Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Embrace the Green: Salad My Way...

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I really have to thank my aunt for introducing and cultivating the love for vegetables during my childhood. I enjoy vegetables so much that I almost think I am a herbivore. 

My husband and I are very different as to what we grew up eating.  He is more of a meat and potato/fat juicy beef burger lover kind of guy but I am somewhat a part time vegan. Vegetables are such foreign objects to him. While we love each other to piece,  we are not always in agreement when it comes to food. 

For years, I have made an effort to sneak in all the healthy stuff in his food (almost the same way you trick a toddler to eat veggies) because I have a concern about his Cholesterol (genetic in his family). Ten years later, I can say my effort has finally paid off. He embraces more green than he ever has his entire life. He requests salad for dinner twice a week (either with baked chicken or salmon). Seeing him gobble down a big bowl of homemade salad got my eyes teary (okay I am being totally exaggerated).

My favorite salad at Schlotsky's was Cranberry, Apple, Pecan & Chicken. Oh man I can eat that thing every day.  There is something yummy about the combination of nut, crisp green lettuce and dried cranberry that got me addicted. However, it can get pricey plus sometimes lettuces at the restaurants are not always the freshest. 

Thus I decided to take this matter into my own hands and make homemade salad. Fun, yum, fresher, much healthier and  more hygienic. 

I bought:

1) Whole organic lettuces (those ready to eat kind are not as fresh and crisp). Per my finding, Romaine lettuce is the healthiest kind).

2) Nuts (raw almond/walnut/pecan/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds)

3) Dried cranberry (or raisin if you want)

4) Fruits: my husband and I are not big fan of salad dressing. We always eat dry salad (weird I know but at least we don't have to worry about extra calories). In order to make our salad extra flavorful and keep it natural.  I add fruits such as grapes, orange, pear or berries. They are great substitute. 

5) Avocado for creamy texture. Do you know that eating Avocado with your salad help your body absorb vitamins and minerals more efficiently?
 
6) Quinoa / roasted beetroot / Pita chips

The key to keep healthy salad healthy is not to overdo on nuts/dried cranberry and fruits. One handful of each category is perfect. 
It does take extra time and effort to make things from scratch but it really is worth it. We think our salad is an ultimate healthy salad out there and we enjoy it a lot.
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11 comments:

  1. hi!! long time no see lol :) i actually tried visiting your blog awhile ago but i think it was private :)

    YUMMM!! i love this!! i love adding fruits to my salads too lol!! i do a similar salad with tangerines, avocado and shrimp!!

    this one looks so good.. i love the combination of nuts!!

    www.lisalovescoco.blogspot.com

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  2. I love my caesar dressing, but that salad looks delish. I'd totally eat it just like that!

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  3. looks so delicious. i love vegetables as well. boiled cabbages and broccoli are high up there! and salads too of course. we love the spicy peanut dressing they have at trader joe's! :)

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  4. That salad looks delicious! My mother also likes her salad without dressing and dry salads were a bit part of my childhood. I prefer mine somply dressed with some olive oil and lemon juice.

    Thanks for commenting in my blog :) I have now been living in Switzerland for several months and it is truly a dream destination! But an expensive one.

    Have a lovely day!

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  5. Oh man that looks sooooo delicious! I am the same as you when it comes to veggies (even though i am a huge carnivore) and feel very fortunate that I actually love, crave and just naturally gravitate towards healthy food. Def gonna try this salad, thanks for sharing!

    xx Hélène
    www.FashionOverReason.com

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  6. Nelah, my mouth is salivating right now! It's like I can taste the lettuce, nuts, fruit and everything you put into it. Your pictures always exude BRILLIANT COLOR! I love it! Good for you in converting your husband to eat more salads. I know I do and I don't drench mine in dressing either. You want to taste everything in it. I love chef salads. You get your meat and veggies. I'll have to try this. Gorgeous post doll.
    http://www.averysweetblog.com/

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  7. Wow that looks so fresh and yummy Nelah! It's good that your husband finally came around to embracing the veggies since they're so good for health. I'm a part-time vegetarian now and my go to way to prepare veggies is to saute them with garlic. My mom says that I wouldn't eat veggies when I was a kid. Instead I loved fatty meat - good thing I got over that O_o

    Happy weekend!
    Rowena @ rolala loves

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  8. That little 'It's okay to go nuts' palette is shoo cute. Your story about finally getting your hubby into greens got me chuckling. I wish I was a healthy eater like you, it's not that it's just good for your health inside, but I think it always looks so much tastier and people look at you different for it. But I just can't pry myself away from cake! It's a vegetable dream of mine… Thanks for finding my blog by the way, and commenting. Just having a brief check out of your blog and it looks like something I might enjoy. Have a lovely day. Rosemary x

    rosemaryofelephants.blogspot.com

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  9. Hmm, that looks so yummy. I have to try it.


    http://theshortiesfashion.blogspot.co.uk/

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  10. That is one beautiful salad! I would so love the try the recipe. Good on you for adding more vegetables to your husband's diet...I have a problem with cholesterol myself and also load up on the greens

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  11. If anyone serves salad like this, I would definitely request for salad every day! I'm like you, I do not like salad dressing at all. If any, I like those Japanese sourish fruity dressing (ponzu) or vinaigrette. I do not like anything creamy and would rather have my salad naked. Also like you, there's something about nuts and fruits and avocado that makes me go nuts over. I like the variation in texture of crunchy (nuts), spongy (orange), firm (cranberries) and creamy (avocado) and also the fresh burst of a variety of taste. I really love this salad of yours featured here and it is just so easy to make.

    I'm glad to hear that your hubby is slowly beginning to eat more green and going the healthy way. If you tell me you tear watching him eat, I might just believe you. It's more of the inner happiness that beams right out which touches the heart rather than the tears of joy actually. I'm a meat lover but I cannot live w/o my greens too or I would feel really imbalanced. I'm also trying to get my hubby to eat more greens. Maybe when I get my own home, I would start making salads.

    Thank you for sharing this recipe!

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