How to build a salad for lunch or dinner

It never fails, when I sit down at work to eat my lunch someone will comment, your salad smells and looks so good, can I pay you to make one for me.  I allow time in the morning to make my lunch, which is usually ½ hour.  If you build your salad the night before do not add the lettuce or dressing, add that in the morning.  At lunch all I have to do is shake my container to distribute my dressing and eat. My unusual salads typically contain any and all leftovers from dinner during the week, things someone would not typically put in a salad, what I get is a plethora of wonderful vegetables marinating in a dressing of:

Dressing:

• A sprinkling of kosher salt,
• A dash of pepper,
• A sprinkle of garlic powder,
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil,
• 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or wine vinegar

 Directions:

I mix all of my vegetables and the dressing together and then add my layer of dry salad greens on top, about 2 cups. I do not mix my lettuce into the dressing as the greens will wilt by lunch time. There is no right or wrong ingredient to add to a salad, I have mixed fruit and vegetables. Things you can add to a salad include the following, canned, frozen or fresh:

Cucumber, shredded cabbage, chives, sliced leek, scallions or sliced onion, jarred roasted red pepper, olives, 1/2 sliced avocado, sliced or quartered mushrooms, left over vegetables; broccoli, cauliflower, mixed vegetables, green beans, peas, canned artichokes, celery, canned beans, carrots, celery, beets, baby corn, alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts, quartered tomato, sun dried tomatoes, pasta, Pomegranate seeds, asparagus. I have sliced peaches, apples, oranges, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. and added them to my vegetables. What ever you love to eat.

For protein: A ¼ cup canned white beans, black beans or chick-peas, cheese, hard boiled egg, cooked chicken, left over pork, or beef,  If you use tuna or salmon, pack it in another container or plastic bag and add to your salad at lunch. Add walnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds etc.  All you need is a 1/4 cup of any protein.

You can put anything you love to eat in a salad.  It is fresh, and filling and it is a meal.  I think the salad is underrated. Don’t eat a boring salad, get rid of the iceberg lettuce, buy a bag of mixed greens, spring mix or use fresh spinach.  Ditch the bottled salad dressing, the flavor of olive oil and balsamic vinegar is amazing and healthier.  Add chopped fresh basil and parsley to your dressing.  Create or rather recreate the healthy salad.  Make it your own – Enjoy!

*To steam fresh vegetables; add to a microwaveable container with a tablespoon of water and cook on high for 2 minutes, remove from microwave and add ice cold water to stop the cooking. Vegetables will be crisp-tender.