Healthy Fall Salad Recipes

Making tofu tastier can be as simple as tossing it in a knockout sauce like this Sichuan-inspired peanut dressing. To make this cucumber salad recipe a meal, add rice noodles and double the dressing. Serve with an extra drizzle of sesame oil and sliced scallions.

Simple steps give this broccoli salad recipe a more nuanced flavor: soaking the onion tempers its bite and toasting the cumin enhances its aroma. Serve alongside grilled chicken, pork or fish.

Skip the cleanse and eat this instead. Packed with veggies, avocado and seeds, this healthy salad recipe is bursting with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Everything can be prepared ahead of time except the avocado. If you love beets, shred one raw and add it to the salad for extra color, crunch and flavor. Excerpted from The Dinner Plan by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion, published by ABRAMS © 2017.

Goddess dressing typically gets its umami-ness from anchovies, but we use miso in this super green salad recipe to keep it vegetarian. Substitute 2 chopped anchovies for the miso if you like. Or add baked tofu, poached salmon or grilled chicken for a boost of protein.

Serve this healthy salad as a main course or as a starter for a special meal. To speed up prep, look for precut butternut squash in the refrigerated area of the produce section at your grocery store.

This warm spinach-and-beet salad is inspired by a dish from Penny Cluse Café in Burlington, Vermont. If you have cooked beets on hand, you can have it ready in just a few minutes.

Go light and fresh when you're craving pizza: these easy lettuce wraps have all the taste with fewer carbs and calories.

Salad dressing made from sweet and mellow white balsamic vinegar balances out the assertive greens and Brussels sprouts in this healthy winter salad. If you have one handy, a small mandoline makes it easy to slice the Brussels and apple. To make it a dinner salad, top with shrimp or chicken.

A great make-ahead entree, this lightened-up pasta salad is loaded with broccoli and peppers. Smoky ham and sweet raisins give it plenty of punch. Enjoy the leftovers for a fuss-free lunch. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

Barley matches up with earthy, tender beets and the crunch of fresh celery, radishes and nuts in this beet salad recipe. Red beets turn your salad a gorgeous magenta. For a softer color, use golden or chioggia baby beets instead.

This simple green salad is made with romaine lettuce and baby spinach and can be thrown together in minutes to round out any meal.

The lightly sweet, creamy homemade poppy seed dressing takes this crunchy salad to the next level for a mouthwatering vegetable side dish or light lunch. Top with cooked chicken for a heartier meal.

This whole-grain wild rice and quinoa salad recipe is perfect for toting to summer potlucks. It features sweet cherries, crunchy celery, nutty aged goat cheese and toasted pecans. If you can find red quinoa, it's particularly pretty.

Mushrooms, carrots and onions are roasted with garlic and fennel seeds in this roast chicken and quinoa salad. Preparing the quinoa with a little less water than is typical makes it cook more quickly and keeps it fluffier‚ perfect for soaking up the sherry-vinegar dressing in this salad. Serve with garlic-rubbed toast.

In this hearty mushroom and spinach salad recipe, sturdier “mature” spinach leaves hold up better than baby spinach when tossed with the warm mushroom-and-bacon vinaigrette.

This healthy and pretty beet salad recipe is dressed with a tangy-sweet maple-mustard vinaigrette. Use the leftover dressing for any salad later in the week.

Real maple syrup--not the “maple-flavored” fakes that line the supermarket shelves--is the key to the richly flavored dressing on this elegant salad. In this case, the darker the syrup the better; choose Grade B syrup if it's available, or the darkest “Grade A” that you can find.

Tofu definitely benefits from a marinade, in this case lemon juice, olive oil and fresh herbs. In this vegetarian salad recipe, the tofu is pressed first, which concentrates its subtle soy flavor and improves the texture by removing some of the water. But what really makes this recipe special is the Parmesan cheese crust that transforms the tofu into a soft, cheesy crouton.

The natural sweetness of the squash is amplified by a maple syrup-spiked dressing in this hearty salmon salad. Serve with crusty garlic bread and a glass of Beaujolais wine.

Edamame gives this veggie-packed vegan pasta salad a bit of feel-full protein. Serve topped with extra freshly ground pepper, if desired.

Asparagus and pomegranate seeds are a fun addition to this easy tabbouleh recipe. Serve this healthy whole-grain side with chicken kebabs, tzatziki and pita bread for a Middle Eastern-inspired dinner.

This salad was one of the favorites chosen from over 1,000 salad recipes for our 30th anniversary issue. In 2004, Deborah Madison waxed poetic about winter ingredients, particularly nuts. “In the chill air of winter, nuts move up to center stage as do their warming, substantial, golden oils--so good with winter salad greens and vegetables, such as shaved fennel, all of which are likely to end up in a salad together,” she says. Madison suggested using a mix of lettuces that balance each other here--a mild, tender variety, such as Boston, with a more intense and sturdy green, such as escarole, for instance.

This marinated vegetable salad recipe is a colorful composed salad inspired by the classic Italian giardiniera. Serve on a platter as is or on a bed of crisp greens. For a heartier appetizer or light lunch, add 1/2 cup each diced salami and hard cheese, such as Provolone or even white Cheddar, to the mix.

Sweet peaches and raspberries stud the peppery watercress to make this savory fruit salad recipe gorgeous. But what makes it so delicious is the crisp bacon coated in the delightfully sticky-sweet maple-port wine glaze.