Spring is salad season. At the farmers markets you will find luscious lettuce leaves to don your dinner plate.
I like eating salad as long as it's not boring. Translation: there has to be variety in flavor. However, variety in flavor usually translates to work. Because I want to minimize work, I've found some short cuts for making a salad fast. Maybe this is my version of batch cooking with fresh veggies.
1. Prepare lettuce all at once.
My salad spinner gets a work out in the spring. When I bring home lettuce, it is rinsed and rough chopped. Store either in a plastic bag or bowl with a lid in the fridge. Keeping the air out will keep your lettuce from wilting. I like to toss in a paper towel to absorb extra water.
2. Chop everything at one time.
This may seem like a no-brainer out there to most of you, but I just made this discovery recently. Chopping the entire bunch of green onions ensures they get used because the work is done. We love green onions on most everything. Bonus: onions are prebiotics and good for gut health.
My husband loves green olives on his salad. I could take or leave them. Usually they get left off salads because I'm too lazy to chop one. more. thing. This week I chopped a whole jar at once for future salads.
I used to dread making salads because I'd have to clean up a huge mess (after myself). Grating a carrot is so messy! So, I pulled out my food processor and grated a whole pound of carrots. Just be warned, grated carrots will spoil quickly (about 5 days).
Other salad toppings:
-grated cheese
-red bell pepper
-cucumbers
-nuts/seeds
3. Use lacto-fermented veggies on your salad.
This idea came from my new friend, Brandy. When she gave me a jar of lacto-fermented ginger carrots, she said, "I just sprinkle a few on my salad." Genius. I get more probiotics in my diet and this solved the problem above (that raw grated carrots spoil quickly). After I gobbled up the jar she made, I made my own variation of dilly carrots with turnips from my FarmShare.
4. Make a giant batch of salad dressing.
This is my current favorite salad dressing (I double it). But also here is a yummy dressing and here is a recipe for ranch and honey mustard. Salad dressings are easy to make and very easy baby steps to take if you're beginning a real food journey.
What do you enjoy on a salad?
-Julie
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