Salad for the Week

I have a formula to make a fabulous salad that is full of raw crunchy vegetables with a touch of sweet to make it more palatable.

At home we call this ‘Salad for the Week’ because I fill a large bowl with this nutrient dense combination of raw vegetables and the family can grab a handful of salad at any time. It’s so popular that it rarely lasts 3 days never mind a whole week.

Salad for the Week

• 1 Large head of Lettuce

Wash and spin dry the lettuce then tear it into pieces for the salad base. A thicker crunchier lettuce is better and will hold up for a few days. Choose romaine, butter, red or green leaf. Baby greens salad mix doesn’t hold up well for this.

• 1 Bunch of Dino or red kale, not green Kale

Wash the kale then run a small knife down the rib of each kale leaf to remove the leaf from the rib. Tear it into small 1 inch pieces and add to the salad. Adding Kale to your lettuce makes it much more nutrient dense. Look at the nutrient density of a one inch piece of lettuce versus a 1 inch piece of kale.

• 2 Broccoli Crowns

Chop the broccoli crowns into small ½ inch chunks and set aside to mix with carrots. Broccoli is even more nutrient dense, but sometimes too bitter to eat on its own. Chopping in tiny pieces and tossing it with sweet carrots makes broccoli more palatable.

• 2 Carrots

Grate the carrots and mix it with the broccoli so that they come together in each bite.

• 2 Red Bell Peppers Sliced in slivers

These add a beautiful sweet red crunch.

• 1 Granny Smith or Pink Lady Apple

Chop the apple into small ½ inch pieces, squeeze a lemon over the apple and toss it then drain the lemon out. The lemon will keep the apple from turning too brown.

Apples add a different, sweet dimension to the salad. Avoid red or gold delicious as they will get mushy by the second day.

Wash, dry, chop, grate and rip each ingredient into a large bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp clean kitchen towel and refrigerate. The towel helps to keep the salad fresher.

Now when you are looking for lunch or dinner all you have to do is grab a large handful of salad and add some nice dressing with good fat, a high quality.

Be Creative with your salad next week

Cabbage, thin sliced onions, fresh berries or pomegranate seeds? Pecans, walnuts, raisins and can be added at the last minute for more flavor.