What is the Viral Green Goddess Salad?
This year, a Green Goddess Salad recipe by “Baked by Melissa” went viral on TikTok. The salad is a blend of crispy cabbage, cucumbers, and a thick pesto-inspired Green Goddess dressing. The recipe video garnered millions of views for its delicious and unexpected flavor combination. Most users seem to love it as a “dip” with tortilla chips or other “scooper” foods!
Is the Green Goddess Salad healthy?
The Green Goddess Salad is a generally healthy and nutritious item. It’s high in fiber, due to the cabbage and cucumbers, and provides ample nutritious fats from the olive oil and nuts. It’s also dairy-free and gluten-free, which is a nice option for those with allergies or intolerances. However, this dish is mostly carbohydrates and fat — especially when consumed with tortilla chips. I calculated the math on the entire recipe, and a 5 oz serving would provide 170 kcal, 6 g carbs, 14 g fat, and 4 g protein. With 2 oz of tortilla chips on the side, the side dish totals 450 kcal, 32 g carbs, 30 g fat, and 8.5 g protein. As you can see, this meal could get high in calories while remaining low in the vital nutrient of dietary protein! Yet, because this recipe has so much great nutrition in it, we can easily tweak our meal to provide a more complete array of nutrients. To make that work, I can reduce the tortilla chips and add a wonderful protein source like my favorite healthy seafood recipe, Crispy Dijon Salmon! You also could serve the Green Goddess Salad with chicken, lean beef, pork, or other types of seafood.
How to Make Green Goddess Salad
The Green Goddess Salad is very easy to make. The key is to mince the cabbage, cucumbers, and chives very finely and then puree all other ingredients in a food processor. For this meal, I like to prep the main dish and get the salmon cooking in the oven while I then make the salad. This keeps the meal prep to only 30 minutes! The changes that I made to this original Green Goddess Salad recipe were that I added an avocado because I prefer a creamier consistency to the dressing, and stuck with chives as opposed to green onions so that the flavor was a little gentler.
Thanks to the internet, this delicious salad inspiration led to a new favorite meal — and with a little tinkering, it can be a meal that also serves my nutritional needs.
This recipe is paleo, gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free. It also can be keto-friendly and Whole 30 compliant. I hope you love this as much as we did! Enjoy!
Viral Green Goddess Salad with Crispy Dijon Salmon
Ingredients
For the Green Goddess Salad
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup basil
- 1/3 cup chives
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/3 cup cashews
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 whole avocado
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 head cabbage, minced
- 1 large english cucumber, minced
- 1/3 cup chives, minced
For the Crispy Dijon Salmon
- 2 lbs salmon, sliced into portions
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 3 tbsp garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning (I use Primal Palate)
- 1 bunch fresh dill, chopped
Optional Garnishes
- blue corn tortilla chips, if desired
- side salad and/or rice
- more lemon juice and herbs
Instructions
For the Green Goddess Salad
- Combine the shallot, garlic, basil, chives, spinach, olive oil, lemon juice, and vinegar in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add the nuts, nutritional yeast, avocado, salt, and pepper. Puree until smooth.
- Finely chop the cabbage, cucumbers, and chives. Combine them all in a bowl and pour the prepared dressing on top. Stir thoroughly to combine.
For the Crispy Dijon Salmon
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a sheet pan with tin foil and spray with olive or avocado oil. Place the salmon filets on the pan.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the salmon and spread evenly with a brush or spoon. Then coat each filet evenly with dijon, garlic, lemon juice, seasoning, and dill.
- Bake the salmon for 18-20 minutes, or until it flakes at the poke of a fork. Turn the pan once midway through baking so that each filet is evenly cooked. The salmon should be caramelized on the outside and tender on the inside.
To Serve
- Plate the salmon on a bed of greens or rice and serve with the Green Goddess Salad and tortilla chips, if desired. Enjoy!