Salad Obsession

Lacey, here!

One of the EASIEST ways to loose weight and get the most nutrients loaded into your meals is this simple phrase, which Dr. Fuhrman preaches in his book "Eat to Live"...

SALAD IS THE MAIN DISH!

Honestly, start lunch & dinner with a salad (some mornings I'll even eat one for breakfast if i can feel the craving for those greens).  And I mean a big salad. Load it up, make some great homemade dressing, and change it up every day. You'll come across some incredibly tasty variations that keep salad from getting boring. Then, once you make your "meal", you will consume far fewer calories than you would without the salad.

Here's one of Dr. Fuhrman's salads:




Not only will you fill up prior to eating something that may not be the best for you, but studies show that eating raw foods (like the kale, spinach, garlic, carrots, etc you put in your salad) aid in protecting our bodies from terrible things like cancer.

I love this page, which lists dozens of salads to choose from, just in case I run out of ideas.  What are you favorite homemade dressings?

Easy Greek Salad

So I've never been a big salad eater. And the salads I do love are just as unhealthy (cough Caesar Salad cough) as getting a crappy sandwich or pizza for lunch. I studied abroad in Athens, Greece when I was in college -- and besides it being the best choice I ever made in my college career, I also got a love for a healthy salad out of it.

In college, we always used to walk around the city and eat outside in the gallery of restaurants and cafe that line the sidewalks. I was shocked to see that their truly Greek salad did not contain any lettuce, but just tomatoes, cucumbers and some amazing Greek feta cheese.

I loved seeing the Acropolis every day on my way to class :)

I don't know why but I haven't made it in a while. I just did for lunch and it was SO EASY to make and hit the spot! My husband and I are headed to Greece for our 1 year wedding anniversary so this is the perfect pre-game.

This is a salad good enough for the Greek Gods:
Tomatoes - provide an excellent amount of vitamin C and beta-carotene, and a good amount of vitamin E. In terms of phytonutrients, tomatoes are basically off the chart. Reduced risk of heart disease is an area of health benefits in which tomatoes truly excel > antioxidant support and regulation of fats in the bloodstream.
Cucumbers - have three types of phytonutrients found in cucumbers provide us with valuable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer benefits
Olive Oil - lowers bad cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, reduced risk of cancer, protects from oxidative damage and it helps with cognitive function (dude I have got to add more olive oil into my diet!!)

Still can't believe I went to college in this wonderful city - so lucky

Simple Greek Salad Recipe:
- 1 tomato
- 1/2 cucumber
- Feta cheese
- Olive oil
> Dice up the tomato and cucumber (use as much as you want),  throw in feta with it and sprinkle some olive oil to mix it up

Fresh, tasty & brings me back to my Athens college glory days :)

This was so easy to make in the office and really refreshing to eat in the middle of the day. Heavier lunches tend to give me an end of the day crash, so this is a great lunch to depend on. I'm keeping olive oil at my desk and can grab a tomato and cucumber from a deli anytime I want to!

via

Keeping Lettuce Fresh

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There's nothing like buying 3 beautiful heads of fresh lettuce from the farmer's market, only to have them go bad prior to eating them all.  The advantage to buying from the farmer's market is the lettuce is recently picked (fresh), not loaded with chemicals (yummy), and fully grown so it's loaded with nutrients (healthy--store bought veggies are picked prior to full development).  The downfall is they do tend to get bad a bit sooner.

How do we prevent this?

1.  Fill sink with cold water. Place your separated leaves of lettuce in and move them around until some of the dirt has come off.  This is just a pre-rinse.  Also, if your lettuce is soft or limp, let the lettuce sit in the water for 20 minutes and the fresh cold water will make them crisp again!

2. Drain the water & refill a clean sink up with cold water and add about 1 cup of vinegar (or read this post for some other fruit & veggie washes). Dunk in the leaves & gently rub off the dirt. Place in a colander and let dry or put them in your lettuce spinner and spin like crazy until your leaves are dry.

The lettuce/washer/spinny thingy.  I LOVE this. Buy one. Now. 

2. Clean out one of your refrigerator drawers. Lay down your damp cheese cloth.  Damp, not dripping wet.  Too much moisture could actually speed up rotting. You ever see how the puddle of water in the bottom of your lettuce bag always seems to leave a big brown rotten spot? Yeah, you don't want that to happen.  If you don't have cheese cloth, just wet some paper towels, ring the excess water out and line the drawer. But honestly, you can buy some for $3 on amazon. No chemicals, no throwing out after each batch. Just one, washable, reusable, cloth.

With Cheese Cloth

This is what is looks like with paper towels.

3. Place your clean, chopped up (bite size) lettuce leaves in that drawer, but don't squish the leaves. Be gentle.  Fruits & veggies bruise, and when they do, it almost guarantees rotting.  No need to smash down your leaves to fit more veggies in the drawer. Gently place them in and give them room to breath.

4a. Fold over the excess fabric on top.

4b.  If you're using paper towels, place a damp paper towel on top.

5.  Be sure your drawer is nice and cool (place on cool & crisp setting).

What is so convenient about this is you now have a massive salad in your drawer and all you have to do it open it up, grab a handful, and put on your plate.  No cutting off just a little from a head of lettuce and then having to wash.  No plastic bags and pooling water to deal with.  It's quick and easy to make your salad now! No excuses not to eat one with dinner or pack one for lunch.  And you're lettuce will be fresh, crisp, and last longer than in that plastic bag.

What are your biggest challenges when it comes to packing healthy lunches? I'll address those issues in a post next week! Leave a comment below.

Here's to big salads and clean lettuce.
-Lacey