Creativity With Salads

Making salads creative and fun is easier than you might think. All you need to do is have a delicious blend of greens, herbs and raw veggies all ready to go in a bag in order to expedite the time spent repeatedly making salads.

So what goes on the salad that starts with a big bag of greens? Just about anything that you have in your fridge. So it changes all the time!  If you had grilled veggies last night for dinner, they're wonderful the next day on a leafy salad with my Balsamic Vinaigrette...If you BBQ'ed chicken, then some chicken, avocado, roasted corn, cherry tomatoes and jicama with my DF BBQ Ranch is a great choice.  If you're feeling Mediterranean, throw on some hummus, kalamata olives, roasted chicken, red onion, chick peas, olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some basil and oregano.

I have gone so far as to top my salad off with the left over enchilada casserole and finish it with a dollop of salsa and the left over enchilada sauce! :) My turkey meatloaf is yummy over salad with tomatoes and some of my Creamy Mustard dressing! The ideas are endless.

Whenever I have made one of my quinoa salads, like Quinoa With pistachios and dried cherries, or Quinoa tabbouleh, that becomes my favorite salad topper of the day. It's a great way to get a big helping of raw, crunchy greens and veggies with a different twist every day!


Like to see more Delightfully Free? Check out Delightfully Free.com

~Tracy

About Delightfully Free: Delightfully Free is a gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free cookbook of 141 recipes. It includes delicious resources for autism, Celiac disease, diabetes, lactose intolerance, obesity and just plain healthy living. It contains 114 color photographs, 114 vegetarian or vegetarian compatible recipes, and 103 vegan or vegan compatible recipes.

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A Bag Of Greens

No matter what the season, for me, it seems like a salad is always what sounds good for lunch. The crunchy greens with the fresh, raw veggies and then whatever else I find in the fridge to throw in, makes a meal that I always think is "the best salad yet!" 

And that is always different, because what's in the fridge is always changing on this adventure of creative cooking!  One thing that I do keep as a constant though, is the use of a lot of interesting deep green lettuces and herbs as a base. 

Now if I'm making a salad almost every single day for lunch, not to mention sometimes as a side dish at dinner, I would end up spending the time over and over getting ALL of those separate items out, washing the lettuces, herbs....chopping them, putting them all back in their containers or bags... But why would I when I can expedite the whole process in one easy step?? Of course there is a simple solution for all this!!  

An extra large zip bag of ready washed, already chopped, wonderfully assorted seasonal greens... ready to go!  I love my big bag of greens!!!  I just take it out, shake some into my bowl and start adding to it--that becomes my creation of the day  :)

And what do I include in my big bag of greens? I'm glad you asked. A variety of lettuces like arugula (a.k.a. rocket ) that adds a peppery flavor, butter lettuce with its more mellow taste and texture, mache (also called lamb's lettuce) a sweet, nutty flavor, mesclun (which means "mixed") traditionally composed of several varieties, mizuna which is an Asian type of mustard greens, radicchio with its own peppery, slightly bitter flavor, romaine... and the list goes on. To all that I add cabbages (green, red, Asian...), bok choy, spinach, kale, celery, (which are really vegetables), then my favorite--herbs...fresh parsley, cilantro, mint, dill, thyme... Of course I don't include all of these in every bag.

Just what ever looked particularly fresh and yummy at the market. I only chop up what I know can be used in the next 4-5 days, so it's always fresh.  I also put a clean piece of paper towel that has been dampened with water and lemon juice in the bag to help keep everything fresh and wholesome.

All of that ends up being a lot!  A lot of savings (by not buying the pre-washed/pre-packaged versions--this is just a home-made version of the prepared lettuce mixes!), a lot of vitamins, minerals, fiber and fresh, raw nutrition...all in a big bag of greens!  I hope this idea is helpful to you  :)

P.S. My salad in the picture has 20 ingredients. Can you spot them all?

Like to see more Delightfully Free? Check out Delightfully Free.com

~Tracy

About Delightfully Free: Delightfully Free is a gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free cookbook of 141 recipes. It includes delicious resources for autism, Celiac disease, diabetes, lactose intolerance, obesity and just plain healthy living. It contains 114 color photographs, 114 vegetarian or vegetarian compatible recipes, and 103 vegan or vegan compatible recipes.