Salad Story

We want to eat a salad every day at the Microcosm.  That can sometimes be a drag as salad construction is often labor-intensive, with all the chopping, washing and assembling required.  One of our favorite easy combinations, is romaine and orange.  We take a head of romaine, slicing from the top in one inch increments, using about a half a head per day.  The leaves are washed and spun dry.

This salad is garnished with fresh orange wedges.  The peel is cut off and then the fruit is cut in quarters.  Each quarter is cut in three.  This means each serving contains approximately a half an orange.  Sometimes we have a tangerine instead -- providing one per person.  That's a lot easier than cutting off the peel and slicing a regular orange!

Dressing is better made fresh -- fewer fillers and ingredients, generally lower in sodium and sugar.  With a continual supply of citrus fruits, it's easy to make.  We'll squeeze three lemons and one orange and add spices.  The ratio is equal parts EVOO to juice.  Sometimes we'll add in garlic of chopped walnuts.  We do buy an all-natural lemon & poppy seed dressing.  A small portion of that is added to the home prepared stuff.  There are emulsifiers in the store-bought version that we don't like to eat a whole lot of, but it helps in the scratch version to keep the oil from getting too separated/solidified in the fridge.  The quick solution to loosen up the oil, is to run under warm tap water, then give a good shake!

 This is a super yummy and refreshing start to any meal.  Whipping up one of these salads takes about five minutes. 

When you're eating an entre full of veggies, we don't think it's necessary to spend a lot of time filling up a salad with extra ingredients.  This solution is easy -- and delicious and hopefully you'll try it!