Raw Mediterranean Salad

This fully raw vegan Mediterranean Salad is light, refreshing, and full of healthy and filling ingredients. It’s loaded with cucumber, homegrown tomatoes, and avocado. With minimal prep, it makes for a great meal!  

A couple of months ago I joined a Vegan Facebook group from Puerto Rico, and last week some of the members came together to participate in a Raw Vegan 80/20 Challenge for a week. Although I’m not participating completely in that challenge, I love occasionally eating raw. And I’ve also been enjoying seeing all of the creativity that comes with a challenge like that.

I put together a recipe that I used to make all the time while being vegetarian; it’s full of crisp and colorful veggies tossed in a lemon-garlic-herb dressing. But I tweaked it a little bit since I used to add pasta and feta cheese to it. I also added more veggies like olives, spinach beans. Plus, Summer is the perfect time to make a cold, raw salad that’s not only easy but super refreshing.

I mean, with crisp cucumbers, juicy homegrown tomatoes, red onion, and Kalamata olives, along with spinach & avocado, what could go wrong?  Best of all, this salad takes just 15 minutes to make and it’s fully raw! And you can prepare this in bulk, for meal prepping; it holds well for about a week. However, if making it in advance, be sure to leave the avocado out and add it in right before serving. This keeps the salad fresh and prevents the avocado from turning brown in the salad.

How to: Well, there are probably many different ways to make it, but I’ll tell you how I made it. It’s easier than it looks and mainly includes chopping the vegetables, then tossing everything into a bowl. Add in some spices, lemon juice, olive oil (totally optional), garlic, and you’re ready to go.

Other great variations on this salad include the following additions:

• Quinoa
• Orzo Pasta
• Garbanzo beans (or any other beans)
• Almonds
• Tofu Feta

Recipe tips:

• Be sure to leave the avocado out and add it in right before serving, to prevent the avocado from turning brown.
• If you’re practicing an S.O.S. (salt, oil, sugar) free lifestyle, leave the olive oil and salt out.
• For a bolder flavor, let it marinate for a couple of hours.

Recipe: Raw Mediterranean Salad

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped into 1/4 slices
• 4-6 cherry tomatoes, chopped
• ½ of a red onion, sliced
• 6 Kalamata olives, chopped
• ½ avocado, cubed
• A handful of spinach, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Optional: 1 tbsp olive oil
• Herbs: salt, pepper, parsley, & paprika, to taste
• Green onions, chopped
• Optional: 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Procedure:

1. In a large bowl, combine cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, avocados, olives, and spinach.
2. In a smaller bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and herbs.
3. Pour vinaigrette over the salad and mix well.
4. Sprinkle green onions over the top of salad.
5. Serve & enjoy!

Did you make this recipe? I would love to know how it turned out for you! Tag me in your Instagram creations for a chance to be featured in my insta stories! Use @veggiejeva and the hashtag #veggiejevaskitchen.

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