Happy Friday!  I know you are going to have a hard time believing this but… Here is another healthy salad.  I am on a new lifestyle kick and loving it.  This week has marked one of my best eating weeks in my life.  I have been really concentrating on eating real foods and watching the types of snacks and foods I am eating throughout the day.  And guess what?  I have not had take out at all in the past 7 days!

For this salad I went a little on the wild side with some of the ingredients but the results were astounding.  I noticed that I had one sweet potato left in the fridge and I was craving it – but I was unsure how to incorporate it in the salad.

I had often slow roasted them in the oven in thin slices so I thought… hmmm that would be a great idea.  Then I was browsing around the blogosphere and noticed Carrots N’ Cake had a similar idea.  Hers looked great so I thought I would give it a try.

Here are the results.

Ingredients

• Red leaf lettuce
• Sliced mango
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Roasted sweet potatoes
• Cinnamon
• Olive oil
• Honey

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Slice sweet potatoes thinly and toss with olive oil and cinnamon and bake for 20 minutes.  Then turn sweet potatoes over and reduce heat to 200 degrees and continue baking until crispness is reached.
3. Assemble lettuce, cucumber, carrot and mango.
4. Top with sweet potato slices and drizzle with honey.
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Initially baking the sweet potatoes at 400 degrees to brown them and begin to crisp them up is a great technique but be really careful they do not burn.  By lowering the temperature to 200 it removes some moisture and allows them to crisp without burning.

I hope you really like the salad as I was tickled pink with the flavor as I devoured the whole bowl full.

Can you ever eat too much salad? This is what I sometimes wonder.  Next week I think I am going to venture into adding some beans into my salad.  I am trying to eat more greens on a daily basis and cut down on my bread in take.  If I ever told you how much bread I consume on a daily basis ( all be it whole grain) you may go into cardiac arrest.

Alright  – I better head out and get some work done.  Have an amazing Friday and if you like the salad drop me a note.  I am always open for suggestions.  I will be back Monday with some writings, tips, and recipes on juicing.

Take care

zesty

Happy Friday and welcome to the closest day to the weekend you can get!  Whooo Hooo.  So as of late I have been trying to eat more salads in the middle of the day instead of sandwiches and other things for lunch.  Whether it is working on the waist line or not – we shall see!  Let’s just say I really do love salads but sometimes I get tired of the same ole dressings you see inside the fridge door so most of the time I just whip up my own.

It is nothing extravagant by any stretch just a simple vinaigrette.  Lately I have been obsessed with Balsamic Vinegar! I love it.  The tartness and the flavor in such a small amount is incredible.  Here is a simple salad I whipped up.

During the excitement of building the salad, I forgot to add the walnuts before snapping the pic…. my apologies

Ingredients

• Few handfuls of Leaf lettuce
• Grape Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Feta cheese
• Red peppers
• Cucumbers
• Toasted walnuts
• 1/3 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
• 1 Tsp. Dijon Mustard
• 1 Tsp. Garlic ( crushed)
• 3/4 Cup Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Chop and toss all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Over a medium dry saute pan, slowly roast the walnuts until toasted.
3. In liquid measure or small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper.  I also like to use a mason jar to add it all in and throw the lid on and shake it up.
4. Dress the salad
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Dress your salads just before serving to avoid wilting of the greens and causing the salad to be soggy.  Also if you are adding nuts to the salad it is a nice idea to toast them before adding them to the salad for enhanced flavor.

So that is my salad!  No of course if you are interested in salads then the world is endless.  The varieties and possible ingredients go beyond what the mind can imagine.  If you want to participate in a Salad Challenge – go check this out.  RhodeyGirlTests is hosting a “I LOVE SALAD” Challenge.  I think I should check it out.

Question of the day: Favorite Dressing

What is your favorite dressing?  Does it depend on the greens, vegetables, or do you have a staple that you go to every time?

I am off for now but back again on Monday.  Zesty will be performing super dad duties all weekend as Mrs. Zesty is off for a girls weekend of running and shopping.  Have a great weekend.

Take care

zesty