Reinventing My Salad Taste Buds

A while ago I posted about teaching our kids to enjoy salads, and yes I said, "teaching',   :)

and now I am more convinced then ever.  

Three things have pushed me again to take up salads-once a day, 1. watching Forks over Knives, 2. eating at Chop'd in DC and 3. going to a plant based workshop.

The benefits of salads are amazing.  No one will disagree with all the nutrients present in a dark green leafy salad.  But not all salads are equal.  We've tried around here to do salads before.  Justin would take them for lunch, I'd make one for the kids and I, but eventually I get tired of eating like a rabbit (hehe thats something my dad would say:).  

But enter a NEW way to eat salads.  Nothing fancy.  No new ingredients.  But simply a chopped salad that blends all the ingredients together and makes a wowwowzer of a salad.  It is also a GREAT way to use lots of lettuce with only a few ingredients BECAUSE when it is finely chopped a little bit of each ingredient sticks to your greens.  

After going to Chop't in DC and watching them transform my salad taste buds I am not going back. 

Wanna give it a try? Here's what you do:

1. Take a large cutting board and place all ingredients in the center-my first photo.

2. Using your chef knife or a rolling knife like this one, chop up everything really well!-my second photo.

3. Drizzle on some dressing, mix it up on the board and then scoop up into bowls.

4. Presto, delicious salad where every bite has something on it.

Let me know if you try it...I think you will agree...salads are once again delicious down to the last bite!

Here are a few new salads for you to try-most taken from the Chop't website.  I also included the dressing I used per salad.

1. Mexican Caesar-grilled chicken, monterey jack cheese, green pepper, tortilla chips with a mexican Caesar dressing
2. Sub Salad-salami or pepperoni, green/black olives, feta, tomatoes, red onions, sweet orange/red peppers, banana peppers with a Italian Salad Dressing
3. Cobb Salad-hard boiled egg, bacon, grilled chicken, avocado, tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese with a dijon vinaigrette dressing
4. Harvest Salad-Sunflower seeds, apple slices, craisins, blue cheese with a dijon vinaigrette dressing
5. Simple Salad-Coconut flakes, feta cheese, with a splash of Roasted Walnut oil and lots of freshly squeezed lemon
6. Color me Salad-cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, green onions, pecans, craisins with your favorite dressing.
7. Greek Salad-feta cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, cubed baked potato, red onions with a greek dressing
8. Taco Salad-Taco Meat both/or black beans, tortilla chips, tomatoes, corn, green onions, cheddar cheese, avocados, topped with salsa
9.Tropical Salad-Mango, pineapple, cashews, grilled chicken, avocado and with lemon juice or tropical salad dressing
10. Asian Salad...haven't tried this one yet, but on the menu soon

*We are trying to increase our veggie consumption and any meats and cheese on our salads are on the low end.  Still very delicious!
*Add salt/pepper if you want-I normally add a titch of both.
*Salads as meals are pretty easy to clean up! Yay!
*Add some sourdough bread, or pitas to your salad to round out your meal
*Most salad dressing recipes make large batches....I scaled down each recipe just to try them.
*Update-OUR KIDS LOVE SALAD.  Somedays Katie will take 3rds.  :)  And once we get Owen to take a bite he eats his entire bowl willingly!