Winter Salad with Lemon Yogurt Dressing

This is a beautiful salad - crisp, green, colorful, and sparkling-fresh.  During these dark days of December in the northern hemisphere, I tend towards mostly cooked foods - soups, breads, baked casseroles, grits, pastas, things covered in cheese - but I also welcome a burst of freshness every now and then!  I hope you enjoy this nutritious, gorgeous salad as much as we did!

YIELD: 4 quart-sized salads

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic
• kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 - 3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 2 c cooked chickpeas, drained and patted dry
• 12 pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 1 large carrot, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 1-2 fresh broccoli stalks, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 bunch radishes, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 c julienned jicama
• 1 small avocado, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
• 2-3 hearts romaine, shredded
• 1/2 c roasted, salted sunflower seeds

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the lemon-yogurt dressing: combine the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic clove, and salt and pepper in a pint-sized mason jar or other tall container.  Puree and emulsify the dressing using a handheld stick blender. Stir in the parsley.
2. Pack the salads: divide the dressing evenly between each of 4 tall quart-sized containers.  Layer the chickpeas, olives, carrots, broccoli stalk, radishes, celery, jicama, romaine, and avocado in the jars.  Divide the sunflower seeds evenly between 4 2-oz jars or snack-size zip-top bags for each salad.  Refrigerate until serving.
3. Enjoy your salad: invert your salad onto a plate or into a bowl.  Top with sunflower seeds.

TIME-SAVING TIPS: Use your favorite store-bought yogurt dressing in place of the homemade dressing.  

SPECIAL DIET SWAPS: This salad is vegetarian, nut- and gluten-free as-is.  For a vegan salad, substitute your favorite plain non-dairy yogurt for the Greek yogurt in the dressing.

Food styling, photography, and infographics by Robert Campbell.