Fun Garden Salad with Edible Dirt

Forget the make your own pizza party and get your guests involved in making their own garden salad, complete with edible dirt. I bet your kids will love this fun serving idea too. Includes Paleo version too.

This fun to make garden salad with edible dirt is was too cute not to share it on here as well.

While I consider myself to be an inventive cook, sometimes like in the case of the Quinoa Sushi, the credit goes to others. In this case it was the launch of Theresa Cutter’s revised The 80/20 Diet Cookbook that introduced me to the idea of building your own garden salad in little pots. It was loads of fun and delicious as well, but everyone was highly intrigued by the dirt and what was in it. It was so dark and soil-like in looks! I mean, wouldn’t you be?

The base of the soil was made from Dutch Pumpernikel bread. It’s perfectly dark and dense for the job.

Black tahini added a touch of richness and moisture to it, but for a gluten-free and Paleo version I think a mixture of cooked buckwheat and black tahini would work just as well.

I also liked the idea of dolloping a range of dips onto the soil instead of standard dressings – something I practice a lot of in my daily mish mash concoctions.

Added vegetables are a fab bonus. As for the veggies – well, the choice is yours. I find that lightly blanched beans make good “snakes”, steamed cauliflower and roasted carrots provide sweetness and soft texture against crunchy cucumbers and pops of tomato flavour.

Who knew salad could be so much fun?

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5 from 3 votes

Fun Garden Salad with Edible Dirt

The base of the soil was made from Dutch Pumpernikel bread. It's perfectly dark and dense for the job. Black tahini added a touch of richness and moisture to it, but for a gluten-free and Paleo version I think a mixture of cooked buckwheat and black tahini would work just as well. As for the veggies - well, the choice is yours. I find that lightly blanched beans make good "snakes", steamed cauliflower and roasted carrots provide sweetness and soft texture against crunchy cucumbers and pops of tomato flavour.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the Edible Dirt:

• 3-4 slices Pumpernikel bread
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon macadamia or olive oil

For the Paleo Gluten-free Edible Dirt:

• 3/4 cup cooked buckwehat
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon macadamia or olive oil

For the Garden Salad:

• 1 cup finely shredded lettuce
• 1 bunch dutch carrots roasted for 15 minutes
• 1 cup blanched green beans ends trimmed
• 3-4 red radishes greens trimmed
• 250 g cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup steamed cauliflower florets
• 1 cup blanched or raw broccoli florets
• plus your favourite seeds and herbs

For the dressing:

• 1-2 cups different vegetable purees or dips of your choice

Instructions

• For the Edible Dirt,process 3-4 slices of pumpernickel bread in a food processor or chopper until crumbly. Rub in tahini and oil to moisten the crumbs
• Provide a selection of favourite raw and steamed veggies and salad greens for everyone to arrange in their bowls. Dollop on some dips and enjoy.

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