Spinach vinaigrette salad plus protein & antioxidant boost

Entrée salad with added fiber & vitamins

Jul 23, 2025

∙ Paid

How to build a salad with Main Character energy

If I had to start over, salad season would hit my meal plan twice a week year-round.

But let's get one thing straight: Salad season isn't about eating light, or settling for limp iceberg lettuce drenched in slimy ranch dressing.

Salad season is about filling up, fueling up, and feeling good.

This week's Spinach Salad with AMP⚡️ Balsamic Vinaigrette keeps entrée salads in season year-round.

Here's the quiet part out loud: Salads got hijacked. Somewhere between undernourished diet culture and ring-light food influencers selling sadness in a mason jar, we lost the plot on the glory of greens.

Salad done right isn’t a compromise, it’s a power move. Salads give you cold fuel when it's hot. A hearty entrée salad in your biggest bowl leaves you full, yet energized.

No post-dinner crash. No kale martyrdom. No mason-jar malnourishment. Just crave-worthy, cold food that eats like a damn meal.

Power-packed summer salad with spinach, grilled chicken, chopped apples, tomatoes, peppers, chopped carrots, pecans, and a bold vinaigrette — high-protein, loaded with antioxidants, and featured in AthleteMealPrep.com’s premium Salad Season recipe collection. — pictured: Spinach salad with AMP⚡️ Vinaigrette, photo: Chuck-D

Spinach Salad & AMP⚡️ Balsamic Vinaigrette

Prep time: 15-30 minutes (depending on how many add-ons you choose)

Cook time: ZERO!

Recipe yields: 2 entrée servings

For the two-portion salad shown here, we load up a 3-quart stainless steel mixing bowl. (Slightly oversized for extra room to mix the greens & add-on ingredients with our scratch-mixed, homemade AMP⚡️ Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Premium subscribers get a step-by-step tutorial, pictures, and FLEX recipe mods:

Veg(an), Mass-builder, and Hard-gainer — Get Amped⚡️

Ingredients

1/3 to 1/2 pound raw baby spinach
1/2 an apple, stem & seeds removed
1 cup carrot sticks
1/2 cup grape tomatoes
1/4 cup pecan halves

Optional

1 cup roasted chicken breast, chopped
1/2 cup sliced mushroom
1/4 cup pepperoncini

Try it with one of our favorites:

COMING SOON: AMP⚡️ Orange-Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe, subscribe for our emails & get the recipe post delivered to your inbox when it drops.

Premium California blood orange olive oil and organic balsamic vinegar of Modena from Acetum, featured ingredients in AthleteMealPrep.com’s signature vinaigrette recipes, ideal for high-flavor salad prep. — photo: Chuck-D

Instructions

Add salad greens to the mixing bowl. I prefer to layer the spinach first, and I prefer lightly chopped baby spinach.
Slice & add an optional ingredient like the mushrooms shown here, and half an apple (we refrigerate the other half in a ziplock for next time).
Add halved or quartered grape tomatoes and chopped carrots.
Add baked chicken breast, chopped to bite size pieces. (Omit chicken for VEG(an). Hard-gainers and Mass-builders can double down on lean protein by adding boiled eggs.)
Add an optional ingredient like pepperoncini rings and pecan halves (or chop down to quarters if you prefer).
Add your choice of dressing & mix evenly through salad ingredients. (Batch shown uses AMP⚡️ Orange-Balsamic Vinaigrette).