Winter Salad Inspiration

Some winters I'll go weeks without eating an actual salad. Without ripe tomatoes around, it's easy to become uninspired! But I do believe that a fresh-looking and tasting salad is still possible, even without much planning. The best part about this salad is that everything (including the lettuce) had been hanging around in my kitchen for over a week! The only fresh ingredients are the lettuce, carrots and green onions. Items like chickpeas and almonds are great pantry staples that store forever and easily punch up a salad, plus they both add protein! I store the rest of the chickpeas in their canning liquid in a container in the fridge.

Grocery list

• Lettuce (bagged, of course)
• Carrots
• Green onions
• Cheese (not used here)

 Pantry

• Nuts
• Beans
• Dressing

Directions

This is less of a recipe than it is just general salad inspiration. I'd love to hear other ideas of pantry items to easily mix into fabulous winter salads...Craisins, anyone?

Yield: 1 salad
To bring: plastic container

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Questions about the cooking method? Please let me know in the comments!

Strawberry and Walnut Salad

I have this idea that if I'm going to have salad as a meal, it needs to have a zillion things in it in order to "count." But if you just use larger amounts of whatever you have, it's really just as substantial, plus there's less prep. And if those things happen to be the kind of foods that make you look forward to your lunch break, all the better! I love fruit in salad because it's a punchy little surprise in every other bite. Nuts and chickpeas pack protein (about 10 grams total if you use 1/4 cup of each) and of course you have the leafy greens.

As for dressing, I used Galeos Miso Ceasar because it's just about the only awesome tasting low-fat dressing I know of that doesn't have tons of artificial ingredients, but (as Jamie Oliver would say) strawberries are also great friends with balsamic vinegar. Since both balsamic and olive oil don't need a fridge, they're a great option to keep at your desk without any worries of coworkers stealing a glug. If you're bringing dressing from home, try packing a small plastic container or baby food jar inside the salad container itself...at least if it spills, it will just go on your salad!

I haven't listed ingredient amounts here...I figure you know how much you want to eat!

Grocery list

• Greens (spinach, arugula, spring mix, etc)
• Strawberries (or apples in the fall!)
• Nuts (walnuts, almonds)
• Chickpeas (canned, optional)

 Pantry

• Salad dressing OR balsamic vinegar and olive oil (about a tablespoon of each)

Directions

Wash wash, chop chop...you know what to do! Save the dressing for when you're just about to dig in to minimize the sog factor.

Yield: 1 great big salad
To bring: large plastic container, smaller jar for dressing

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Questions about the cooking method? Please let me know in the comments!

Chopped Caprese Salad

Pardon my extreme enthusiasm for this lunch - it is probably my most favorite food, ever! Especially with summer tomatoes that are just coming into season. Of course it's best with fresh buffalo mozzarella, but I've noticed that if the tomatoes are good enough it's not horrible to substitute a packaged cheese like Sargento or Polly-O, and it's certainly far cheaper. You'll often find this prepared in restaurants with large slices of cheese and tomatoes layered together, but I like to dice everything to make it easier to eat with a fork! I highly recommend buying both the tomatoes and basil at a farmer's market for the freshest taste.

Grocery list

• Mozzarella cheese - 2 ounces (about two 1 cm slices of a 16 oz. package)
• Tomato - 1 large
• Basil - small bunch (about 1/2 cup, chopped)

 Pantry

• Olive oil - 1 tbsp., or to taste
• Salt - to taste
• Fresh black pepper - to taste

Directions

Chop the tomatoes and cheese into a medium dice and shred the basil. In a large bowl, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to lunch container.

Yield: 1 serving
To bring: transport container

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Questions about the cooking method? Please let me know in the comments!