7 Days of Salads
Last year around this time I had no clue that 2022 was going to be my snap back year. During my pregnancy I gained 50 pounds. 50 pounds I have never carried before. During my first pregnancy with my son I was 24. I only gained about 35 pounds. Once he was born those pounds fell off with no effort. I didn’t make any drastic changes in my diet, I didn’t stick to Kanye’s workout plan. I just looked up and was back to my itty bitty self.
This time was much different. It’s been 10 weeks and when I look in the mirror I’m in my head singing, Who’s that girl by Eve. Taking notice to the extra round in my face and rump. Not that there’s anything wrong with the way I look. I just know how I desire to feel. So, the first step for me is tapping into my Issa Dee spirit and speaking with myself directly. Remembering to remind myself of how good I look when I’m in the mirror. Even if, there are somethings I am working toward enhancing. I have become committed to Loving the way I look, regardless. Next, its time for action. The pressure of social media and society as a whole can make women feel inferior of each other. From there creating these unrealistic goals. Doing this can be discouraging to the movement. We don’t have to take huge steps to start. We feel that at the top of the year we have to make big bold choices. And it’s true in order to change our lives. At the same time, if we become satisfied with making a small bold choice to commit to being in the present and being ok with it we can go a long way. Long story, short I decided to start this year taking baby steps.
For the next 7 days I challenge myself and you to make 1 salad a day either for lunch or dinner. The reason being, Raw veggies have everything we need as far as nutrients. We eat to live! This is a stride forward. being sure to add raw veggies to any meal helps. It’s the perfect start to a huge bold change. I’m not saying make this the only thing I eat but consciously eat raw veggies for 7 days.
Below are a a few of my favorite salads to make.
Monday
Simple Butter Lettuce and Chickpea Salad
Butter Lettuce
Spinach
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Carrots
Croutons
The fact that I decided to start my week off with a chickpea salad should come as no surprise. Y’all know I love chickpeas! They are so versatile. I can make them taste like whatever I want. But anyway, this salad is so simple. I used multi purpose seasoning and sautéed the chickpeas in grape seed oil. There was some leftover butter lettuce in the fridge I used. Chopped Spinach. From there, I just used the typical house salad ingredients. Tomatoes, chopped carrots, cucumbers and croutons. Top the salad with the sautéed chickpeas. With this type of salad you can use whatever dressing you like. The dressing can compliment the salad however you want. I think I used a balsamic vingarette. This is the perfect side salad or light lunch!
Tuesday
Taco Tuesday Taco Salad
Taco Tuesday is always my favorite day of the week! Since moving to LA I feel like the taco queen. My favorite thing about taco Tuesday is that there are so many different ways to create and eat a taco. I love it! Another great thing is that when made with a certain intention, it can be a pretty nutrient rich meal. The beans and meat choices come with the much need protein and iron. Plus, the raw veggies, giving nutrients. Together absorbing into your blood. See, Tacos hit me on a metaphysical level. The intent behind 7 days of Salad and this taco salad is to make healthier choices.
Black Beans
Cauliflower
Taco seasoning
Black Olives
Tomatoes
Purple onion
Corn
Butter Lettuce
Spinach
Cilantro
Ground Cumin
Ground Garlic
Multipurpose seasoning
So first things first, sautée our Cauliflower rice. Start off by adding oil to your small pan. Make sure there’s enough oil so that every pice of Cauliflour is sautéed into the oil. This will help to avoid any of the cauliflower from sticking to the pan. Next, add your seasonings, including the taco seasoning. Then, add water. Keep it uncovered. Be sure not to add too much water. Stay close by to stir as the water starts to cook out of the rice shavings. Once all the water is cooked , do a texture check. Making sure it hasn’t overcooked and become mushy. After that’s all done, let it cool a bit. Throw the rest of you ingredients in a big ole bowl and there you have it. Easy Day 2 Taco Tuesday Taco salad.
I topped this salad with a Chipotle Ranch, I think next time I want to try and avocado dressing.
Wednesday
Lions Mane Mushroom Salad
This Recipe was completely inspired by Momma Tab. (Tabitha Brown) While I was pregnant and off the wagon one of my friends sent me a video with the message “This made me think of you” I watched. It was Momma Tab using her WOK for the first time. She decided to use Lions Mane Mushroom in a salad. It was a quick recipe and of course highly entertaining. After it was over, 3 things had happened. Number 1, I was ready to get back in my kitchen, 2, I definitely had plans on trying Lions Mane Mushroom and 3, I’m obviously giving off the right vibe if this video made her think of me. I didn’t copy her recipe to the tee, I didn’t copy her recipe at all really, so if you want a different version, check her out. Making this salad was fun because I love using new ingredients. I think we should all add something new to our diets every so often. If you can’t find Lions Mane mushrooms, try this recipe with any mushroom and I’m sure it’ll be a treat.
Lions Mane Mushroom
Green onion
Sweet peppers
Olive Oil
Green Goodness seasoning
Ajika Georgian Seasoning
Black Pepper
Natures Seasoning
Old Bay
Dandelion Leaves
Spinach Leaves
Tomatoes
Carrots
Start by sautéing the mushrooms in oil. Pour enough oil to have enough left over at the end to pour over your salad. Once mushrooms start to sweat, add in green onions and sweet peppers. Stir and sauté until the mushrooms and veggies are sweaty but not over cooked. (Wanna keep in the nutrients) Add in seasonings. Next, Cut up greens and veggies add them to a bowl. Season the veggies with a little pink salt. Top salad with sautéed Mushrooms and cooked veggies. Use the remaining oil in the pan as a dressing. Then enjoy!!
Thursday
Sweet and salty, Warm and cool
I’m not even going to lie, sometimes I go in the kitchen and just start throw stuff together. I pour my wine, take a sip, open and close a couple cabinets then think to myself, “What sounds good?” No, actually I think, “What do I have in here?” It seems like I develop the best recipes when there’s slim pickings. That’s probably because of the way I grew up. My mom was not a snack, frozen quick meal type of mom. It was always food in the house to cook and make a whole meal if you wanted to eat. That’s also is probably why I like cooking. Going in the kitchen putting different flavors together then enjoying what you came up with. It’s my past time. With that being said, it makes sense that I developed one of my favorite salad recipes this way.
Brussel Sprout
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Baked or Air fried protein
Carrots
Balsamic dressing
Purple Kale
Dinosaur Kale
Start this recipe off by baking the Brussel sprouts. Cut them in halves, drizzle your choice of oil over. Make sure that all the mini cabbages have oil on them. It’s prevents them from drying out as they cook. Next, I like to add a little salt and pepper. Then some balsamic vinaigrette. Do the same thing to the carrots adding just a sprinkle of brown sugar. Bake at 350 for and 15 - 20 minutes.. Whenever I make any salad featuring raw Kale, the first thing to do is rinse and massage the leaves. Doing this makes it easier to chew digest.The kale should be less fluffy. This also makes the kale less dens, making room for more salad additions. Add the rest of your cold ingredients to you salad bowl. Lastly, for the protein, I used shrimp. Season them with lemon pepper, a few pinches of pink salt, pepper, and Tajin seasoning. (For a little crunch, Sprinkle them over with some seasoned flour) Be sure that all the hot ingredients have cooled to warm before adding them to the salad bowl. This is the type of salad I put a baked potato on the side of and make for dinner. Then have the rest for lunch the next day. It really gives sweet and salty to the palette. Enjoy!
The Lions Mane Mushrooms are so good for this recipe because of how meaty the texture is. It’s giving shrimp/fish vibes maybe even chicken. Or if you’re anything like me and love mushrooms. It’s a good shroom. Super flavorful! I found Lions Mane at a local farmers Market.