GRETCHEN MCKAY | Pittsburgh PostGazette

Salad usually means the tender, leafy greens that broadcast the start of spring, the dense heads of iceberg lettuce we grew up with or, perhaps, plastic tubs of fresh spinach and spring mix you can find at any grocery store.

Salads tend to play a supporting role in colder months, when fresh produce is limited and we tend to crave comfort foods that are a bit more substantial and filling.

Maybe we just need to take a new approach. Thoughtfully composed with nutritious ingredients, vibrant dressings and crunchy garnishes, salad can do some amazing things at mealtime. It can add color and texture to the plate, provide inexpensive, healthy proteins to your diet and, best of all, introduce new and exciting flavors to break the monotony of winter. Salads crafted with vitamin C-rich foods like citrus and bell peppers, for instance, just might help ward off those seasonal stuff y heads and runny noses. And adding water-filled fruits and veggies such as cucumbers and grapefruit can assure you'll stay properly hydrated in winter's dry air.

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If you think beyond lettuce, greens and fat-saturated bottled dressings, and add plant-based ingredients like beans, seeds and whole grains, you also can build a salad that will help you meet many of your daily fiber and protein goals in a single serving.

These three salad recipes are a good place to start.

The first is a healthful mix of fluff y quinoa -- a superfood packed with fiber and protein -- crunchy cucumbers, fresh herbs, chickpeas and creamy feta that went viral on social media a few years ago after "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston dubbed it a "perfect" salad on Instagram.

The second -- made with a show-stopping mix of colorful citrus and other winter fruits -- is tossed in a fresh and zesty citrus dressing that takes less than a minute to stir together. What better way to eat the season?

We also have a crunchy entree salad for those who love bright Asian flavors. A rainbow of colors, it combines mukimame (shelled edamame) with canned white beans, scallions, chopped cabbage, red pepper and cilantro and an orange-miso vinaigrette. A generous sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning adds a dash of umami.

Jennifer Aniston's favorite salad

If you work in an office, chances are you've choked down your fair share of sad desk lunches. Not so with actress Jennifer Aniston, who supposedly ate this protein-packed salad every day while filming the TV show "Friends." The gluten-free recipe went viral after she described it as the "perfect" salad on Instagram.

I used quinoa, an edible seed that's packed with nutrients and health benefits, but you also could make it with bulgur wheat.

The light lemon dressing is mixed right in the bowl with the other ingredients, and once made, the salad is easy to portion out for an entire week of happy desk lunches. You also could serve it on a bed of greens, swap out the nuts or add other favorite veggies.

Servings: 6

Ingredients

■ 1 cup uncooked quinoa or bulgur wheat

■ 2 cups water

■ 1 cup English cucumber, chopped

■ ½cup parsley, chopped

■ ½cup mint, chopped

■ ¼ cup red onion, chopped

■ ½cup roasted and salted pistachios, chopped

■ 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

■ 2 lemons, juiced (about 5 to 6 tablespoons)

■ ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil

■ ½cup crumbled feta cheese

■ Sea salt, to taste

■ Ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Rinse and drain quinoa. Add quinoa and water to a small pot and bring the water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together cooked quinoa and chopped cucumber, parsley, mint, red onion, pistachios, chickpeas, lemon juice, olive oil and feta. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss again.

Serve immediately or let the salad chill in the fridge a couple of hours before serving.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.

-- iowagirleats.com

Six-fruit winter salad

Citrus is plentiful this time of year, and while it's great for tucking into a lunchbox or squeezing into a smoothie, it also can be a building block of a zesty winter salad. This vitamin C-packed medley of seasonal fruit brings together juicy chunks of orange and pomelo -- a much larger and slightly sweeter version of grapefruit -- with apples, pear and kiwi fruit.

It also gets a juicy, satisfying crunch from pomegranate arils (seeds), which are a good source of antioxidants and fiber.

Pomelo skin is a lot thicker than grapefruit skin and has a lot more pith, so it helps to have a paring knife to scrape off the spongy white tissue before cutting the fruit into bite-sized chunks. I used mandarin oranges, but you also could use clementines, cara cara or navel oranges.

Servings: 4

For salad

■4 mandarin oranges, peeled and separated into segments

■1 ripe Bartlett pear, cored and sliced thin

■2 small or 1 large red apple, cored and sliced thin

■1 cup pomegranate arils

■2 kiwis, peeled and sliced thin

■1 pomelo, peeled and separated into segments

For dressing

■¼ cup honey, warmed in microwave if it's solid

■2 tablespoons orange juice

■2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice, plus the zest

■Pinch of salt

Directions

Combine peeled and cut fruit in a large mixing or salad bowl. (You may have to cut the pomelo sections in half or thirds if they are big.) Toss to combine.

Make the dressing: In a glass jar or small bowl, combine honey, orange and lemon juices and lemon zest and salt. Stir or shake to combine.

Drizzle dressing over the fruit salad and toss gently to combine. Serve right away or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 6 hours.

-- Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Orange-miso mukimame salad

This salad features frozen mukimame, or shelled edamame. After they've been thawed, the young soybeans are simply tossed with other plant-based ingredients in a bowl and dressed in a zesty miso-orange vinaigrette.

I used white kidney beans because that's what I had in my pantry, but any variety will work.

And if you don't have miso, a fermented soybean paste that's often used in Japanese cooking? Simply add a little more soy sauce or some tahini to the vinaigrette, which will quickly become your go-to dressing and marinade.

Servings: 6

For salad

■½ head red cabbage, diced

■1 red bell pepper, diced

■1 bunch cilantro, chopped

■1 bunch scallions, white and green parts chopped

■11-ounce bag frozen mukimame (shelled edamame), thawed

■1 15-ounce can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

■Flaky salt, such as Maldon

■Everything bagel seasoning and red chile flakes, to taste, optional

For dressing

■ 2 tablespoons miso paste

■ Zest from 1 orange

■ ½ cup orange juice

■ 1 tablespoon soy sauce

■ 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

■ 1 ½ tablespoons toasted sesame oil

■ 2 tablespoons honey

■ 2 garlic cloves, minced

■ 1-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and minced

Directions

Prepare the salad: Place chopped cabbage, bell pepper, chopped cilantro and chopped scallion in a large salad bowl. Toss to combine.

Add thawed mukimame and drained white beans along with a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Toss to combine.

Make the dressing: In a large jar or bowl, stir together miso paste, orange zest and juice, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, honey, garlic and ginger.

Drizzle dressing over the vegetables and beans, a little at a time, and toss to combine. (You probably won't use all of it unless you like a really well-dressed salad.) Taste, and add additional salt and pepper, if necessary.

Garnish with everything bagel seasoning and red chile flakes, if desired.

-- Adapted from @mishkamakesfood on Instagram

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