AIP chopped veggie salad with balsamic vinaigrette - a fast-food sandwich shop salad made compliant

The fast lunch you used to order without thinking, the sandwich counter, the app on your phone, food that showed up in 10 minutes flat, is one of the first casualties of this protocol, and it leaves a real gap in an ordinary Tuesday. This salad is built for exactly that gap: chop everything, whisk a dressing, no stove involved, no real cooking at all.

Spinach and lettuce are where a good share of this bowl's magnesium comes from, tied to a nervous system that can actually settle instead of staying keyed up all afternoon, and the carrots and cucumber bring the color and crunch that turn a pile of greens into something that reads as an actual meal.

Pile the greens loosely instead of packing them down, fan the carrots and cucumber instead of dumping them in, and pour the dressing at the table rather than drowning the bowl before you sit down. Eaten slowly, this ordinary lunch does more for you than a five-minute assembly job looks like it should.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped green lettuce
• 4 cups chopped spinach
• 4 ounces sliced black olives (clean brine)
• 3 small carrots, sliced
• 1 small cucumber, sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 small dill pickle, sliced (clean-label or homemade)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Swaps from the source: the original calls for a store dill pickle, which often carries additives; use a clean-label brand or a homemade pickle. The ground ginger stays (it is an AIP-permitted root, not a seed-spice), as do the black olives (AIP Core when the brine is clean).

Method

Add the lettuce, spinach, olives, carrots, cucumber, red onion, and pickle to one large bowl.

Whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, sea salt, and ground ginger together in a small jar or bowl until it comes together.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Serve right away.

To turn it into a main, add leftover cooked chicken or turkey. It also takes well to roasted squash or sauteed mushrooms if you want a little more substance.

No appliance variation needed

This is a no-cook assembly dish, so there is no air fryer or Instant Pot version. If you are making it ahead, keep the dressing separate and toss just before eating so the greens stay crisp.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*