Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Back To Salad Days!!!


Because we need to stay healthy for these guys!!!  This is Xavier, 3 months old, first time in bouncer! Please do not note how desperately the closet door needs washing behind the baby. It's a little kid closet for dress-up clothes and yes... I'm getting the 409 RIGHT NOW.
After more coffee.  ;)

Oh my stars, how time flies!

So we know how to make a great salad base because we've DONE IT HERE

But the wedding I was at last week had a broccoli salad that was to die for.

All minced up.

With dressing.

No prep.

Just you... And the bowl.

Now this recipe called for lightly cooked broken ramen noodles. I'll leave them out and add sunflower seeds and broken almonds, but that's because I'm going low-carb.

And even tiny, tiny, itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny noodles have carbs.

I'm just sayin'!

So here we go:



2 Bags Broccoli slaw, chopped fine
1 head broccoli, chopped fine
1 small green apple (or a Cortland, you just want an apple that stays crisp) chopped with skin on
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup chopped almonds, raw or roasted
or:
1/3 cup peanuts (more or less to taste)

Think of this as trail mix without the M&M's, chocolate or butterscotch chips we throw in and pretend it's JUST AS HEALTHY, LOL!

So that's the basic salad. My friends go seasonal with it. At Christmas they add Craisins. (Delicious!)
Tiny pieces of Clementines have been known to find their way in!
A handful of raisins (think 1/3 cup) can be tossed in!
Crumpled crisp bacon.... Yum! 

Then this whole thing is tossed with a sweet vinaigrette (why do they spell it that way????) dressing, only...

I am careful to find either balsamic or raspberry dressings that are low-carb. I don't care about the oil.

Uh, uh.

It's those stinkin' carbs that make belly fat, muffin tops, leg rolls and cottage cheese thighs.

I did NOT show you pics of any of that.

You're welcome.  ;)

The fun part of this salad is that everything is pre-chopped and the flavors blend. And it is so satisfying.
I only use the apple in mine. Yes, there are carbs in a green apple, but those carbs are Ruthy-friendly because I can't go completely carb free.
Just ...  Low.

 


14 comments:

  1. Yum! How about some dried cherries? That's my new fave. You know, I have a broccoli slaw recipe somewhere. I remember it being very tasty. Looks like I need to go fish it out. In the meantime, I'll try yours, Ruthy.

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  2. Mmmm, this sounds wonderful!

    I get so tired of salads that consist of dressing on lettuce! I really need some crunch, I guess.

    I had a salad at a restaurant a couple weeks ago that had that satisfying crunch - the base was half a small head of romaine, then a bit of dressing and dressed up with almonds, bacon bits and something fruity - maybe craisins? I just remember it was delicious!

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  3. MINDY!!!! Honey, I had a search party out for you, chickie!

    Dried cherries would be awesome. They're high sugar, so I'll leave them off mine in favor of 8 Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips tonight.

    :)

    But yes, they'd be great, my friend!

    Jan, lettuce has become my non-salad. I think that's why I could never be satisfied in the past with salad diets because iceberg is mostly water and must like, instantly evaporate in your belly... I was constantly hungry. And you know that spells defeat for any lifestyle change. Now?

    This stuff just tastes darn good. And that's a huge plus for not eating an 8 oz. Symphony bar.

    With toffee chips, of course!

    :)

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  4. Oh, this sounds so good! I'd probably add cheese cubes. Cheese is one of my weaknesses! :)

    Cute photo, Ruthy!!

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  5. Missy - your comment reminded me - the other item on that restaurant salad was blue cheese.

    I think I know what I'm going to have to make for lunch, and I haven't even had breakfast yet!

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  6. Oooh, I love bleu cheese, Jan!

    I've had a wonderful salad that had fresh pears and crumbled bleu cheese. Very nice combo.

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  7. I tend to be very unimaginative when it comes to salads. Perhaps it's time to leap out of my comfort zone. I've never had apple in a salad before. Or seeds. I know, what kind of vegetarian am I? A boring one, that's what.

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  8. mmmm..this salad sounds good, I love fruit in my salad!

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  9. KAV!!!! Do it. You will be so happy that you will dance with joy and abandon for all to see.

    Umm...

    Do not do this naked, okay????

    It's an amazing difference. Missy, I've done pears and cheese in my regular salad base together. Oh, they're wonderful. I haven't tried the bleu cheese, though. I love bleu cheese so I'd probably love it.

    Melissa, welcome aboard! We pledged ourselves that we'd jump on the 'let's get 'er done' health bandwagon after New Years....

    So I've put all the extra M&M's in the freezer. And all easy snacks are out of sight, out of mind.

    Because spring will be here before we know it and strappy shoes???? ;)

    I love me some strappy shoes!

    (Obviously I'm a little goofy. I blame the scrambled eggs....)

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  10. Twitter is broken. I feel bad, like maybe we should do something to help.

    New bird seed, perhaps?

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  11. LOL. I hadn't heard that about Twitter. I'll have to head over to see what's going on.

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  12. Ruthy, youa re on the cutting edge of nutrition. Just saw on Dr. Oz today that sunflower seeds (and safflower oil) are belly fat busters. Have you thought of hosting your own show? LOL.

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  13. Hmmmm, my Twitter isn't broken. Maybe it's just people who are hopped up on scrambled eggs.

    This salad sounds delish, Ruthy. I had a Greek yogurt for lunch today because it's full of protein and I'm trying to up my calcium. Breakfast was a handful of almonds and an apple. Between the two, I wasn't really even hungry.
    Of course the loss of appetite may have had something to do with the news of lice in my class. Ugh.

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  14. LICE!!! Or dadgum, the wee beasties! :) I'm scratching thinking about it. Talk about a Pavlovian reaction, LOL!

    They fixed it, Mary. But the scrambled eggs DO HAVE that effect on things. They're powerful food. I know. I saw the commercials!!! ;)

    Kav, those seeds are AWESOME LITTLE THINGS!

    Yes, actually Ree and I are in talks for co-hosting but we won't do it unless Dr. Phil does the self-help part.

    See if you can convince him, okay?

    :)

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