Mondays are always busy, aren’t they? Each year when I’m figuring out extra curricular activities for my girls I make sure to NOT schedule anything on Mondays. I usually spend the entire day catching up from the weekend – cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and food prep. Now you all know I’m not much of a chef, but I do like to have healthy snacks washed and cut and ready to go in my fridge (and not so healthy snacks organized and ready to go in my pantry – ha!). ;) Most Mondays after a trip to the grocery store I wash all of the produce, cut everything up and place it in clear containers. Most Mondays I also put together this:
I wash the lettuce and put it in my lettuce crisper so it’s ready to go for salads and sandwiches throughout the week. Then I cut up vegetables. Usually carrots, celery, cucumbers and whatever else I have on hand. I put the veggies in a plastic container so they are ready to go for the week. The salad dressing I make is a recipe from my ultra healthy friend Koni. (I’ve shared this recipe before.) Supposedly it’s the “good kind of fat.” Bonus. All I know is that it makes the vegetables taste really good.
Salad Dressing:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil (I hear this combo and start thinking of Macaroni Grill and their bread and my mouth starts watering!)
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
2 minced garlic bulbs
Shake well and keep in cupboard (don’t refrigerate!)
Because of a little prep work on Monday, it’s easy to whip up a quick, healthy lunch or snack. Now I have veggies washed and ready to go to give to my kids after school (usually with something like crackers and cheese) and for me, I pile everything on a whole wheat tortilla. I always add my oven roasted almond slices (love them) and then the dressing. It’s seriously so good. And if I eat a healthy breakfast and this for lunch, I feel like I don’t have to be as strict with dinner. Although sometimes I try to pass this salad tortilla off as dinner when I’m not in the mood to cook. Which is most nights. It never flies. Kenny calls it “rabbit food” and just makes himself a bowl of cereal. So I go back to just eating it for lunch. But it sure makes a good lunch! Or snack. So that is why I’m sharing it with all of you.
Enjoy my fellow rabbits! And have a nice day. :)
xoxo, Erin
I pre-chop my veggies too, makes it so much more likely that I’ll use them in the week!
Just wondering if you know why the dressing shouldn’t go in the fridge? I make a variation on this a lot, but have always kept it there. Am I ruining the flavor?
LOL, Rabbit food is what my husband calls my food choices also LOL! But thanks for that share, looks yummy :)
I need to start doing this! It would probably help us snack healthier as well!
Looks super yummy! Thanks for sharing the salad dressing recipe.
Thanks for the idea of chopping up the veggies and having them ready to go in the fridge. I have never thought about that but now I am going to start doing that.
The salad looks yummy
How long is the dressing good for once prepared? Looks delicious!
This looks yummy! Thanks for sharing! ~gina
Just add some grilled chicken to it and then Kenny can’t call it rabbit food and you’ve added a protein to it.
Thanks everyone! To answer a few questions: if you put the dressing in the fridge the oil will change to a solid and that doesn’t make for a very good salad dressing. :) As far as how long it’s good for once it’s prepared – a long time! I think oil shelf life is around a year – I usually use mine for about a month and then make a fresh jar full.
Genius idea to keep that dressing out of the fridge! I have made something similar and hated how it solidified after getting cold . Didn’t know I could leave it out.
Sounds yummy! Glad my husband isn’t the only one who reverts to eating cereal for dinner. Makes is easier for me ;) And then he is greeted with, “What are you, seven?!”
I really *don’t* want to be a “Debbie Downer” but I don’t think it’s safe to leave a vinagrette such as this, unrefrigerated. There is a risk of botulism contamination from the addition of the garlic and herbs. Just my 2 cents! The recipe looks yummo-delish!
That salad looks EXACTLY like the salad on the almond bag!! Wow