Sassy Salads

Some days life is in fast forward and before you know it, it's dinnertime.  You want to provide your family a nutritious meal but the clock is ticking.  Before all the wheels fall off the bus and the masses start crying out "FEED ME",  you can rely on trusty salad night.  I know technically it is not really "cooking" but with summer hot on our heels, it is good to have a meal that you can prepare in a quick amount of time without having to heat up the house with the oven. 

Now it is important when you are serving a salad as a main dish to make sure it is big enough to curb the appetite of hungry eaters (aka husbands) but is customizable enough to satisfy the kids.  It is also a great way to clean out the fridge. A salad can have anything in it.  I guess ice-cream wouldn't really fit the bill, so almost anything.

We prefer to saute up some of the veggies- especially some onions and peppers.  This makes the onions a little less pungent so you can enjoy the many other flavors of your bowl of goodies.  I know, you may be thinking why not leave the onions out all together?  When they are cooked they are actually sweet and who doesn't like sweet?  Also onions have so many health benefits you just can't leave them out.  
I shred our carrots.  They were rainbow carrots which adds to the prettiness of the bowl.  I also used diced avocado, slices of grilled zucchini, crumbled feta, chick peas, some left over ground beef and freekeh (for the kids) on a bed of spinach leaves.  Everyone but Lana gets crumbled feta.  No milk or dairy allergy, we just avoid dairy (other than yogurt with all it's friendly bacteria) until our children are over 2 years old. 

Family of salads

Daddy/Dr. Brian's salad

Mommy/Dr. Denise's salad

 

Lana's salad-1 year 11 months

Archer's salad- 4 years 11 months

I use my personal Italian dressing recipe:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon organic cane sugar or honey (optional)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

 Now before you think your kids will not eat this, let me tell you-THEY WILL.  I have proof...

Going

Going

Going

 Not sure why we give her a fork?

Gone. 

How about Archer? What do you think of your salad Archer?

Can't talk... I'm eating.