good eats: Chopped Veggie Salad

You're welcome. Let's just get that out of the way. Eww, sorry. That was a bit arrogant. I guess you might not like the following recipe, so I should just speak for myself when I say that it's both scrumptious and pretty to look at. This chopped veggie salad requires some chopping prep time - no kidding, but when it's all made, it lasts for the week. I took this concoction for lunch last week and paired it with 1.5-2 cups of strawberries. Because I'm now more informed, I will only be buying organic strawberries. The lower the fruit/veggie sits to the ground, and if it can't be peeled, the more pesticides it carries. Therefore, I'm switching to organic. In fact I've switched to pretty much everything organic.

The salad and fruit pairing definitely satiated my noon-time hunger. I recommend not dressing the salad until you portion out what you eat the day, otherwise, dressing ahead of time will turn the salad to mush.

This recipe, like some of the others I've posted, is much about your preference. If you want more salt, add more kalamata olives. If you prefer the taste of parsley over cilantro, then use parsley. If you don't like tomatoes so much, omit them. And certainly there are other ingredients you could add: garlic, kale, fennel, broccoli...the list goes on and on. Comprenden compadres?

Chopped Veggie Salad
2 zucchini cut lengthwise, then diced (don't peel)
1 cucumber, peeled, diced
1 small tub of grape or cherry tomatoes (I cut 'em in half)
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 handful of cilantro or parsley, or both!
1 handful of diced red onion
1 stalks green onion diced
1 handful of slivered almonds
Dill to taste (I use several shakes, as I love the taste of dill)
1 can rinsed, no-salt Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans for those of you on the other coast)
*I added the remainder of an undressed broccoli carrot slaw I had left*
**You could also add some crumbled feta cheese if you're not worried about keeping vegan**

Toss all ingredients together, store covered in the fridge. When you're ready to eat, serve yourself a portion and dress with a 2 to 1 ratio of white balsamic vinegar to lemon juice. I usually do 1-2 tbs. of vinegar and 1/2 to 1 tbs. lemon juice.

And it's that easy. Here's mine all prepared and portioned out for tomorrow's lunch in a glass container:

Yummy.