How to Serve the Most Instagrammable Salads
I first got Instagram in 2012, but I didn’t really use it until 2016.
2016 I vividly remember being hooked.
I used to log on, follow all these vegan influencers, and be in awe of their creations.
They would make the most beautiful, vibrant, colorful foods.
Roasted veggie bowls with layers of texture and flavor.
Brightly-colored smoothie bowls with 14 different types of toppings arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Salads with pops of color and edible flowers.
I used to open instagram & endlessly scroll, feeling my face transform into the google-y eyes emoji as I was staring.
Transfixed, I would hope to myself that one day I could make food that pretty.
Food Styling
It wasn’t until 2019 that I finally mustered up the courage to try to make my food as beautiful as the instagram girlies I looked up to.
As you can imagine, it took some trial and error to get a hang of it.
But now, I would say that food styling is one of the things that I’m best at. And even though edible flowers & fancy plates certainly can help, they are absolutely not necessary.
Instead, here are a few quick tips to make your food more instagrammable; if you, like me, were transfixed by the 2016 it girlies:
Separate your ingredients—this is one way to style your food. think a big salad or a roasted veggie bowl, but instead of the ingredients all mixed together, each ingredient gets its own little segment of the pie. I would say this is the easiest styling technique and the most accessible! You can do it with this salad, and then add the dressing & toss together table side.
Aim for the rainbow—you need color, baby! carrots, purple cabbage, red onion, cucumber, avocado, and brightly-colored radishes add so much color that your food instantly becomes beautiful.
Play with layers—one tool I love to use is using a mandolin to make thinly-sliced and julienned veggie strips to add layers to a bowl. I especially recommend this for radishes and carrots.
Don’t forget textures—few things elevate the aesthetics of a dish more than adding some chopped fresh herbs, some red pepper flakes, citrus zest, sesame seeds, black pepper, etc. on top. these finishing touches add dimensions of texture that are not only yummy, but so aesthetically pleasing.
Diversity, Baby!
I didn't realize this back then, but these instagram girlies were onto something way more important than aesthetics:
DIVERSITY
Let me explain:
As a society, we focus a lot on how much fiber we get, but we don’t talk nearly enough about the diversity of fiber.
Different types of fiber & polyphenols feed different strains of beneficial bacteria in our gut.
Eating a lot of fiber is great, but if you’re getting it from the same 5-10 fruits and veggies, you are actually causing a lot of harm because you aren’t feeding a whole lot of species of bacteria.
But when you eat more diverse fruits & veggies, you feed a wider range of microbial species.
Which leads to having a diverse gut microbiome.
Having a “diverse gut microbiome” means that you have a wide variety of beneficial bacteria living in your digestive tract. different species of bacteria play a different role in maintaining gut health. these bacteria break down food, leading to better digestion and stool formation. they also ferment fibers that you eat to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate, which promote healthy intestinal movements and reduce inflammation.
In plain talk: a diverse gut microbiome means you bloat less, you eliminate easier, you get sick less frequently, your body weight is easier to maintain, you think more clearly, and your mood is better.
What’s more it girl than that?
And big salads & veggie bowls like this one can help you get there because they pack in so many different veggies!
getting more diversity in my diet has truly been THE thing to not only improve my gut health, but also my skin and mood
This Dish
lacinato kale, arugula, purple cabbage, red onion, carrot, watermelon radish, Granny Smith apple, bartlet pear, fennel, broccoli rabe flowers, tossed in a creamy & tangy sugar-free lemon-dijon dressing
The Benefits
this salad is excellent for your gut microbiome, which helps you eliminate better & avoid bloating, but also makes you more resilient & be in a better mood. here’s an overview of how the ingredients interact:
Fiber-Rich Vegetables: The lacinato kale, arugula, carrot, radish, red cabbage, and fennel provide soluble and insoluble fiber, feeding beneficial bacteria and promoting digestion.
Prebiotic Fruits: The pear and apple are rich in prebiotic fibers like pectin, which selectively nourish good bacteria. Medjool dates add additional prebiotic compounds, supporting microbial health.
Fermented and Functional Foods: The miso contains live cultures (probiotics) that directly enhance gut microbial diversity, while the dijon mustard and lemon deliver polyphenols and antioxidants that support gut health.
Anti-Inflammatory Fats: Olive oil provides polyphenols and healthy fats that promote microbial diversity and reduce gut inflammation.
Intestinal Broom: raw fennel, carrot, pear, and apple are all foods that help clean out your insides; and the combination of olive oil with all of the soluble fiber creates a laxative-like effect.
The Recipe
Ingredients:
1 bunch lacinato kale
1 cup arugula
1/4 purple cabbage
1 fennel bulb
3 carrots
1 watermelon radish (or whatever radish you can find)
1 pear
1 Granny Smith apple
1/4 red onion
Dressing ingredients
2 lemons, peeled
4 pitted medjool dates
2 tbsp dijon mustard (make sure it has no sugar added)
1/4 cup EVOO
3 tbsp chickpea or white miso
1 cloves garlic
1/2 cup water
4 tbsp grainy mustard
Instructions:
Chop up your kale & arugula
Finely shave your cabbage, red onion, & fennel-- I recommend using a mandolin to get thin slices
Julienne your carrots, radish, pear, and apple. Again, I recommend using a mandolin
For the dressing:
peel the lemons
blend everything OTHER THAN the grainy mustard together
once everything is super smooth, pour it into a jar, add the grainy mustard and shake
There is more dressing than you would need for this much salad, but definitely dress liberally!
Logistics:
You can definitely make the dressing up to a week in advance!
I would say the salad is enough for 4-5 people if they aren't eating TONS of salad?
Links:
I used South River Sweet White Miso
I love Maille dijon mustard, for grainy mustard I used one from the farmer’s market; but this one is good too! Most mustard is pretty clean ingredient-wise, it’s just that some have sugar added, so double check!
I recommend using a mandolin to get your veggies thin enough. This is the BEST mandoline-- if you use a mandolin, PLEASE USE MESH GLOVES
Hopefully I didn’t miss anything, but just in case, here is a roundup of links to my common recipe ingredients
For More on It-Girl Recipes
If you like this recipe, you may also enjoy my Miso Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Pumpkin Spice Granola from the Thanksgiving series; the Thanksgiving-Themed DeBloat Gummies; my Truffle Potatoes; and my canned-style cranberry sauce;
and
If you want more recipes that will help you debloat & eliminate regularly, I highly recommend checking out my [free] Gut Health Cookbook, which has 5 yummy, gut-friendly, recipes. You can download it here.
