My second green smoothie attempt was with butter lettuce (with the same banana, strawberry, and water combo). The results were completely different this time. The flavor was definitely noticeable, but not easily identifiable. I thought it was fine the first time I had one, but not too exciting. So I was surprised when, the next day, I actually craved a lettuce-flavored smoothie. I seem to like them more each time I try them.

While I found the lettuce smoothies to be surprisingly pleasant, I’m not sure how often I’ll actually drink them. The greens were a bit of a challenge for my feeble blender, which is on its last legs. But I do appreciate having yet another way to enjoy getting my leafy greens.

Have you ever tried a green smoothie? What do you think?

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Green smoothies take over the world

A typical winter lunch for me: butter lettuce, arugula, castelfranco, tomatoes, cooked beets, canned chick peas, and jarred white asparagus. Dressed with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Nothing fancy, but still delicious.

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Lunch salad of the day: winter goodness

Look at this beautiful lettuce! It is known as castelfranco or white radicchio, and it’s my new favorite lettuce (well, at least now while it’s in season). Castelfranco is milder than red radicchio, and has only a hint of bitter taste which complements other lettuces so nicely. Plus it looks gorgeous in the salad bowl.

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Castelfranco makes my salads all elegant

I am burning through my garlic surplus like nobody’s business. Today’s lunch salad even featured the delicacy, coarsely chopped and sautéed with fake chicken, sliced baby potatoes (pre-boiled, left over from last night’s dinner), and some dried herbs. This combo topped my salad of green leaf lettuce, endive, yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and avocado. With that much flavor, the salad hardly needed dressing – just a splash of lemon juice, a sprinkle of flax seeds, and some salt and pepper did the trick nicely.

Speaking of salad, Almost Vegetarian has a post up all about luscious salad combinations. Anyone who says salads are boring needs to think again…

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Today’s lunch salad: mmmm… garlic!

Cucumbers are available year-round in most places, but there really is a difference if you get them fresh and local. They come in may different varieties, some of which are only available for a short time. Cucumbers lose water quickly, which is why they are often sold with a thick coating of wax (not the most pleasant thing in the world).

Cucumbers are lovely in salads, but they’re also good for a lot of other things. If you’re into pickling (or excited to try it for the first time), now’s the time to do it. I watched a demo recently, and was surprised at how easy it was. But my personal favorite thing to do with cukes is make tzatziki. This garlicy, cucumbery yoghurt makes a delicious addition to a summer meal, and is quite easy to make. I usually don’t follow a recipe, but there are plenty of them (such as this one ) on the web if you’ve never made it before. I’ve never tried it with soy yogurt, but I bet it would still taste heavenly.

Hat tip to Jack at Laughing Lemon for teaching me lots of fun facts about cucumbers.

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Cucumbers take over the world

I love preparing a salad from a well-stocked fridge. Today’s ingredients are two varieties of leaf lettuce, alfalfa and arugula sprouts, cucumbers, orange bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, hearts of palm, and red radishes, topped with sautéed tofu and mushrooms and a marinade/dressing of spiced rice wine vinegar, tamari soy sauce, hot chili sauce, crushed garlic, fresh grated ginger, sesame seeds, fresh cilantro and chopped fresh lemongrass.

There’s nothing like a meal that’s insanely delicious and insanely healthy all at the same time. Why is it that this combination seems so difficult to find when I eat in restaurants?

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Today’s lunch salad: marinated tofu bliss

This salad from the other day was so pretty I took a picture: mixed baby greens, yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, cucumber, and avocado. All fresh and completely delicious.

Tags: cooking, diet, food, healthy eating, salad, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, vegetarian dining

Post from: Blisstree

Mmmmmm…. salad

Today’s salad contained lamb’s breath lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red cabbage, cucumber, cooked beets, avocado, onion, and a sprinkling of flax seeds. I dressed it with some salt, fresh ground black pepper, white balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Not the absolute best tasting salad I’ve ever made, but it really wasn’t bad. Plus all those vibrant colors mean I’m getting a whole lot of nutrition in every bite.

What’s your favorite stuff to put in salad?

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How beautiful is my salad?

I even documented the ingredients, more or less, as I added them (something I always forget to do), so here you have it:
Jul’s creamy vegan ginger salad dressing

2 T sesame oil

3 T soy sauce

1 T lemon juice

1 clove garlic, pressed

2 T fresh ginger, grated with a microplane grater

2 T plain soy yogurt

1 t wasabi paste (less if you’re not into spicy)

approx. 1/2 cup soy milk or water

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Add more soy milk or water to reach desired consistency. All measurements are approximate – adjust anything you want to your taste. I also sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds on the salads – they went well with this dressing.

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Vegan Japanese-style dressing

It makes sense, doesn’t it? Fill up on bulky, healthy, low-calorie veggies at the beginning of a meal, and then you won’t be so ravenous when the more calorie-dense main dish comes around. What healthy eating strategies are you using to help along your New Year’s weight loss?

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Veggie weight-loss strategy: start with the right salad