Super-Filling Summer Salads

Summer is here! And while that means school is out for the next couple of months, I’ll still be packing up work lunches for my husband and myself, along with family lunches for day trips and camps. During the summer months, I tend to pack more salads. They are cool, crisp and don't need to be reheated, making them a go-to choice for beating the heat during lunchtime.

When filling my lunchboxes, I look for salads that include some kind of protein—either nuts, meat or fish. These types of salads fill you up and leave you feeling satisfied ‘til your next snack or meal. Here are five of my favorite salads for filling my family’s summer lunchboxes.

Let’s start with one of my favorite salads—Mediterranean Chicken-Pasta Salad packed in the Sistema's Lunch Cube to Go. The split levels of this container are great for packing salads, keeping all the other lunch items separate and dry. Along with the pasta, I packed a peach, some snap peas with dressing for dunking and a Fiber One® Oats & Chocolate Chewy Bar.

This protein-packed Tuna Twist Pasta Salad is another favorite of my family. Add in some fresh fruit and a Fiber One® Chocolate Chip Cookie and you have yourself a top-notch, better-than-takeout lunch.

Do you like sushi as much as I do? Then you are going to fall head-over-heels with this California “Sushi” Rice Salad with fresh strawberries. I swear the yummy colors in this simple, healthy lunch make it irresistible!

I recently packed this exact lunch for a family trip to our local zoo, where the food options aren't the greatest. Most food sold there is fried and the prices are so incredibly high. $7.00 for a sandwich? Say what?! So, you can imagine my feeling of accomplishment when I knew I had this Cranberry-Couscous Salad on a bed of spinach packed for my family. I also included some protein-packed mixed nuts, fresh blueberries, carrots and a Nature Valley® Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Thin for dessert.

Bored with the same old garden salad for lunch? You can't go wrong with this Greek Chicken Salad. With this substantial salad, I packed fresh blackberries and yogurt, topped with some Nature Valley® Protein Granola. If you are not going to be eating this salad within a couple hours, I suggest packing the dressing on the side. This will prevent the lettuce from becoming soggy.

What's your favorite salad to pack for lunch in the summertime?