January 27, 2010: My Daily Salad

I've never been a big eater at lunchtime, especially during the week. For years it was a carton of yogurt sprinkled with wheat germ. These days, before I leave for work, I compose a colorful salad with ingredients that were gathered at that week's visit to the farmers' market. I start with a baby lettuce mix, sometimes adding wild arugula or frisee. The rest of the ingredients are dependent on the ebb and flow of the seasons in rhythm with Earth's orbit around the Sun. Here's what I added today: shredded purple cabbage, roasted beets, and slices of cucumber (not first-class, I must admit), and slices of sweet carrot. Before it's time to dig in, I drizzle the salad with olive oil (or flax seed oil) and Bragg's amino acids and sprinkle it with my toasted seed mixture (all from the stash I keep at work). With summer on the distant horizon, I look forward to a reunion with its succulent heirloom tomatoes, rosy bell peppers, sweet corn, zesty basil, and crunchy-crisp cucumbers.

The health benefits of the fresh vegetables, especially locally grown, cannot be overlooked. The brilliant diversity of colors, alone, represents a wide variety of nutrients that I seriously doubt you will find in a convenience or fast-food sandwich. (I often get comments from co-workers on how gorgeous my salads look. It's all because of the amazing palette of Nature's colors.) Whenever I add a meat, it is something I've cooked myself, like grilled chicken. If I add a cheese, it's not a commercially processed product that's filled with additives, but a naturally made cheese, such as shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano or crumbled feta. I don't use bottled dressings; it's so easy to make a vinaigrette or to drizzle olive or flax seed oil and Bragg's (or apple cider vinegar or lemon juice or seasoned rice wine vinegar). Keep it fresh; keep it local; keep it free from chemical additives; keep it homemade; keep it simple. Your salad will help keep you healthy.

MY DAILY SALAD

Baby lettuce mix or torn leaves from other varieties, such as romaine, butter or red leaf
Fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits, such heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, jicama, corn, cabbage, spinach, apples, pears, orange segments, roasted beets, red onion, et cetera
Fresh herbs, such as basil, dill, cilantro, garlic, et cetera
Oil, such as extra virgin olive oil, flax seed oil
Vinegar, such as apple cider, balsamic or seasoned rice wine vinegar OR Bragg's amino acids
Karen's Salad Topping (toasted pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds) or toasted nuts
Meat, such as grilled chicken or flank steak, optional
Cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano or feta, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper, as desired

Dive in! These are your ingredients. Your salad bowl is your blank canvas. Be creative (and colorful!). You can't go wrong.