The weather has been so beautiful on the weekends lately that I’ve been spending a ton of time outdoors. And there’s nothing better than putting together a quick meal to take to the park with me. Last Saturday, I decided to whip up a rainbow salad. Because it was sunny and nice and who doesn’t like veggies that look like a rainbow?

I may be bias of course, but is there anything more beautiful than fruits and veggies? I sure don’t think so. And did you know that it’s actually really important to eat all different colors of fruits and veggies? There’s these super cool things called phytonutrients, which is essentially what gives fruits and veggies their colors. The different colors all have different health benefits.

Yes, I know I don’t have a medical degree or anything fancy like that. But sometimes I get pretty geeky and read up on stuff like this. And let me tell you, I try to get as many different colors in as possible. If nothing else, they’re just darn tasty! So why not put them all into a big salad?

I put together this salad with the rainbow in mind. I had a lot of veggies on hand, and then went out and grabbed some additional to fill out the colors. It has tomatoes for red, zucchini for yellow, a pepper for orange, radicchio and sprouts for purple and spinach, lettuce, sprouts, and cilantro for green. I added in some tofu and quinoa for white, because I guess I needed some added protein and well white should be a color too.

The key to a good salad is lots of toppings. And dressing. But we’ll get to the dressing part in a minute. Yes, lettuce is great. But it can only get you so far. Adding in lots of toppings and other veggies adds to the texture and the flavors. And who doesn’t like more flavors?

Even if you’re not a big salad fan, I feel like a good dressing can really take things to the next level. For this one, I decided an Asian-inspired dressing would go really well. So I used a bit of sesame oil, olive oil, some balsamic, soy sauce and a touch of tahini as the base. I added in a bit of garlic powder and decent amount of ground ginger and POW. It was a flavor explosion. Add that to a mixture of fresh veggies and you’ve got a meal everyone can enjoy.

This salad is chock full of healthy ingredients, how could you not fall in love with it? I packed it up, took it to the park and enjoyed a nice little picnic with a friend. It passed her taste test with flying colors. So don’t just take our word for it, try it out yourself. Pack a lunch, and enjoy your Saturday!