Making salads fun
Over the last few weeks, eating salads has been a lot more enjoyable. As a result, bell and I eat a lot more salads. I even look forward to them. I love vegetables, but salads often felt like a chore to eat, unless they were a salad with a capital S, like a quinoa artichoke salad, or a kale wheatberry salad. I stumbled upon a few adjustments that have been powerful. Here they are:
- Making salad dressing from scratch: This takes some time depending on the dressing, but this change has had the largest effect by far. The bottled dressings in the fridge door are now languishing even more than they were before. I have been making a vegan green goddess dressing, and a simple balsamic dijon vinaigrette.
- Having accessories on-hand: Hemp hearts, roasted salted pumpkin seeds, and/or chopped pistachios are always a part of the salads and they jazz it up.
- Actually using salad green (spring mix): There is usually a big bag of baby spinach in the fridge, ostensibly for smoothies but also for pesto pasta. I'd seen salads as something to do with that bag of ubiquitous spinach that I am so lucky to have but am bored of. I've added a box of spring mix or arugula to the fridge instead, much better. I also coarsely chop the salad greens, making them easier to eat.
- Having something roasted to add: Last week it was Brussel sprouts roasted with balsamic, salt, pepper, and oil. This week it's butternut squash.
The items requiring prep (the dressing, the roasted veg) result in enough supply to last for a week. I'm trying to not eat after eight pm because sometimes my tummy wakes me up, and I'm legit sad I missed my window to have a salad today.