Let's have a quick chat tonight. Specifically, let's talk about salads.
If you've been following along with me on Instagram (of course you are, why miss out on such wit?!), it's possible that you think I subsist on large slices of chocolate layer cake and cookie crumbs.
That is decidedly not the case. I do love a good dessert, and I do have a wicked sweet tooth.
Case in point: I only remember getting in trouble a few times when I was little. But I remember two of those times vividly. Once was for shoplifting chocolate from the bulk bins at the grocery store, then cleverly hiding it under my pillow so it melted for my parents to discover. Clearly I wasn't destined for a life of crime and subterfuge. The second was for sneaking tiny paper cups of granulated sugar and carrying them up to my room to eat, licking the crystals off my finger, when I was supposed to be napping. The floor under my bed was littered with crumpled cups and gritty with sugar.
So yes, I can eat my fair share of dessert. But to balance it all out, I make a lot of salads. As a general life philosophy, I think salads should be brimming with ingredients you love. They shouldn't ever be a compromise, or a filler course, or a sidebar to the main event of a meal.
Here are a few combinations I've been into lately. Please tell me yours, because I suffer from salad envy whenever I watch someone else order a custom one in front of me, and I love new inspiration:
- kale + pickled beets + goat cheese + pecans + balsamic vinaigrette
- romaine + baby spinach + torn basil + carrots + bean sprouts + crispy tofu + spicy miso dressing
- mixed greens + romaine + fresh mozzarella + cucumbers + hard-boiled egg + grilled chicken + ranch dressing made with Greek yogurt
- romaine + bacon + tomatoes + cucumbers + roasted chicken + Parmesan cheese + creamy Caesar dressing
- mixed greens + roasted sweet potatoes + chickpeas + avocado + tahini dressing
- kale + romaine + chickpeas + cucumbers + oil-packed tuna+ sundried tomatoes + balsamic vinegar + sea salt