Spring Salad



I was watching Giada at Home day before yesterday and the large-chested Italian wonder (sorry...it's true) made a California Chopped Salad that looked delicious. I was craving it all day yesterday and today, so after Zumba I went to Kroger to pick up some delicious romaine lettuce. If you look closely at the photo above, you will see NO delicious romaine lettuce. Nor will you see any romaine lettuce. That's because every bit of lettuce in the dang store was rotten (except for the boxed arugula and one head of boston red leaf...which are found in the photo above). Boooo. I think I'll be shopping at Publix from now on.

Anyway, back to the salad. It was pretty darn simple and so very tasty (even without the romaine)! I used me golden rule (except for the lettuce) and used what I had! I chopped up an avocado, a tomato, a mango, and a few strawberries. I put them in the salad bowl. There they be:

Then I added the lettuce and some leftover chicken breast and drizzled on some homemade dressing (fresh squeezed orange juice, balsamic vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, and EVOO).

Then I tossed it all together and topped it with some toasted slivered almonds! The avocado and chicken added protein and the fruit added vitamin C and other goodies! It was quite healthy and very delicious. The perfect spring salad!

 Happy Spring everyone! :)

~ Mari

Quick Lunch Salad ... with Added Carbs

I was talking to my friend on the phone telling her about how I had a salad for lunch. She congratulated me on my healthful habits... and then I lowered the blow: I added a whole lot of coconut rice to that salad and loved it. I made some coconut rice (recipe to follow at a later date) the other day and had some leftover and thought I would add it to my salad. I love salad without rice, don't get me wrong, but it just adds that extra yumminess of carbs that I so dearly love.


Looks delicious, right? It was. Just combine lettuce, fresh mint, sliced strawberries, toasted walnuts, and cold rice with oil and balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper and there you have it! Get creative - add rice to any salad and it makes it a little more enjoyable (in my opinion, anyway).

Mmmm... carbs are so good...

~ Mari