A Week of Salad -Monday

Hello faithful readers! There are probably only about two of you left. This is VBS week for us. That means that I don't have to cook dinner all week long because a team of people will be doing it for me at the church every night. I love that. I am busy enough with a million other details so I am thrilled that I don't have to think about it. It also means that there will be some things for dinner that I probably wouldn't normally eat and so I will try to eat very healthy for breakfast and lunch and make sure that I get lots of veggies in to both of those meals. I will eat some celery and nut butters with breakfast and perhaps salsa on my eggs and drink V8 at breakfast. The easiest way to do that for me at lunch though is a big salad. I thought it might be fun and get me actually posting again if I did some simple quick posts of the salads I am likely to eat everyday for lunch this week.

So here is Monday...................

Red leaf lettuce, left over rotisserie chicken, sliced mini cucumbers, chopped tomato, diced red onion, and half an avocado sliced up.

For the dressing I used my home made mustard vinaigrette. You know how much I hate to measure but here is a fairly good guess for you.

3 oz. olive oil

1 oz. white wine vinegar

2 large cloves garlic, pressed

2 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

You might have to add more honey, mustard, or vinegar to your taste.

Yummo! Loved the avocado on this salad.

I thought it might also be fun to have a VBS picture of the night. So here we go for Monday...............

Now you know why I have been too busy to blog or even cook much for that matter. This is a sea of excited children! We had a record 178 kids there last night. Monday night is usually our lowest night so I am anxious to see how the week progresses.

It was a super fun night!

Now I must hit the ground running for the day!

My Homemade Mustard Vinaigrette

You all know by now that I eat a lot of salad. I know you think I am crazy but it truly is one of my favorite foods. It is green. It is usually loaded up with veggies and it can be different all the time. I feel good and I feel full after I eat it. But one of the main reasons I like to eat it so much is the dressing. I suppose I should say we because I think Miles likes the dressing even more than me. He told me the other day that I could bottle this up and sell it. I know. Brownie points.

Several of you have asked about the kinds of dressing we use since we do eat leafy greens almost daily. I do have a few bottled dressings I like but I have found lately that we much prefer homemade and it is better for us anyhow. In fact I don't remember the last time I bought a bottle of dressing. (My sister just gasped and fell over in her chair. She probably has 14 bottles of dressing in her fridge right now and I am not even exaggerating.) With only 5 ingredients I can whip this up quick and feel great about it.

Here are the fab 5!

Honey, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, Dijon Mustard, and White Wine Vinegar.

Now there are a couple things I must mention. Buy this light tasting olive oil for dressings. It says it is best for sauteing, baking, and frying which is true but it is also best for dressings and dipping oils. I don't like a real strong olive oil taste overpowering all the other yummy ingredients. Also, not all Dijon mustards are created equally. Some are very spicy and I don't care for that either. Walmart's brand is both cheap and good and I can pronounce everything on the ingredient list.

              

When I make dressing I almost always use a container like this and I never measure. So you have to know that it pains me to have give you an actual recipe. I want you to just take those 5 ingredients and dump them in and give it a shake or a stir. I know so many of you can't do that but my brain just wants you too!!!!

So the other day I tried to measure for you. It hurt me I will have you know! The recipe I give you will make about the amount you see pictured here. This is plenty for Miles and me to have a large salad and still have some left over. Warning: it will occasionally solidify in the fridge if you do have leftovers. I just stick it in the microwave for about 10 seconds when I need it quickly.

However it is also great tossed all together in your salad.....

And rolled up inside that wrap like this.........

I used Joseph's Lavish Bread for the wraps that night and I didn't take a picture of it for some reason and now I am out! I love Lavish bread for a wrap. It is so big and filling for only 100 calories. I rolled it up and sliced it in two and served it with some pita chips and hummus and grapes on the side. 

I could seriously feed Miles anything if it was topped with this dressing he loves it so much. I love that it is simple, I always have the ingredients, and that it tastes so yummy. You can adjust the recipe to your tastes. Go easy on the mustard and vinegar if you don't like those stronger ingredients.

Keep in mind this is approximate because it was so painful for me to measure! (I guess I haven't had enough drama today.)

Mustard Vinaigrette

 3-4oz. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (4 oz. is half a cup)

1/8 cup White Wine Vinegar

1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

1 Tbsp. Honey

2 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced

Start with olive oil and add the rest of the ingredients in a bottle, jar, or salad dressing maker. Whisk together well and serve.

(Of course you should sample and add more mustard, honey, or vinegar according to taste. If you like it a little sweeter add more honey for sure.)

I must apologize for this relatively boring post but it was necessary to provide the info to the nagging people! Just kidding. I am happy to share. I hope you enjoy the dressing as much as we do and save yourself some dollars on the expensive salad dressings!