What’s for Lunch?

Written by Amy

August 2nd, 2010

There are times when I can’t get enough vegetables and there are times when I can’t look at another one, let alone take another bite.  Those are the times I find myself going out to eat just to get in some veggies.  I know, that sounds so odd, but I often find a salad I’m obsessed with and keep on going back to get it!  My recent obsession is a chopped salad from Bertucci’s.  However, now that I’m back from vacation, it was time to snap out of my veggie funk.  The best way to do that is to hit up the local produce store.  As I started shopping I had two goals in mind, 1) to recreate the chopped salad I always order out and 2) find some new fun fruits to try. 

 My biggest issue with fresh veggies is that I hate to feel like I’m chewing a tree.  Therein lies the appeal of a chopped salad.  Armed with cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, green onions, spinach and a lemon; I left the store and headed home to begin.  (I’ll share my fruit find later).

 Chopping up veggies for one meal is a pain, but when you chop enough up for the week, it is somehow worth the pain.  (I think it is because you know you only have to do it once).  I started by chopping up my red pepper, peeled and chopped my cucumbers, green onions and finally tomatoes.  A little hint, leave the tomatoes for last, they always make a mess and get everywhere.  I took some pictures along the way. 

   Once I chopped everything, I cut a lemon in half and squeezed it over the veggies.  Then it was time to move onto the spinach.  I purposefully keep the spinach separate because it takes up so much room.  Additionally, it is far less of a pain to chop up than all the other veggies so if that is all I need to chop on a daily basis, I can handle it. 

 The beauty about this little salad is that it can be used for so many things.  When you are having a meal with a Gfat, just add it as dressing (oils such as Udo’s, Flax or Olive or an avocado).  For a starch meal, add some brown rice, quinoa or barely.  And in the alternative, just eat the veggies on their own.  Finally, for protein sources, ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, diced chicken, any kind of fish and the list goes on and on.  The other beauty of this salad is that you can add any veggie you want; snow peas, green beens, carrots, sprouts, onion, mushrooms…..and on and on.

My next step was the salad dressing.  1 Tbs of olive oil, 1 Tbs of balsamic vinegar and salt are my staples.

Today I used a few pinches of thyme in addition to the staples.  The beauty about making your own salad dressing is that you can add whatever herbs you want. I finished the dish off with some chopped up chicken.  So there you have tomorrows lunch and about 5 additional veggie servings for this week.

Next on my list was to try new fruits.  As I was strolling through the store, I spotted something called a cactus pear.  It looked interesting enough so I grabbed two! 

With all of my veggie/fruit excitement, I hope I’ve tempted you.  Chop up a nice salad for yourself, try a new spice in your salad dressing, mix up your protein and your veggies, or try a new fruit.  And let me know what you plan on doing or want to try