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| Photo courtesy of Suat Eman; FreeDigitalPhots.net |
It's warm outside here in the mid-Atlantic states and I'm ready for summer! Warm weather makes me want to not only be lighter, but to eat lighter too.
I can't stand eating heavy, hot foods when it's hot outside...anyone with me on this? It seems weird to eat pot roast in July, for example. Maybe that's because I grew up working a garden with my family and eating right out of it, I don't know.
I want to share my favorite salads. I'm kind of freakish about lettuce...I was teased as a child because I would "pig out" and eat a whole head of lettuce. I have also been teased for years because I never liked anything in my salad other than lettuce, but I've gotten adventurous in my old age.
I'll start with my family's taco salad. I don't know where it came from; it's absolutely delicious and not very healthy as far as salads go, but so be it. It's fun, yummy, and easy to make for a large crowd or a single serving.
Taco Salad
Serves 6
1 lb. ground beef
1 large head iceberg lettuce, shredded or chopped or torn, whatever you like
2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, fiesta blend, or colby/jack)
1 packet lipton onion soup mix
water
1 bag corn chips (9oz)
1 tomato, chopped, optional
sour cream, optional
3 or 4 scallions (spring onions), chopped, optional
Brown ground beef until cooked through. Add onion soup mix and water. I like this salad juicy, so the amount of water depends on how wet you would like your salad. A normal person would probably use 2 cups of water; I use 4 cups or more.
Simmer beef, water, and onion soup mix for about 10 minutes or until soup mix is softened.
In a large bowl, mix lettuce, un-drained beef mixture, cheese, corn chips and tomato.
Top with scallions and serve with sour cream if desired.
Favorite Healthy Salad
Serves 2
3 cups salad greens (I prefer the organic baby field greens at Sam's Club. Yum!)
1 English cucumber, peeled and julienned (use as much or as little as you wish. I use about 1/2 the cucumber)
1/2 cup fresh peas or frozen peas, thawed (you cannot use canned peas here, so don't even think about it!)
Simple dressing:
2 T. olive oil
4 T. white vinegar
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
Mix dressing together with whisk and serve.
Obviously, you will mix the salad together and eat it! You would be surprised at how wonderful this simple combination of ingredients tastes. It's just fresh and refreshing. Perfect for a super hot day when you don't want to be weighed down but still need something to eat.
If you don't have a julienne peeler, you should get one! Ha! Actually, I was going to say you could use a regular vegetable peeler to get some thin strips of cucumber for your salad. It's just better than the typical 1/8" or so thick rounds.
Meet Me in the Middle...Somewhere between Healthy and Not....
Serves 2
1 chicken breast, cooked and sliced
3 cups baby field greens
1/2 apple, cored and sliced
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 T. pecan pieces
Handful grape tomatoes, halved
2 thin slices red onion
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained, optional (also called chick peas)
Mix together and enjoy with 4 T. balsamic vinegar and 2 T. olive oil whisked together, or make things even easier by using a store-bought balsamic vinegar dressing.
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