow everyone's taste buds.Watch Video
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Greek Potato Salad

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In this healthy potato salad recipe, a white-wine vinaigrette dresses the potatoes, tomatoes, feta and olives. Waxy potatoes, such as red and yellow, make the best potato salad because they hold their shape when cooked. Keep the potato skins on for more fiber and potassium.

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Watermelon, Cucumber & Feta Salad

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Here's a healthy salad recipe to make at the height of summer when watermelon and cucumbers are at their juiciest and most flavorful. Feta adds the perfect creamy, salty, tangy edge, and mint makes this salad taste even brighter. This is one easy side salad you'll want to serve at all your summer BBQs.

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Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

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This scrumptious and healthy salad combines elements of Caesar salad, pasta salad and chicken salad for an easy weeknight dinner that comes together in less than 30 minutes (and most of the prep can be done ahead). Use your blender to whip together the tangy buttermilk-based dressing, which would also be great on a salmon or chickpea salad.

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Red Cabbage Salad with Blue Cheese & Maple-Glazed Walnuts

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Serve this hearty salad recipe--combining red cabbage, blue cheese and glazed walnuts--as an accompaniment to roast pork or chicken. To slice the cabbage quickly, cut the head into wedges and slice in your food processor. A mandoline is also a great tool for the job.

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Hasselback Tomato Caprese Salad

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Use the hasselback technique to upgrade plain caprese salad with this fun twist! Cutting partially into the whole tomato creates openings to layer in fresh mozzarella cheese, basil and a balsamic drizzle for tons of flavor in this unique vegetable side dish recipe.

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Tomato-Basil Zoodle Salad

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Spiralized zucchini noodles make the perfect base for this colorful and flavorful salad--think pasta salad without all the carbs! It comes together quickly for a light lunch or easy side. Add grilled chicken, shrimp or chickpeas to make a heartier meal.

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Mexican Pasta Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

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Everyone will love this Mexican-inspired pasta salad recipe. We lighten up the creamy dressing with avocado for a healthier version of a picnic favorite.

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Fresh Fruit Salad

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This refreshing fruit salad is a classic combination that will be the favorite at any potluck or cookout. Serve with a creamy yogurt dressing to take this side (or dessert) to the next level.

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Blue Cheese & Spinach Salad

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This blue cheese, corn and spinach salad recipe is delicious tossed with a warm bacon-spiked tomato vinaigrette. We love a full-flavored blue cheese like Maytag, but a milder blue cheese is also nice. This spinach salad is great with pizza or as a light side salad.

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Green Bean & Tommy-Toe Salad

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At first glance, you may think that vinegar or lemon juice has been inadvertently omitted from the ingredient list of this green bean and tomato salad recipe. Not so. The juice of tiny ripe cherry tomatoes, called “tommy toes” in parts of the mountain South, is acidic enough that you don't need vinegar or lemon juice, and also contributes subtle sweetness--the perfect counterpoint to fresh beans.

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Vegetable & Tuna Pasta Salad

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This delicious pasta salad recipe is made with zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes, arugula and chunk light tuna, which is lower in mercury than white albacore tuna. For the best flavor, combine the pasta salad with the dressing about 1 hour before serving. If you're looking for an environmentally sustainable canned tuna option, check the label--tuna that was caught by troll or pole-and-line is considered the best choice, according to Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program. Or look for the blue Certified Sustainable Seafood label from the Marine Stewardship Council.

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Composed Bean Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

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Channel your inner food stylist while arranging the beans and vegetables for this show-stopping composed bean salad recipe. Serve at a potluck or for a beautiful salad at brunch alongside grilled chicken, scallops or fish.

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Broccoli & Feta Pasta Salad

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This vegetarian pasta salad recipe is perfect for your next potluck or as an easy side dish. The broccoli keeps it nice and crunchy and the chickpeas add protein. For the best flavor, combine the pasta salad with the dressing about 1 hour before serving.

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Better Three-Bean Salad

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Traditional three-bean salad gets a healthy, fresh spin with the addition of black soybeans, snap peas and a tarragon-infused dressing. Find black soybeans near other canned beans; they're a sweeter, creamier relative of the green ones you're probably familiar with.

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Super-Green Edamame Salad

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Avocado, fresh chives and spinach are blended right into the creamy, bright-green dressing in this healthy edamame salad recipe. Pink beans are popular in the Caribbean, but you can substitute pinto beans or light red kidney beans if you can't find them.

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Lebanese Potato Salad

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?Dressed with a tangy lemon vinaigrette and fresh mint, this invigorating--and dairy-free--potato salad makes the perfect summer potluck contribution.

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Carrot & Radish Slaw with Pickled Onions

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Cutting vegetables into long thin strips--a technique called julienning--rather than shredding them gives this healthy slaw recipe a marvelous, crisp texture. You can cut the vegetables by hand, but a mandoline will save you a lot of time. If your radishes still have the greens attached, reserve them and use as a garnish.

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Rainbow Slaw with Beet Greens

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A touch of cumin and cinnamon give this colorful, healthy slaw recipe a hint of the Middle East. Serve with a wedge of cheese and a whole-grain roll on the side for a satisfying dinner--or with just about anything that comes off the grill.

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Quinoa Avocado Salad

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Protein-packed quinoa pairs with creamy avocado in this refreshing grain salad. It's the perfect make-ahead side dish to bring on a picnic or take to a potluck. Or pack it for lunch or enjoy it as a light dinner.

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Bacon, Tomato & Farro Salad

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We love farro, a high-fiber whole grain, because it cooks in about 15 minutes and has an amazing toothsome texture perfect for grain salads. In this healthy farro salad recipe we combine it with smoky bacon, sweet cherry tomatoes and fresh basil for an easy side dish or light lunch. Look for farro at natural-foods stores and gourmet food markets

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Red Fruit Salad

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Serve this refreshing fruit salad featuring juicy watermelon, grapes and berries on its own or with other colorblock fruit salads (like green, purple and orange) for a fun, crowd-pleasing rainbow side dish.

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Spinach & Strawberry Pasta Salad

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This simple pasta side dish combines sweet strawberries and creamy avocado with a tart balsamic vinaigrette. You can make the dressing ahead and keep it separately, tossing with the pasta salad just before serving. Make this salad even more special by adding crumbled feta or goat cheese.

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Tomato Salad with Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette

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Seek out several varieties of heirloom tomatoes for this simple salad. Sweeter and juicier than conventional tomatoes, they add the perfect pop of color.

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Tomato Gratin

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A gratin is any dish topped with cheese or breadcrumbs mixed with butter, then heated until browned--but it needn't be heavy. This one has plenty of garden-fresh tomatoes and herbs, a touch of full-flavored cheese and a crispy crumb topping.

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Vinegary Coleslaw

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Forget mayonnaise-laden coleslaw. The bright, clean flavors in this version go well with everything from tacos to barbecue.

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Broccoli-Bacon Salad

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A picnic favorite, this salad combines broccoli, water chestnuts, cranberries and just a little bacon for delicious results. Our version has plenty of creaminess without all the fat. Make it once and it will become a regular on your backyard barbecue menu.

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