Salad Time

During the summer months, one of my favorite things to eat is salad, I eat as many as seven a week and honestly if given the option, I would probably eat salad for every meal. They are fresh, cold and make me feel like I am doing something good for my body. Lately I have been seeing a lot of pictures of the salad-in-a-jar idea where you start with the salad dressing in the bottom, layer on the hardier veggies and end with the greens on top, then you shake it all up right before you are ready to eat it. Separating the dressing and the greens prevents wilting and allows the prepared salad to be stored for a couple of days in the refrigerator. With the new shop renovation, I take very few of my meals at home so this week I decided to make a bunch of salads that I can grab on my way out of the house in the morning. While I love the simplicity of the jar, they aren't the easiest vessel to eat a salad out of so instead I made my stacked salads in storage containers (which have the added bonus of being larger than a quart jar so I get more salad.)

Today's salad- mushrooms, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, and Italian dressing on the bottom, red quinoa in the middle, spinach on top finished with walnuts, sunflower seeds, and hemp seeds for added nutrition and crunch. Cost breakdown- $1.60 per salad.

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The key to a great salad is to get a good mixture of colors, flavors, and textures. I like to start with a good mixture of greens, add whatever fresh veggies I have on hand, throw in a source of protein (tofu, tempeh, or grains,) add a little fruit for sweetness, a slightly bitter salad dressing, and top with seeds and nuts for extra fat and protein. I through some quinoa in today's salad for some extra protein, an absolute necessity for a busy day. I only make "dinner salads" so I don't worry about adding too much fat or calories, obviously there is no meat in my salads and I have found that better ingredients tend to require less dressing so I can use anything I want and feel totally fine with it. Also with my current stress level running pretty high, simple foods are easy to digest and tend to make me feel better. Salads will save me!!