My Spring Salad is all the spring veggies, asparagus, green beans, snap peas, cooked to perfection, topped with cashews and sprouts, then tossed in a lovely light White Balsamic Basil Vinaigrette. The perfect way to welcome and celebrate spring!
This salad has several of my favorite veggies, including asparagus and green beans. These two veggies are great when cooked in the air fryer as well. Check out how to make them. Air fryer asparagus and Air fryer green beans.
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An ode to spring
I wanted to make a nice Spring Salad; an ode to spring, with all the best freshness that spring has to offer. The first veggie that came to mind was asparagus; I love fresh roasted asparagus, all green and herby. Oh, and pea pods, crisp and snappy. And, green beans, tender spring green beans. Well, since my salad was all the colors of greens in one place, I decided to go with the Fresh Green Spring Salad that you see here. It’s like spring on a plate!
And, I know that some of you are still in the snow, so this might be a welcome change from all that white.
And, all this veggie goodness in a huge salad for about 300 calories!!! Rockin! Just be sure not to load on too much dressing if you want it to stay around this calorie content.
This salad would also be fantastic garnished with some Cheese Crisps. Check out my How to make Cheese Crisps recipe for all the details!
Recipe Notes
Note: this section contains affiliate links
Usually I’m pretty plain when it comes to salad dressing, as I prefer a simple dash of white wine vinegar over my salad. But, for this special Spring Salad I thought I’d make a special dressing. White Balsamic {affiliate link} Basil Dressing. Still simple enough to let the flavors of the salad shine through, but special enough to shine on this salad.
One thing you may notice about my vinaigrette is that I don’t suggest putting salt and pepper in it. I’ve found that the S&P sticks to the sides of the jar, so I’d rather put it directly on the salad for maximum flavor.
If you want a little more of a main dish salad, this would be great with some cooked {affiliate links} quinoa thrown in, or maybe top it with a can of Island Trollers Albacore Tuna!
For a fantastic dinner, serve this salad with Salmon Risotto and Roasted Potato Stacks.
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Spring Salad Recipe
Spring salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 bunch Asparagus
- Olive oil or oil of your choice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- large handful of green beans
- large handful of sugar snap peas
- ¼ cup whole roasted cashews
- large handful sunflower sprouts
White Balsamic Basil Vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
Instructions
Asparagus:
- The woody root end of the asparagus needs to be snapped off before cooking. Take the end of the asparagus between your thumb and forefinger and bend until it breaks; the asparagus breaks (or snaps) where the woody part ends and the fresh delicious juicy asparagus begins.
- Drizzle a small amount of oil in a large cast iron skillet. Place the trimmed asparagus in the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with a small amount of oil. Roll the asparagus back and forth to coat them with the oil. Bake in a 400° F oven for about 10 minutes, or until the asparagus is bright green and tender when pierced with a fork.
- Carefully place the roasted asparagus onto a plate and allow to cool.
Green Beans:
- While the skillet is still hot from the oven, place it on the stove-top on medium-high heat. Place the green beans in the hot skillet and sauté for about 3-5 minutes, until beans are tender-crisp and bright green. Place seared green beans onto the plate with the asparagus. Once the cooked veggies have cooled a bit, place them in the fridge for a cold salad, or leave them warm for a warm salad.
Dressing:
- While waiting for the veggies to cool, make dressing, and set aside. Mix all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, and shake to combine.
Snap Peas:
- If your snap peas have strings, you’ll want to remove those. Hold a small knife in one hand and the snap pea in the other, with the inside curve of the pod facing you. Cut one of the tips of the pea and pull off the tough string that runs along the length of the top of the pod. If your peas don’t have strings, cut the tips off of each end of the snap peas. Cut pea pods on the diagonal.
Assemble salad:
- Combine all salad ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss with White Balsamic Vinaigrette. Garnish with additional fresh pepper if desired. Serve and enjoy the springiness!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
cheri
Love green salads and your is so gorgeous! I cheated and used raw green beans but that dressing pulled everything together.
Jodee
This salad is wonderful! I love the fresh vegetables, the cashews, and vinaigrette. I love it all…thanks for sharing! I had leftovers and those went on fresh spinach and arugula salad.
Jen
Love how simple and fresh! Gorgeous photos too! They made me try it and it’s a keeper!
Sophia
Gorgeous and so refreshing…. now if only spring would come to NY?! WT?! I ate this anyway and was so glad I had this healthy salad in the “spring”.
Kate Veggie Desserts
This is absolutely lovely, so yummy, and indeed spring-y!
Sandra
This is so amazing! And I so want this for dinner everyday. I just love all these veggies and they came out cooked perfectly.
Joanne T Ferguson
G’day! Love your photos! Your salad = very healthy! The cooking method for each brings you a perfectly cooked morsel.
Cheers! Joanne
Nancy Fox
What a lovely salad for this time of year Debi! So glad I tried it!
Shari Eckstrom
Your Spring Salad is Divine.
Shari
Marla
This is delicious. Great recipe with all those spring vegetables and sprouts – so healthy.
John
I love this salad – it’s so fresh and vibrant. I wanted to increase the amount of veggies I have in a day and this was the perfect way to do it. That dressing really sings!
Shelley
Gorgeous! It really is like spring on a plate! And I love the white balsamic here – I use it in one of my quinoa salads, primarily because it still packs so much flavor but offers a prettier presentation (no brown coloring!) as compared to regular balsamic! 😀
Ronda
This is wonderful! I used the leftover vegetables for a roasted chicken dinner and reheated them in the oven.
Heidy
What a fantastic recipe! We thoroughly enjoyed it!
nmburk
What lovely simplicity! This dressing makes the vegetables the star. And this salad all put together was sublime.
Gaye
This is beautiful! It was a hit at the baby shower I threw last week. I just wish I had made more. It was the first thing gone. People really do love asparagus.
Renee
This is the perfect lunch! I love big vegetable salads using seasonal vegetables.
Joyce
Asparagus was on sale at the store so I bough a bunch of it. I looked around on Pinterest for what to make and found this salad. It was perfect. Thanks so much for the recipe and it was budget friendly for me!
Cindy
Such beautiful color in this salad! I loved every bite of this. It was fresh and that dressing is to die for!
Jennifer Woodward
What a beautiful salad! So fresh! I made this for our Easter dinner. Thanks for sharing. It was fancy and perfect!