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Heat, sun, and some fun! We’re still on a salad kick this month. It’s a great way to keep the kitchen cool and enjoy those summer veggies. Plus, with preparation taking mere minutes, this August meal plan makes it quick and easy to put a delicious meal on the table.
Last month I shared thirty-one days of salad recipes. This month I’m only sharing homemade and delicious dressings so your salad can focus on ingredients abundant to you and can be as simple as you wish. I’m even skipping my usual daily To-Do section! You’ll still find a Notes section at the bottom when appropriate (under each weeks’ heading) but no daily tasks. Less time in the kitchen means more time enjoying this final full month of summer!
Not a Salad Fan?
Consider this a challenge! A daily salad offers many health benefits, including increasing your fiber intake, building strong bones, and controlling your weight. Simply choose a variety of your favorite greens. We love romaine, mesclun mix, baby spinach, Napa cabbage, regular cabbage, and even iceberg on occasion. We usually add other chopped veggies for a little crunch, such as bell pepper, celery, onion, cucumber, radish, etc. Topping your greens with a delicious homemade salad dressing will add a needed dose of healthy fat. This fat, combined with protein, will help you feel full longer.
Be sure to add a good amount of protein to your salad in the form of ground meat, cooked and shredded roast or chicken, a burger, a healthy hot dog, chicken breast, salmon, beans, or leftover meat. Or how about a homemade brat? I share my secret to delicious brats in my book Design a Dish.
What works well for me is to cook a roast or whole chicken, along with a pot of beans, one time per week. These items lend themselves well to salad fixing.
Tip: Use your crockpot, Instant Pot, or Sun Oven to avoid heating up the house when cooking these items. We eat beans year-round by using alternate preparation methods–including sprouting.
Are you a fan of beans and legumes? Or are you currently looking for ways to add more economical beans to your diet? I can help! My new cookbook, Stretchy Beans: Nutritious, Economical Meals the Easy Way, is now available!
We’ll also sometimes add a little treat to the top of our salad, such as peanuts, slivered almonds, avocado chunks, Parmesan, or another cheese. Yum!
Make it Big!
My husband and I are loving salads so much this summer that we’re following in the footsteps of Amanda Rose from Eat Like a Bear and having a giant bowl of salad. Amanda lost 140 pounds in one year by eating giant salads–and she’s kept the weight off for two years! You can learn more about her Ridiculously Big Salad’s at the Eat Like a Bear website.
Need More?
I link directly to recipes whenever possible, but sometimes I make a note about how I alter a recipe to accommodate for budget or nutrition. You’ll find these notes in the Notes section further down in this August meal plan.
The Details
This collection of August meal plan ideas serves four or five average eaters. You can make needed adjustments based on your family size and personal desires. This collection of meal plan ideas features whole, real, and traditional foods. Foods are often (but not always) fermented, cultured, soaked, sprouted, or soured.
A loaf of nice crusty sourdough bread is wonderful alongside a salad! Don’t have a sourdough starter? Learn how to catch a wild starter.
Be sure to scroll down to the Notes section for lots of valuable information!
Partial Week
Saturday: Blue Cheese Dressing (probiotic-rich!)
Week 1
Sunday: 5 Minute Asian Salad Dressing
Monday: Low Carb (Keto) Big Mac Special Sauce Copy Cat (See Notes)
Tuesday: Creamy & Easy Homemade Ranch Dressing
Wednesday: Homemade “French” Salad Dressing
Thursday: Poppy Seed Salad Dressing
Friday: Ginger Citrus Avocado Dressing
Saturday: Keto Coleslaw Dressing
Week 2
Sunday: White Wine Vinaigrette
Monday: Low Carb Caesar Salad Dressing
Tuesday: Tomato-y Salad Dressing
Wednesday: Probiotic Mint Salad Dressing
Thursday: Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing
Friday: Miso Tahini Dressing
Saturday: Southwest Spicy Ranch Dressing
Week 3
Sunday: Creamy Herbed Salad Dressing
Monday: Tangy & Sweet Tomato Salad Dressing
Tuesday: Creamy Cilantro Jalapeño Dressing
Wednesday: 5-Ingredient Nutritional Yeast Salad Dressing
Thursday: Billion Bioticland Dressing (Thousand Island)
Friday: Honey Mustard Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Saturday: Dairy-Free Creamy Sunflower Seed Salad Dressing (Plan ahead for this one; see Notes)
Week 4
Sunday: Parmesan Ranch Dressing
Monday: Probiotic Lemon-Garlic Salad Dressing Vinaigrette
Tuesday: Easy Green Goddess Dressing
Wednesday: Moroccan Vinaigrette
Thursday: Honey Mustard Salad Dressing (with Probiotics)
Friday: Easy Asian Peanut Dressing
Saturday: Raw Probiotic Creamy Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing
Partial Week
Sunday: THM Probiotic Cucumber Ranch Dressing
Monday: Sunshine Salad Dressing
Notes
Week 1
Monday:
Oh my! This is one of our favorite salad dressings. I highly recommend it over the Big Mac Salad. Use iceberg lettuce with this one for an authentic Big Mac taste.
Week 3
Saturday:
You’ll never believe this rich and creamy dressing is dairy-free! The secret? Soaking the sunflower seeds. Begin this dressing in the morning so it’s ready for a quick, final assembly at suppertime.
Looking for more real food meal plan ideas? Check out the meal plan archives here.
Ready to learn to cook healthy food outside? Cook on the trail or in your own backyard! Build your outdoor cooking skills so that no matter what happens, your family will enjoy delicious, healthy, traditional meals… cooked exactly the way you like. Learn more about the Cooking Outside eCourse at Traditional Cooking School here.
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