If you are like me, you like quick, you like easy and you like fresh.

How can you combine all three of those criteria into a meal that everyone will love?  Start with pre-packaged salads.

Bagged salad kits are a great starting point to build a complete meal in minutes. They are a time-saving convenience and include pre-washed lettuce and greens, many times with added vegetables.

By simply adding lean chopped meat, beans or nuts and additional fruits and vegetables, you have a complete, nutritious meal in less time than you may spend waiting at the drive-through.

Pre-packaged salads offer more variety with new blends of leafy greens, such as romaine, arugula and baby spinach — making them an easy way to incorporate more vegetables to a daily diet.

They are also a smart choice for added health benefits, since dark green, leafy lettuce tends to be higher in nutrients, such as vitamins A, K and lutein.

Hy-Vee Dietitians’ Top 5 Summer Salad Picks

Try tossing these quick and easy meals together in minutes by combining the following ingredients with pre-packaged salad kits – your wallet (and waist) will thank you!

Asian Chicken Salad

1 bag Dole Field Greens* plus mandarin oranges, cooked chicken (rotisserie works great here), snow peas, crispy noodles, almonds and Asian sesame seed dressing

 Blackberry Salad

with Avocado and Almonds

1 bag Dole Baby Spinach* plus celery, almonds, blackberries, avocado, feta cheese and raspberry vinaigrette

Grilled Chicken Summer Salad

1 bag Dole European Blend* plus cooked chicken, almonds, strawberries, mandarin oranges and poppy seed dressing

Southwest Caesar Salad

1 bag Dole All-Natural Light Caesar Salad Kit plus tomatoes, bell peppers, red kidney beans, cooked chicken, whole-kernel corn and red onion

 Springtime Spinach Salad

1 bag Dole Baby Spinach plus strawberries, asparagus, red onion, blue or feta cheese, and raspberry dressing

* May be substituted with romaine or any other Dole salad blend

Recipe source: www.dole.com/recipes

For full recipes and pictures, visit http://www.dole.com/

Recipes and select the “Salad” category.

Follow Jen Haugen’s blog at jenhaugenrd.wordpress.com