Relax Your Schedule With an Easy Refreshing Salad
A Quick Blurb
Nothing beats a simple meal at the end of a long day. But, what do you make/cook? The easiest, healthish, and most delicious meal I know of is a simple salad. My salad consists of a lettuce boy, accessible veggies like carrots or cucumbers, toppings, and dressing. However, you can create whatever you want! There are several different kinds of salads out there for you to try. Click the link to explore! Just throw some veggies together and devour. That is the best part about a salad. It lets you be loose in the kitchen.
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The Hardware and Software of the Recipe
Hardware:
- 8-inch Chief’s knife
- Giant plastic or wood cutting
- Salad Spinner
Software:
- 1 Romaine lettuce
- 10-15 Baby carrots (amounts depend on how much you like carrots!)
- 1-2 Celery stalks (amounts depend on how much you like celery!)
- 2 mini cucumbers (I like Aldi or Trader Joe’s for these!)
- 4-8 Raspberries and/or a handful of blueberries
- A handful of sunflower seeds (unsalted or salted is your choice!)
- A handful of pumpkin seeds (unsalted or salted is your choice!)
- 1/5 cup of crumbled feta cheese
- Salt & Pepper
- Your salad dressing of choice
*This is enough for two; but if ya feeling hungry, it is one mighty meal after a workout or long day!
Let’s Cook
Step 1: Cutting the Cheese, I Mean Lettuce
There is no specific order in how you make a salad. That said, I have found it to be faster if you cut the lettuce first. The first step is cutting the end or root off of the romaine lettuce. Usually, an 1-1.5 inch left from the end. I like bit-size squares for my lettuce. To do this, I have two initial lengthwise cuts. Lengthwise, cut the romaine lettuce like a hotdog. Turn it 180°, and cut again hotdog style. You have now quartered the lettuce lengthwise to make bite-size pieces. Lastly, cut across the lettuce from end to end. You now have many mighty bit-size pieces of lettuce!
Step 2: Spin My Lettuce Right Round
I go from time to time not washing my lettuce. I have ultimately decided it is likely best to wash it. Not does it remove dirt and sand, but also any leftover chemicals. The easiest way to wash, clean, and also drying the lettuce is using a salad spinner.
Based on my mood or how I feel, I like to either dunk the romaine in cold water or use the faucet water hose! Either way, it doesn’t make a big difference. Once you have washed off your lettuce, time to spin. It typically takes 3-5 spins to completely dry the lettuce.
Step 3: Carrots, Cucumbers, Celery Oh My
These three toppings are some of my and my future wife’s favorites. However, what is the best and fastest way to cut them? Starting with the celery and cucumbers, slice down the spine of the veggies. Then cut across into bite-size pieces. You can go about the carrots in a few ways. But, just like the romaine lettuce, celery, and cucumbers, we will cut the carrots in the same manner.
Step 4: The assemble
The assemble will go into these order:
- Lettuce down
- Season the lettuce with salt and pepper
- Next, add the veggies and scatter them evenly
- Top the salad with crumbled feta cheese, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and raspberries.
- Lastly, dress your salad
Step 5: Eat
Eat!
Salads Are Cost Effective
One of the best reasons to make salad is to save money. They are cost-effective because veggies go a long way in terms of value and volume. For example, take a stalk of celery. One stalk from Aldi is around $2.00, and for Christina and I this makes around 3 salads for us. Carrots cost $1.00 at Aldi. This makes around 3 salads for us. Romaine lettuce at Aldi is $3.00, and this makes 3 salads for us. I can go on, but if you are interested in the cost analysis breakdown, check out this link! But a note, the prices I pay at Aldi in PA could be different from what you pay. I used an estimate for how much they cost, so the price varies.
Thank you for reading!