Mundane and Tasteless

In my effort to lose weight and eat more vegetables, I've started to eat a salad for lunch most days.  Now I'm sure you're saying "Uugg, that sounds mundane and tasteless", but hear me out.

How many days a week do you eat a sandwich or a hamburger for lunch?  That's pretty boring.

bread

ham

cheese

mayo

or

bread

turkey

cheese

mayo

or

bread

hamburger

cheese

ketchup

ooohhh, ahhh, now that is exciting!

Salads don't have to be boring and tasteless.  Here's a few tips for throwing a salad together that will be colorful, flavorful and satisfying.

All my salads have five elements.  Pick one element from each category and you'll have nutrition and taste covered.

Start with any bagged salad.
Pre-cut and pre-washed means pre-tty easy.

Category One: Additional Vegetable

(adds some texture and more nutrients)

Snow Peas

Baby Carrots

Bell Pepper

Edamame (soy beans)

Radishes

Category Two: Cheese

(adds protein and just enough saturated fat to satisfy)

Diced Cheddar

Pre-Shredded 4 cheese mix

Finely grated Parmesan

Strips of Munster sandwich cheese

Diced fresh Mozzarella

Category Three: Nuts

(adds protein and heart healthy unsaturated fats)

Slivered almonds

Sliced Pecans

Chopped Walnuts

Pine nuts

Soy nuts

Category Four: Fruit

(just enough sweetness)

Mandarin oranges

Dried Cranberries

Golden Raisins

Diced Pear

Sliced Strawberries

Category Five: Protein

Chicken nuggets

Boiled Egg

Diced Turkey

Diced Ham

Veggie Burger (try it before you say "Eewww!")

Now for the dressing.  Check the label of your favorite salad dressing.  Hmmm, not so good for you I bet.  Even the low fat versions are high in sugar (read: high fructose corn syrup).  So why not make your own?  Too hard you say?
Nonsense!  Keep reading.

All vinaigrettes are made up of two ingredients: Oil and Acid.  So pick one from each category.

Oil category

Olive oil (my fave and the one I use the most)

Sesame oil

Canola oil

Peanut oil

Acid Category

Lemon juice

Lime juice

Balsamic vinegar

Rice wine vinegar

Apple cider vinegar

There are so many options,
these are just the ones I use most often.

Now combine 1 tablespoon acid with two tablespoons oil.  Taaadaa!!!  Homemade dressing.  Now, you can use that or you can add some pizzazz to it...salt, pepper, pressed garlic, chopped onion, sesame seeds, a dash of maple syrup, etc.  And if you want it to be a little more creamy you can add a teaspoon of dijon mustard which will emulsify the dressing (read: get the oil and acid to stick together better).

I have several actual recipes for some delicious dressings that I'll be posting in the coming weeks so look out for those.

Get yourself I pretty plate and
a tall glass of sparkling water and enjoy!