Healthy Grain Salad Recipes

Enjoy a superfood lunch with this light and fresh soybean-and-quinoa salad.

Trying to eat more whole grains? Try millet--a gluten-free ancient grain with a slight corn flavor. In this grain-salad recipe, the millet is tossed with a white-wine vinaigrette, green veggies and apricots. Serve with grilled chicken, fish or tofu.

This healthy rice salad is loaded with vegetables and protein. Serve it as a healthy dinner or pack it up and take it along for your next picnic. Bhutanese red rice has a nutty taste and pleasant chewy texture, but any type of whole-grain rice tastes great in this hearty salad recipe. Check package directions: depending on the variety, red rice cooks for 20 to 50 minutes.

Here's a great example of how to cook a healthy dish in minutes--simply cook the bacon in the same pan as the barley to enrich the flavor, add some purchased cooked shrimp, a few aromatic vegetables, and you've got dinner (or a hearty potluck dish) in no time flat.

Quinoa, a super food from South America, is packed with protein and fiber. Toasting it gives it a slightly nutty taste, a complement to the walnuts and a foil to the lemony tarragon dressing. Try this salad over greens of any sort: fresh arugula, Boston lettuce leaves or wilted spinach.

Dried cherries add color and sweet and tart flavor, while mint and parsley give this healthy grain salad recipe fresh notes. If fresh sweet cherries are available, you could add those instead. Serve this chicken salad recipe with tzatziki sauce and mixed greens on the side.

Bright golden beets contrast with the red quinoa for a colorful salad full of texture and flavor. Chopped pistachios add crunch while feta brings saltiness to this stunning salad.

After a good charring in the skillet, kale stems add a tender-crisp bite and touch of smokiness to this healthy vegetarian kale salad. Feel free to use this healthy recipe as a guide; swap out the farro for any whole grain or the squash for any roasting vegetable, such as cauliflower.

The vibrant colors of this salad--orange, red, black and green--signal that it's loaded with phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals. And since it features both quinoa--a “complete” protein with all the essential amino acids--and black beans, it's a vegetarian protein powerhouse. Serve on a bed of Boston lettuce or in a pita pocket.

Bursting with colorful veggies, this healthy grain bowl recipe is topped with an easy miso dressing. If you have quinoa already cooked, skip Step 1 and use 2 cups in Step 4.

The nutty flavor of red quinoa pairs beautifully with fresh strawberries, edamame, almonds and toasted coconut in this cold grain salad. Be sure to chill at least 2 hours so the salad can absorb the full flavor of the balsamic dressing.

This spicy salad with little jewels of dried apricot in the mix would be welcome for lunch or a simple weekday dinner.

This healthy Mediterranean salad makes a great vegetarian main dish. Or you could serve smaller portions as a side dish with grilled chicken, beef, or pork.

In this gluten-free grain-salad recipe we use sorghum, a hearty small yellow grain that has a chewy texture. Here it's tossed with a cider vinaigrette, shrimp and vegetables. Serve as a main dish or as a side for grilled chicken or steak.

Sesame oil and nori (dried seaweed) give this healthy grain-salad recipe Asian flair. Serve as a vegetarian main dish or as a side for grilled shrimp or baked chicken.

Lemon, oregano and feta add zing to broccoli rabe tossed with whole-wheat orzo.

Serve this Scandinavian-inspired salad for lunch on the patio, accompanied by some good rye bread or rye crisps.

Leftover cooked chicken? This healthy grain-salad recipe is the perfect way to use it up. We like the color of red quinoa, but yellow works well too.

Wheat berries have amazing texture—they practically pop in your mouth like caviar—and each 1/2-cup serving of cooked wheat berries has more than 4 grams of fiber. Since they take up to an hour to get tender, make them in a large batch and freeze whatever you don't use right away in individual servings. (You can do the same thing with any whole grain!) That way, you can easily stir them into soup, season them with citrus and herbs for a pilaf or make them the base of a satisfying grain salad.

With tons of fresh herbs, arugula, olives and farro, this healthy chicken salad recipe makes a wonderful potluck platter or healthy dinner. We love the nutty flavor and quick cooking time of farro but other whole grains, such as freekeh, bulgur or couscous, are also good choices.

This healthy roasted chicken recipe is perfect for a simple supper or on special occasions. Arrange the chicken pieces on top of a grain salad studded with pomegranate seeds and roasted almonds for a pretty and comforting dish. Add green beans or roasted Brussels sprouts for an easy crowd-pleasing meal.

Here, fresh arugula is whirred into a peppery pesto for dressing this wild rice salad featuring cherry tomatoes, crumbled feta and toasted pine nuts.