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EASY-PEASY PERSONALIZED CHOICE SALAD AT THE VINAIGRETTE

A healthy salad for these easy-going lazy days.

By Maria AdukePublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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The personalized choice salad at the vinaigrette with shrimp, craisings, white rice, chia seeds, lentils, and other toppings.

In this quarantine times, when working from home is the new normal, when home-schooling your kids is part of the daily routine for some parents, cooking is transformed into a big challenge. The mornings are fill with to-do’s, time is short, and lunch’s options seems limited.

The healthy, quick, and delicious alternative I have found is to create the salad of my choice by using the salad’s kits packages I purchased in the stores, the ones that bring their own salad dressing and some seed and topping included but I give them a twist by adding and eliminating some other toppings that I found around my kitchen.

The only ingredients that I eliminate from the salad package is the dressing (my choice). I prefer to create my own homemade vinaigrette dressing to assure the healthiness of the salad and avoid bad fats, preservatives and other harmful ingredients that can be in the dressing package.

The list of toppings could be unlimited depending on the options that you have in your pantry or freezer. You can put into this salad pretty much anything to boost the nutrition and the flavor, making it to your own taste. This recipe is only a guide to spark your creativity!

This salad is great for vegans, vegetarians, pescatarian, meat lovers, because you have the freedom of choice in the topping you pick.

So, let your imagination run wild, using different vegetables, nuts, meets, fish, seeds, beans, oils, fruits, dry fruits, leaves and mixing all together into a bowl.

It is very cost effective, the salad packages in the stores are around $3.99 to $6.99 and they have small, medium and family packs that can feed from 3 to 10 people when you add other toppings that you already have.

I will recommend going shopping to be able to have at home all or most of the topping choices, so you can make one different salad every day to spice up these days.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: none

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:

(Notes that these toppings and the measurements are completely optional, you can pick as many as you like, as much as you want from each category in different days base in their availability in your house. It is your choice).

1 Medium package of mix salad leaves/vegetables of your choice.

1/3 cup of chop fruits. Choices: pears, mandarin oranges, baby tomatoes, pomegranate arils, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples, grapes, pineapple, mango or avocado (My favorites are avocado and apples) and… yes, avocado and tomatoes are fruits.

And/or

1/3 cup of dry fruits. Choices: cranberries, cherries, raisins, blueberries, mango (My favorite are the cranberries because add a touch of sweetness)

1/3 cup of smash or slice nuts. Choices: almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pistachios or pecans (My favorite almonds and walnuts).

1/2 cup of whole grains (cooked and room temperature). Choices: Couscous, Quinoa, Barley or Rice. (My favorite is Quinoa)

1 tablespoons of Seeds. Choices: Chia seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds and Flax seeds, which are very healthy but strong. If you decide to go for flax seeds, please add ½ tsp instead. (My favorites are Chia seeds).

¼ cup of shredded cheese. Choices: Goat cheese, Mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, cottage cheese. (No favorite for me… I’m lactose intolerance).

1/3 cup of vegetarian protein. Choices: Lentils, kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, tofu (My favorite garbanzo beans).

And/or

1/3 cup of seafood. Choices: can tuna, can pink salmon or small cooked shrimp. (My favorite is shrimp).

And/or

1/3 cup of Meat. Choices: smash can chicken, steak in small pieces, ham cubes, dry bacon bites.

THE DRESSING

¼ of Vinegar. Choices: Rice wine vinegar, White wine vinegar, Apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar (my favorite Apple cider vinegar)

½ cup of oil. Choices: extra virgin olive oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, safflower oil, walnut oil and virgin coconut oil unrefined, (My favorite is a mix of olive oil and coconut oil).

½ teaspoon of sea salt (preferable iodine salt).

OPTIONAL:

2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup of croutons.

2 hard-boiled eggs.

½ cup chop vegetables. Choices: beets, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, broccoli, onions, sweet peas, celery, mushrooms, olives, corn, red onions, asparagus.

DIRECTIONS:

Empty the package of mix salad leaves/vegetables in a big bowl.

Add to the mix the topping of your choice beginning with the pieces of fruits, the smashed or sliced nuts, the cooked whole grain at room temperature, the seeds, the dry fruits, the shredded cheese, the vegetarian protein and/or the seafood and/or the meat of your choice.

Add the dressing directly on top of the mix, the vinegar, the oil and the salt and mix all together.

Tip: All toppings can be bought already cut, cooked and cleaned, in cans or packs in the supermarkets, which makes the preparation easier and faster.

Make this salad part of your quarantine food choice because it is nutritional, personalized, easy to make, fast, can be different everyday by changing the toppings and the best of all it is delicious.

Easy peasy. Be creative. Be healthy!

recipe
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About the Creator

Maria Aduke

Dominican indie author, poet and folklorist. Visit my publications at https://quisqueyanapress.com/publicaciones-1. Donate to help me publish more books.

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