Food Friday Salade Composee

I really hate making lunch. Breakfast, ok, I am half asleep and working on automatic. Dinner, great, I can be creative and it is a good change from the work I have been doing all day. But lunch is annoying. If I am working at home that day, it seems I have just cleaned up from breakfast and gotten settled and I have to stop what I am doing, interrupting the flow. Or, if I pack it in the morning, it is a struggle to think about what I will want to eat later, especially since I don’t like sandwiches. Leftovers are the easiest lunches, but my favorite solution to the lunch dilemma is what the French call Salade Composee:  salad greens combined with a protein, some veggies, possibly some fruit or cheese, and dressed with a simple vinaigrette.

It is very straight forward, and many of you have probably already been doing this (and if so, why didn’t you let me in on the secret?) but in case you haven’t been, here are my suggestions for easy, varied and delicious lunch salads.

I make sure I always have a big container of salad greens in the fridge. Sometimes I rinse them, but if they are fresh enough and the bag says “triple washed” I often chose to trust they are clean. I put a couple of handfuls in my bowl or lunch container. Then, depending on what my taste buds are asking for, I add a small handful of crunchy veggies, a few slices of avocado, a portion of canned fish or leftover meat, and a sprinkling of nuts, fruit or cheese. Speaking of canned fish, don’t be afraid of sardines! I love them. My friend Debra at Blue Raven Wellness led me to this great article about them.

For both taste and ease of preparation, I keep the dressing simple. Since I don’t like bottled dressing, I usually sprinkle the salad with salt, pepper, thyme or dill, garlic, a tablespoon or two of olive oil and about a tsp or two of either lemon juice or vinegar (rice wine vinegar, red wine vinegar or balsalmic). If you have a favorite dressing recipe, make it up in advance and keep it handy in the fridge. Feel free to share your recipes in the comments below!

I like lots of textures and flavors in my salad, and mixing and matching different ingredients keeps me from getting bored. To make this easy, here is a list of ingredients to keep on hand. Print this out, stick it on your refrigerator, and lunch will never be annoying again.

CHOSE ONE OR MORE FROM EACH CATEGORY

These are just suggestions to get you going. The possibilities are endless.

Greens

Baby spinach

Arugla

Romaine

Butter lettuce

Watercress

Accent Veggies

Shredded or chopped:

• cabbage
• carrots
• broccoli
• zucchini
• jicama

Artichoke hearts

Hearts of palm (Trader Joes has good prices on these)

Tomatoes

Onions/scallions

Avocado (these go on almost every salad I make)

Steamed asparagus

Protein

Canned tuna, salmon, sardines, anchovies

Hardboiled egg

Baked or grilled leftover chicken

Sliced leftover steak

Flaked leftover fish

Smoked salmon

Beans, if you are not on a Paleo diet

Nuts

Toasted, candied or raw:

• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Macadamias

Pumpkin seeds

Flax sees

Chia seeds

Sunflower seeds

Cheese

Cheddar

Feta

goat cheese

Fruit

Chopped:

• apple
• pear
• mango
• oranges
• peaches
• strawberries
• papaya
• grapefruit

fresh blueberries

dried cranberries