There is a plethora of things that make Sweetgreen great: the local and organic ingredients, the biodegradable utensils, the frescas, the stylish headbands, the serving size of avocado, the made-in-house dressings, their vegan-friendly options, or the fact that you can go back every time and have a DIFFERENT salad. But, one aspect of Sweetgreen that I especially love is that you can eat a Winter-inspired salad on a snow day, and a light, citrus-flavored salad on a sunny summer afternoon.
Although it doesn’t really look like Spring in Boston, Sweetgreen is out with their Seasonal Spring Menu and YES, it is as good as you would imagine. It was painfully difficult to rank these salads because I loved them ALL, but here goes.
3. Beets Don’t Kale My Vibe
Photo by Carolina Licalzi
Although this salad is last on this list it is definitely NOT last in my heart. “Beets Don’t Kale My Vibe” is the quintessential example of a filling and hearty salad. However, with organic wild rice, shredded kale, roasted beets + pickled onions, goat cheese, raw pecans, and roasted chicken, topped with balsamic vinaigrette, it might be a bit TOO heavy for a spring salad.
The beets and onions create a perfectly sweet balance to the salty goat cheese and pecans, and the rice absorbs all of the juices from such vegetables, creating an exciting contrast of flavors in each bite. It is filling, and warms your tummy, but this salad reminds me more of a meal I’d eat on a cold winter day than in the middle of Spring.
2. Not So Niçoise
Photo by Carolina Licalzi
Although it was only my second favorite, the “Not so Niçoise” might be the perfect spring salad. It may not be the first salad I’d order at Sweetgreen, but it is the epitome of a light and refreshing meal, perfect for Spring. The Sweetgreen “salad creators” clearly had their thinking caps on when they combined these distinct ingredients into perfect harmony: organic mesclun, chopped romaine, roasted asparagus, roasted potatoes, hard boiled egg, roasted steel head and horseradish vinaigrette.
The salmon is seasoned to perfection, and the roasted asparagus and thinly chopped potatoes makes the salad seem more like an entree at a high-end restaurant than a salad. Finally, although you might think that egg and salmon could be a little filling, the refreshing, tangy horseradish dressing does a perfect job to balance it out.
1. Umami Grain Bowl
Photo by Carolina Licalzi
This salad was my favorite because I LOVE Asian flavored foods. It combines organic quinoa + farro, swiss chard, pea shoots, roasted mushrooms, red onion, roasted tofu, spicy sunflower seeds and tosses them in a delectable miso ginger dressing. The warm quinoa, mushrooms and tofu give you that same comforting “warm belly” feel that the “Beets Don’t Kale My Vibe” does, without over filling you. If you like a salad that is anything from boring, a bit spicy, full of flavor and surprisingly light, this is for you. Plus, it’s vegan-friendly!
At the end of the day, there is NO way you can go wrong at Sweetgreen… the sky is your limit.