#136: Life Changing Salads + How to Eat More Vegetables and Enjoy It
No more pushing sad salads around your plate! This episode is the cure. The queen of viral salads, Danielle Brown from Healthy Girl Kitchen, shares her secrets on how to build mouthwatering, nutrient-packed salads you’ll actually crave. Get ready for a fresh take on flavors, textures, and easy meal prep magic.
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If you need a gentle, inspiring nudge that real change is possible, and that seemingly simple salads can be not only healthy but mindblowingly delicious and satiating, this ep is for you! We’re joined by the queen of viral salads, Danielle Brown from Healthy Girl Kitchen, to talk about life-changing, crave-worthy, can't-stop-eating-it kind of salads. Danielle’s viral salad recipes have been making waves all over social media, she’s a NYT best-selling cookbook author with an audience of over 12 million. She is also author of the new book: Life Changing Salads—100 Plant-Based Salads and Dressings Beyond Your Wildest Greens.
Danielle starts by sharing her personal journey of how transitioning to a plant-based diet transformed her health completely. From constant exhaustion and daily three-hour naps to chronic GERD and acne, she found healing not through drastic overhauls but by making doable shifts—starting with one mouthwatering salad at a time.
You’ll hear the heartwarming spark behind her life-changing salad series and how rethinking food can become an joy-giving process. Danielle walks you through how to reframe salads from being boring and restrictive to colorful, craveable meals packed with flavor and satisfaction. She shares mindset shifts to help you let go of old food narratives and get curious and open to trying new things in ways that feel natural—not overwhelming.
Practical, real-life tips flow through this episode, including how to blend familiar ingredients with fresh twists, build seasonal or warm salads for any time of year, and prep in ways that keeps things fresh and never soggy. Danielle covers simple techniques that make all the difference, including common salad-making mistakes to avoid, and finding flavors that complement each other beautifully. You’ll even get a tried-and-true formula for creating balanced salads that satisfy nutritionally and taste-wise, plus easy ideas for creamy, dairy-free dressings and crunchy toppings like homemade croutons.
She also shares her favorite tools—from salad spinners to mandolin slicers—and how to make prepping veggies totally manageable. Whether you're feeding picky eaters or just want to make mealtime easier, Danielle’s tips for building your own salad bar at home are game-changers. Think leftover-friendly recipes that actually get better over time, smart storage tips, and letting kids get involved by building deconstructed salads that work for everyone at the table.
If you’re ready to shift your thinking about one of the simplest and most staple menu options—the humble salad—this conversation is filled with compassionate, helpful insight that you can start using today to create craveable, nourishing food that feels joyful, doable, and totally worth it.
EPISODE SHOW NOTES
- How taking baby steps to eat plant-based cured Danielle of chronic fatigue, daily 3-hour naps, GERD, and acne
- The spark behind Danielle’s series on life-changing salads
- How to get rid of a negative filter of food and become open, curious, and excited
- Why to start with mindset and reframe salads to be a colorful, enticing, and satisfying meal
- How you can blend familiarity and variety to find enjoyable ways to get veggies in
- Ideas for seasonal and warm salads and salad ingredients you've never thought of before!
- How to meal prep without your salad getting soggy
- Common mistakes people make when building a salad
- The formula to put together a salad that makes an amazing meal
- Go-to greens and tips for handling greens
- Texture and flavor add-ins for salads, including how to make homemade croutons
- Making restaurant-level dressings quick & easy, including creamy and indulgent dairy-free dressings
- How to ensure food is both nourishing and a flavorful experience
- Meal prep ideas to save you time, including ways to create your own salad bar in your fridge
- Leftover friendly salads that get better with time
- Tools and kitchen gadgets that make salad prepping easier and even fun
- How to feed picky eaters and ways to get them involved in the kitchen
RESOURCES
- LifeChangingSalads.com - Find Danielle's new book and more!
- Danielle on Instagram & TikTok
- Ep77: Making Healthy Food Taste Delicious with IG Famous Food Blogger Danielle Brown
- Danielle's Caesar pasta salad
Life Changing Salads—100 Plant-Based Salads and Dressings Beyond Your Wildest Greens
Life-Changing Salads is more than just a cookbook—it’s your ultimate guide to creating satisfying, plant-based salads that you'll crave. From crunchy chopped salads to cozy warm bowls, hearty salad wraps, quinoa powerhouses, and even no-lettuce salads (perfect for meal prep), every salad situation is covered!
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