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January 4, 2022 — 22:28 PM
If you’re on TikTok—or Instagram, or the internet, really—you’ve probably seen the viral green goddess salad sweeping the feeds. This latest craze comes from the mind of Melissa Ben-Ishay, who is normally more well known for her cupcakes, since she is the Melissa behind the brand Baked By Melissa. Lately on social media, however, she’s been sharing plenty of salads—and her green goddess creation is the latest “it” recipe.
How to make the trending salad
The simple ingredients in the salad aren’t necessarily what’s making it so popular, it’s her method of preparing it. The key is to chop your veggies into bite sized pieces. This technique ensures that the dressing coats all elements evenly, and changes up the texture from what we’re used to in a salad—making it something that feels really original, even though we’ve been loving green goddess salad for years. Here’s her salad base, which she shared on the Today Show.
1 small head green cabbage (or iceberg lettuce), finely diced
3-4 cucumbers, finely diced
¼ cup chives, finely diced
1 bundle green onion or scallions, finely diced
If there’s an ingredient in the mix that doesn’t appeal, or if you’d rather use whatever veggies you have on hand, Ben-Ishay says feel free to “go wild” with whatever you want to include. For example, we might swap in kale for some of the cabbage, add some diced avocado for extra healthy fat, or maybe even throw in chickpeas for bonus protein.
How to take this simple salad and pack in extra nutrients
Ben-Ishay’s recipe also includes a homemade vegan green goddess dressing, packed with flavor from shallot, garlic, more chives, and nutritional yeast—plus nutrients and a bright green hue from fresh spinach. And while we love this mix of flavorful and nutrient-packed ingredients, after seeing this recipe take off, we couldn’t help but consider swapping in our fave five-ingredient green goddess dressing.
Slightly simpler than the dressing mentioned above, mbg Collective member and registered dietitian Jess Cording, M.S., R.D., CDN created this nutritious green goddess recipe just for us. “This recipe is a good blank slate for when you’re short on ingredients but want something satisfying,” she said. “It’s bright and balanced as is, but it can also be easily customized to complement other flavors.”
It features one to two tablespoons of mbg’s organic veggies+, which adds plenty of nutrients without as many ingredients, so it’s quicker to throw together in a pinch.* And even though it’s one of only a few ingredients on the list, because organic veggies+ itself includes 31 ingredients, it’s upping the ante on nutrient and botanical diversity in the dressing, too.*
What are those powerhouse ingredients? Everything from sea vegetables, which can support detoxification and are a source of iodine and antioxidants, to digestive enzymes and prebiotic fiber to help promote a healthy gut microbiome and aid digestion.*
Pair our base recipe with Ben-Ishay’s salad (or consider simply adding organic veggies+ to her recipe) to make a nutrient-packed lunch that tastes as good as it looks.
