4 Great Gourmet Salads for Your Cafe

Owning and operating a café is a great way to turn your love for cooking and restaurant management into a profitable journey. Consumers love cafes because they offer a class of food that is slightly higher than many other fast food establishments. Cafes are comfortable and inviting, and consumers often visit cafes to catch up with old friends, enjoy high quality sandwiches, soups, and salads, and get a much-needed caffeine jolt with a good cup of high quality coffee. One thing that may be missing from your café menu is a line of high quality, gourmet salads that will satisfy your customers.

The Salad Trend

In recent years, the concept of a salad as a main course has become a very popular menu selection. In the past, salads were treated more as appetizers or accompaniments to a main course. Now, however, consumers are opting to dine on salads alone because they are healthier and can be quite filling. As the rates of obesity continue to climb throughout much of the nation, consumers are discovering the significance of choosing healthy menu options when dining out. Most fast food restaurants offer food that is loaded with empty calories, fat, and simple carbohydrates. A salad, on the other hand, is filled with important vitamins and nutrients. Salads are also relatively low in calories. Consumers can eat a larger quantity of salad while still consuming much fewer calories than if they had selected a hamburger or French fries.

In order for your café to stand out from the many cafes that are offering salads as entree selections, it is important to choose salads that are inspiring and appetizing. Adding some simple gourmet touches to classic salad combinations will entice customers to order from your cafe. Great salads will also keep customers coming back for more. Here are but a few gourmet salad recipes that your customers will love.

Fruit and Cheese Salad

A classic gourmet salad combination features fresh fruit and cheese in a winning combination. Cheeses that pair well with fruit include gorgonzola cheese, goat cheese, feta cheese, and blue cheese. You can top fresh greens with a mixture of quality cheeses and fruits such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and sliced apples.

Candied Walnut Salad

To take a salad to the next level, sometimes all that is necessary is the addition of an unexpected ingredient. Candied walnuts or other candied nuts can add texture and flavor to a salad without a great deal of extra effort. To transform nuts into tasty candied nuts, brush them with egg whites and dust them with sugar and spices before baking them.

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Gourmet salads don't have to be new or unheard of. Slicing high quality grilled chicken and placing it over a bed of leafy greens, croutons, and parmesan cheese is the start of a fantastic Caesar salad. Add homemade dressing for a gourmet touch.

Mandarin Orange Salad With Almonds

An Asian-inspired salad featuring mandarin orange sections, toasted sliced almonds, and a ginger vinaigrette is a great gourmet salad that customers love. You can add Chinese noodles for a satisfying crunch that will keep customers ordering this salad again and again.