Whether they’re served as a starter or a main dish, salads add vibrant colour and nutritious vitamins to any meal. So how can you take your salad to the next level? Add duck! Here are some great ideas to get you inspired!
Legumes are nutritional powerhouses! Not only are they packed full of protein, they also contain a portion of your daily iron and fibre requirement. Edamame, chickpeas, beans (white or red), lentils (brown, green, red or Le Puy)—the possibilities are endless, especially if you mix and match. Bonus: the neutral taste of legumes lets the flavours of duck really shine.
In the past, green salad options were pretty limited: romaine, Boston and iceberg lettuce. Now, we have a wide variety of greens to choose from all year long. Endive, Swiss chard, arugula, kale, spinach, mache and chicory are varieties that pair beautifully with duck. Spring mix (mesclun) also makes a great choice!
Dragon bowls, Buddha bowls, poke bowls, mazemen bowls… Bowls are having a moment! Just like salads, bowls combine colours, flavours and textures that look as good as they taste. They’re hard to resist, especially when duck is the star of the show!
Pasta salads are true lifesavers, perfect for any occasion. From picnics to potlucks (not to mention lunchtime at school or work!), pasta salad is a tasty and nourishing dish that the whole family will enjoy! And the best part: it doesn’t need to be reheated! Looking for a new take on a classic recipe? Try out one of our recipes for pasta salad with duck.
Orzo and duck salad with mini bocconcini and tapenade
Tri-colour pasta with duck sausage and rapini
Fusilli with duck confit, apples and blue cheese
Pasta salad with grilled duck sausage and cauliflower
Red, yellow, orange, green and white… Create an explosion of colours with a variety of fruits and vegetables! A multi-coloured salad is easy on the eyes, plus it’s full of vitamins and nutrients. For extra variety, you can also play with textures: juicy fruits, crunchy nuts and veggies, cheese, eggs and tender legumes…
For a salad that will keep you going till your next meal, it should contain a minimum of 15 g of protein. To help you meet this requirement, you can mix protein sources. Here are a few winning combinations for duck salad.
60 ml (¼ cup) duck + 1 hardboiled egg
60 ml (¼ cup) duck + 60 ml (¼ cup) cheese
60 ml (¼ cup) duck + 125 ml (½ cup) legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans, edamame…)
60 ml (¼ cup) duck + 60 ml (¼ cup) almonds or pistachios
The best salad in the world wouldn’t be as tasty without a good homemade dressing. So what’s the secret to a successful vinaigrette? It’s all in the proportions: one part acid to three parts oil. Luckily, duck tastes great with any kind of vinaigrette, so feel free to get inventive!
Our duck salads are all worth a taste, but this one is hands down our team’s favourite: Watch and learn! (in French)
