I remember planning for a vegan pregnancy. 2 months into the pregnancy and I craved a hamburger. I still ate a lot of #veggies and fruit, but meat was back on the menu. Salads weren’t satisfying anymore, which totally bummed me out. Any of you who’ve dealt with pregnancy cravings KNOWS what I’m talking about when I say, “What baby wants, baby gets!” Now I’m past breastfeeding and starting to feel more in control of my eating. Enter stage left, the grand and ggloriousLOADED SALAD!! This salad tastes great and fills my belly.
Ingredients per salad:
5 oz lettuce
1 roma tomato, diced
3 sweet mini bell peppers, diced
1/2 cup hummus
3 tablespoons spicy nut mixture
1/4 cup salsa for salad dressing
5-6 kalamata olives, pitted
Directions:
🍅Using large bowl, layer in this order
🍅Lettuce
🍅Salsa sprinkled on lettuce
🍅Hummus in corner with kalamatas on top
🍅 Tomatoes in 2nd corner
🍅Bell peppers in 3rd corner
🍅Peanut mixture in 4th corner
I love avocados. LOVE might be a better way to express my deep infatuation with this delicious and nutrient rich food. Thank you, God, for creating this fruit!
A few of my favorite ways to enjoy avocado:
1. Spread slices on lightly toasted bread.
2. Garnish on every Mexican dish you can think of!
3. Add to mashed black beans and wrap up in lettuce leaves.
Any way you slice, mash or cube it, enjoy some avocado today!
For years, this green salad has been a hit at family dinners and parties. I’ll never forget when after a big Thanksgiving dinner with many scrumptious dishes, one guest leaned back from the table and proclaimed my green salad to be the best dish of the meal.
Lettuce washed and ready for salad
This salad goes great with chicken, beef, pork, pasta, and fish dishes. Keep in mind that the crumbled cheese is strong, so don’t pair with another cheesy dish like Alfredo.
The recipe below is 3 parts:
1. Salad dressing
2. Candied nuts
3. Green Salad
Salad dressing – Ingredients:
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 small clove garlic, minced (can be omitted)
Salad dressing – Directions:
Wisk all ingredients together and store in air tight bottle in refrigerator. I recommend making this one day ahead so flavors blend.
Candied Nuts – Ingredients:
2 cups walnut or pecans, ideally the half pieces not little bits
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon OR 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (can be omitted if you don’t want spicy nuts)
Candied Nuts – Directions:
1. Medium sized pan, medium high heat.
2. Add butter and nuts at same time and stir continuously moving nuts around pan so don’t burn.
3. Add brown sugar and spices at same time and keep stirring so doesn’t burn.
4. As soon as sugar is melted and coating all the nuts, turn off burner and remove from heat immediately. This should happen within a minute of adding sugar and spices.
5. Spread out nuts evenly along bottom of pan. Allow to cook in the pan – at least 30 minutes before out on salad. Break apart because will probably stick together.
I usually make these in advance so I have on hand for quick salad prep. Store in air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks – if they last that long.
Note: I’ve used these nuts in other dishes too. Try with pork, chicken salad sandwiches, garnish steamed green beans or roasted Brussels sprouts, but always a great addition to green salads!
Green Salad – Ingredients:
1 head romaine, green leaf, or red leaf lettuce, leafy edges torn from rib, rinsed and dried. I like a combination of two different lettuces.
1/2 cup blue cheese or gorgonzola cheese crumbles
1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 green onion stalks, sliced thin on the bias (diagonally cut)
1 cup candied nuts
Dressing
Optional – your favorite seasoned croutons
Green Salad – Directions:
Part of the enjoyment of this salad is presentation. I recommend not tossing all the ingredients together until you’re ready to eat.
To assemble, use large salad bowl. Start with lettuce on the bottom and add ingredients in this order:
Tomatoes
Cheese crumbles
Green onion
Candied nuts
When ready to eat, drizzle 1/2 cup of salad dressing on top, toss to coat. If you’re using croutons, add 1 cup and toss to combine after already tossing once before with dressing. I do this because I don’t want the croutons to soak up all the dressing.
Sit back and watch the flavor explosion in their mouths and smiles of delight!
A great meal when on the run at the airport, the Veg Up! Bagel Sandwich at Einstein’s is a yummy quick treat. Instead of getting the cream cheese veggie schmear, ask for the hummus instead. I love the abundance of veggies, including cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach.
To be nice to the people you’re traveling next to, forgo the onions… 😉
After walking around Granada, we stopped for lunch to rest out tired feet! Kathy enjoyed her meat lasagna. I had a tiny bite – very moist meat with loads of cheese melted on top. I thought the dish was quite salty. I really liked the eggplant fries with honey sauce drizzled on top. Makes me want to play around in the kitchen to see how I can create a healthier version! The green salad was pretty good, but iceburg lettuce has virtually no nutritional value. But it was fresh and refreshing! Interestingly though, I was hard pressed to find very many veggie options on their menu. Just about everything had cheese or meat.
A funny thing we’ve noticed about Spanish waiters, is that they rarely smile. And when they do, it seems forced. So much for an enjoyable experience with the wait staff… maybe they need a customer service training on the merits of playing nice so that guests want to tip you – just sayin’! But the venue was nice and simple.
Asian Noodle Green Salad
Ingredients for dressing – whisk together and set aside:
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup gyoza sauce (or low-sodium soy sauce)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon julienned thai basil leaves
Salad ingredients:
2 cups asian noodles, cooked then chilled and cut into 1-2″ pieces
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 small cucumber, cubed
1-8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1-15 oz can baby carrots, drained and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon chia seed
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup raw peanuts
1 cup baked tofu, cubed (I buy at Trader Joe’s; substitute edamame)
Toss together above ingredients with 1/2 dressing mixture. Add to 1 head red leaf lettuce and toss well. Serve with 1 avocado cubed and 1/2 cup rough chopped cilantro.
Serve immediately with extra dressing on the side. Will be plenty for 3 adults, or use as side dish for 6 people with another Asian dish.
These bean lettuce wraps from Eat To Live are pretty easy to prepare and are very tasty!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked or canned no-salt-added or low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 large, ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed [we used whole avocado]
1/2 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 green onions, chopped [we used 1 onion]
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup mild no-salt-added or low-sodium salsa [we used a spicy homemade mango salsa]
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
8 large romaine lettuce leaves
Directions:
In a bowl, mash the beans and avocado together with a fork until well blended and only slightly chunky. Add all the remaining ingredients except the lettuce and mix.
Place approximately 1/4 cup of mixture in the center of each lettuce leaf and roll up like burrito.
Notes:
We added extra salsa on top before eating, but we LOVE salsa!
