Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Salad!

When I was growing up, I hated salads. Or at least I thought I did. We usually only had iceberg lettuce with a little tomato, and whoever decided iceberg lettuce should be cultivated as a human food item deserves to be slapped. I don't think I realized all a salad could be until the first time I visited a Ruby Tuesdays and tried their salad bar. Baby spinach, broccoli, carrot, bacon bits, hard-boiled egg, etc.? Yes, please!

But despite enjoying salad bars at restaurants, I still rarely made them at home and rarely had anything good to put in them when I did. I also thought Andrew didn't like them. So I was surprised when we visited the huge buffet for the first time on our cruise back in December and he came back with a giant salad. I asked him why, and he informed me he really likes salads "when there's good stuff to put in them!" Soon after it dawned on me how easy it would be to keep my own "salad bar" in the fridge. Unlike a lot of fruits, sliced/chopped veggies keep very well in the fridge.

It only takes about 20 minutes to chop veggies (we like broccoli, carrot, radishes, and mushrooms) and hard-boiled egg, grate cheese, open a can of chickpeas, and put everything in little containers. Spinach and cherry tomatoes are already in easy containers, so it takes all of two minutes to put together a fantastic salad.

I've also decided to make my own salad dressings from now on. All of the salad dressings at stores either contain unhealthy ingredients or are too expensive. I haven't found a single salad dressing that isn't easy to make yourself! Here's my current favorite:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper
pinch of garlic
teaspoon of parsley

Delicious!

If you haven't already thought of having your own permanent salad bar in your fridge, I hope this inspires you. =)
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4 comments:

  1. JessicaFebruary 7, 2012 at 5:14 PM

    It does inspire me, actually! I really need to do this more regularly.

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  2. SuzanneFebruary 7, 2012 at 6:01 PM

    I kind of do this now, but not very well-- you've inspired me :). I have been making my own salad dressing for awhile now, swapping out the vinegars and adding mustard or honey to keep things interesting. I can't even eat store-bought stuff anymore because it tastes weird!

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  3. bluiisFebruary 8, 2012 at 5:20 AM

    Jon still eats somewhat low-carb, so we often have yummy salad stuff in the fridge. :) I don't make my own dressings, though I've wanted to try it.

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  4. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2012 at 11:51 PM

    It's hard to go wrong with homemade dressing and there's so many simple combinations that are absolute classics:
    -balsamic vinegar and olve oil (and optionally honey)
    -lemon juice and olive oil (+ opt. honey)
    -white balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and olive oil
    -classic caesar: lemon juce, garlic, egg yolk, anchovy paste, worchestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and olive oil (if you've never had fresh caesar dressing, it'll blow your mind!)
    -lemon juice, fresh-squeezed currant juice, honey and olive oil (great with a salad involving fruit and nuts)
    -red wine vinegar, a dissolved piece of soft goat cheese like chevre, and olive oil

    bon appetit!

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