I made this quinoa salad today with some leftover cooked quinoa. I planned to make a Caprese style salad and, in a spontaneous moment, added some lox. It pays to experiment sometimes. It turned out very well.
Here are three of my recent healthy lunches that might inspire you to do your own version. Two salads listed here are almost “recipes,” but I won’t call them recipes, because the measurements are more to taste than precise, and I used store bought bottled dressings. You can certainly use any of these as inspiration for a healthy and tasty lunch.
I often like to assemble salads on individual plates/bowls rather than in a big bowl. It makes for a nice presentation, but it also helps to make sure everyone gets an adequate amount of the good stuff and the right amount of dressing, neither skimping nor drowning it too much.
1.) Berry, Fig and Clementine Mesclun Salad
Berry, Fig and Clementine Mesclun Salad
Ingredients:
mesclun, rinsed and spun
blueberries
raspberries
Black Mission figs, quartered
clementine sections
pecan halves
blue cheese crumbles
bottled poppy seed dressing (I used Brianna’s Home Style brand.)
This next salad was made with a “spicy greens mix” from our CSA. I don’t think I can tell you what was in the mix other than arugula.
2.) Berry, Feta, Arugula Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts
Berry, Feta, Arugula Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts
Ingredients:
arugula, rinsed and spun
raspberries
blueberries
cubed feta cheese
toasted pine nuts
bottled raspberry vinaigrette (I used Ken’s Light Options raspberry walnut vinaigrette.)
Hint: It’s easy to burn pine nuts or any nuts. I’ve done it. Now, I turn the heat off after two minutes, and it comes out well.
3.) Strawberry, Kiwi Cottage Cheese Plate
Ingredients:
Low fat cottage cheese, about a third of container per plate.
Strawberry slices from four or five strawberries
One sliced kiwi
Simple. You can arrange the fruit on top or stir them in. I liked to take a spoonful of fruit and then get a little scoop of cottage cheese on my spoon.
I hope this inspires you that healthy eating can be delicious too.