Sunshine Burgers Review-Sunshine Super Salad Recipe!

One of the big things I've been trying to work on in my diet is eating more protein. Protein keeps you full and satisfied while also helping to build muscle.  While I love grabbing protein shakes and bars as snacks, it's sometimes hard to think of creative meals that include more protein that also are not just egg whites and chicken breasts. That's why I was so excited to try Sunshine Burgers, a veggie burger that is certified organic, verified non-GMO,vegan and free of gluten,soy,corn,canola,peanuts,tree nuts,dairy or eggs.  I've had veggie burgers before, but they sometimes aren't quite as satisfying as the real deal so taste was key for me.   

Sunshine Burgers sent me a variety of flavors including Garden Herb, Black Bean South West, Loco Chipotle, Shiitake Mushroom, Falafel, and Breakfast Hemp & Sage. I have finally had a chance to try all the flavors, and I love them all! Each flavor is distinct from one another in taste with the use of different veggies, beans, and spices in each.  The Loco Chipotle is 50% larger than the Southwest and has an extra kick. Since I'm not a huge fan of spicy things I just had a bite of those, but my boyfriend loved them! 

My favorite flavors were the Shiitake Mushroom and Falafel.  The Shiitake Mushroom uses real Shiitake Mushrooms and had a really nice flavor, without being too dense.  I love falafel so liking that flavor was a no brainer, but I was worried that the burger would be really dry and bland. I was pleasantly surprised that the burger was still moist after reheating and packed with flavor!

I've just starting to get serious about my spring half marathon training again and have been feeling inspired by all of the amazing athletes in the Winter Olympics.  My goal is to stay strong and healthy while fueling my training properly so having a product like Sunshine Burgers that is packed with 7-12g of protein and 200-300 calories of whole vegan ingredients is important. 

Check out the ingredients and nutrition facts for the Shiitake Mushroom burger-it's always important that I can understand the list of ingredients!

Ingredients Organic cooked brown rice, organic ground raw sunflower seeds, organic carrots, organic cooked quinoa, organic cooked shiitake mushrooms, organic onion, organic garlic, sea salt. 

I mainly ate the burgers for lunch because it made meal prep super easy! Sunshine Burgers are fully cooked so I just had to reheat the burgers from the freezer on the stove top when I was packing my lunches (which I quickly reheated in the microwave at work all week!).  

heating up some Shiitake Mushroom burgers for lunches

  Last night I had to throw together a dinner that was nutritious and satisfying so the Sunshine Super Salad was born! I prepared a salad with many of my favorite ingredients (I'm looking at you, avocado) and super foods like goji berries and kale.  It was a great mix of sweet and savory ingredients. To top it off, I crumbled a Shiitake Mushroom Sunshine burger that I had thawed the night before in the fridge. It was the perfect addition to top off the salad!

Here's the basic recipe for my Sunshine Super Salad..remember the quantities and ingredients are flexible so substitute for what YOU have on hand and what makes YOU happy in salads!

Sunshine Super Salad

2 cups kale (I used a pre-washed mix from store)

2 cups baby spinach

1 Sunshine Burger (flavor of your choice, I used shiitake mushroom)

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 small kiwi,peeled and diced

1/2 cup of baked butternut squash or sweet potato, cubed ( I used a mix of leftovers!)
1/4 medium avocado, diced

1/8 cup dried cranberries

1/8 cup chopped almonds

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional-you can substitute your favorite dressing!)

Mix everything together in a big bowl and top with 1 crumbled Sunshine Burger. Enjoy!

You can find stores near you that carry Sunshine Burgers here! 

Disclosure: This post is a review for Sunshine Burger through my Sweat Pink ambassadorship. I was provided with 6 boxes of products from Sunshine Burger as part of the review but received no other compensation for this post. As always, all opinions are my own. 

Do you eat veggie burgers? What is your favorite salad ingredient?