Every-Veggie Salad

Every veggie under the sun seemed to be in my lunchtime salad!

Veggie Overload

• Spinach
• Broccoli Florets and Broccoli Slaw
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Zucchini
• Mushrooms
• Green Pepper
• Celery
• Morningstar Farms Asian Veggie Patty

Phew! That’s a whole lotta produce (& one tasty veggie patty).

We had a variety of vegetables on hand from our homemade chicken soup on Saturday, so I took advantage of the fresh and nutritious options.

Big Ol' Salad

All Shook Up

Though I loved the two runs to McDonald’s for pumpkin milkshakes and the trip to Jeremiah’s for ice cream this weekend, my vegetable intake definitely fell to the wayside, and my body is happy to have some nutritious food to digest!

14%

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 14 percent of American adults eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Health experts recommend five servings of fruits and veggies a day.

I try to sneak fruits and veggies into my main meals, such as today’s lunch… a big fat BBQ chicken salad!

Veggified

Many people find other foods more convenient and easier to eat, allowing fresh fruits and vegetables to fall to the wayside. It’s easy to grab a granola bar, pour a bowl of cereal or cook up some pasta.

Chopping, roasting or sauteing veggies seems like work! To me, the extra effort is worth it, and doesn’t really feel like work at all anymore. Sure dicing up the veggies for my salad wasn’t amazingly fun, but with Ryan in the kitchen quizzing me on questions out of the 1,000 Questions to Ask Before You Get Married book (a lovely gift from my friend Laurel), it didn’t seem so bad.

I like to incorporate veggies into my meal staples… adding strawberries or fresh fruit to my Greek yogurt enhances my morning breakfast. Adding tomato slices, spinach or broccoli slaw to a pita pocket or wrap makes my lunch more filling. Enjoying roasted brussels sprouts, spaghetti squash or steamed green beans adds beautiful color and taste to my evening meal.

Today’s salad was full o’ veggies! I topped a bed of broccoli slaw and fresh spinach with diced carrots, celery, plum tomato and leftover BBQ chicken from last night’s dinner.

Gettin' My Servings

The serving size for most fruits and veggies is a half of a cup (or a piece of fruit), or one cup for leafy greens such as spinach or lettuce.

This salad probably contained almost a full day’s worth of veggies! I had two cups of broccoli slaw as the base for the salad and with all the other veggies as my toppings, hitting the recommended serving of veggies wasn’t too hard.

My salad was topped my salad with balsamic vinegar (love this stuff) and I shook it up so everything was evenly dispersed.

All Dressed Up

I love a good veggie-full feeling. There’s just something about knowing your belly is full of fresh, healthy and nutrient-rich foods.

Don’t worry, I didn’t neglect my fruits today.

I added some fruit toppers to my mid-morning Greek yogurt snack.

Fruity Greek Yogurt

I topped the thick yogurt with strawberries, Brothers-All-Natural apple crisps, honey ‘n’ flax Pumpkorn and slivered almonds.

Apple Crisps

Tasty!

Also, in case you were wondering, Washington, D.C. residents apparently eat the most servings of fruits and veggies while poor Mississippi ranked last for produce consumption. Eek!

Question: What are your favorite ways for sneaking fruits and veggies into your diet?

Cheeseburger (Pizza) in Paradise

With lean ground beef leftover from last night’s dinner and a boyfriend who is a self-proclaimed “meat man,” I wanted to find a way to incorporate the beef into tonight’s dinner but avoid having burgers again. I am a big pizza fan and with a package of Joseph’s lavash bread sittin’ comfy in my fridge, I figured I could use the bread as crust for a cheeseburger pizza that would satisfy both Ryan’s love for meat and my love for pizza.

I began by gathering all the necessary ingredients.

All the Goods

I rounded up Joseph’s lavash bread, ketchup, pickles, relish, mustard, light Miracle Whip, a plum tomato, light mozzarella cheese, lettuce and lean ground beef and was ready to begin!

First I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and sprayed a cookie sheet with cooking spray before placing the lavash bread on top.

Lavash Pizza Crust

I then mixed a little more than 3 tbsp. of light Miracle Whip (mayo will also work fine) with 2 tbsp. ketchup and a big ol’ squirt of mustard to make the pizza sauce. The mixture kind of reminded me of Thousand Island dressing, but in a less-complicated way.

Mayo, Ketchup and Mustard

Stir Baby, Stir

I added relish to the mix as well.

With a Lil' Relish

I then popped the lavash crust into the oven to crisp a bit while I tended to the beef.

Lean Ground Beef Burgers

We had leftover burgers from last night, so I got to work crumbling them into burger bites!

Meaty!

After the lavash was warmed and slightly crisp, I pulled it out of the oven and smothered it with the sauce before topping it with the beef crumbles and a generous sprinkling of the light mozzarella cheese.

Saucy Pizza

Lots o' Burger

Gotta Love That Cheese

While this was baking, I sliced the plum tomato to place on the cheesy pizza once it was ready.

Lettuce and Tomato

The pizza was ready for the toppings once the cheese was ooey-gooey and melted.

Melted Cheese

I sprinkled the cheeseburger pizza with lettuce, tomato and pickle slices.

Topped Off

Pizza! Pizza!

I cut the pizza in half and split it between me and Ryan. The portions were nice and big.

My Slices

 We ate our pizza with a side of steamed green beans, broccoli and cauliflower. The cheeseburger goodness was definitely the highlight of the meal and I think our veggies may have felt a little left out. I didn’t even snap a proper picture of the poor greens. 😦

One More Time

This meal managed to satisfy two cravings in a healthy, tasty way! Hooray for cheeseburger pizza.

A Scrappy Lunch

Two things made my lunch quite scrappy today:

1. I used leftover rotisserie chicken scraps in my salad

2. I scrappily went to Subway to get a packet of salad dressing when I realized I forgot mine at home

Scrappy Salad

The kind Subway sandwich artist happily handed over the pack of Italian salad dressing for free which made my day a little brighter. 🙂

Fat Free Italian Salad Dressing... For Free!

I made my salad on a bead of broccoli slaw which I typically use instead of lettuce because it not only lasts longer, but also provides more nutrients than typical iceberg or romaine lettuce.

My Lunch

I topped the broccoli slaw with sliced zucchini, shreds of leftover rotisserie chicken, chopped plum tomato and cold previously steamed broccoli florets.

Lots of Veggies!

After pouring the packet of Italian dressing on the salad and shakin’ it up, I was ready to eat!

Ready for My Belly

My tummy is on veggie overload at the moment… 😉

It’s All Greek To Me

OPA!

I should probably start this post by saying I am not Greek (though likely my blonde hair and pale skin have already given me away) but I love all things Greek! Olives and olive oil, fresh bread, cheese (feta!), yogurt, eggplant… the list goes on and on.

After receiving my big package of fun foodie treats yesterday, I knew I had to incorporate one of Joseph’s pitas into my lunch today since I’ve heard fantastic things about them but have never actually tried the little buggers.

Joseph's Pita Bread

I’ve also been meaning to make tzatziki sauce with my Greek yogurt for ages and since the remainders of a big tub of the yogurt would likely go bad in the fridge when we’re outta town this weekend, I saw a wonderful opportunity to give it a go!

After a quick Google of typical tzatziki sauce ingredients, I rounded up the essentials (salt and pepper not pictured… sliced cucumber already in the container) and started creating my oh-so-Greek lunch.

Sauce Ingredients

I combined two big spoonfuls of Greek yogurt, approximately a teaspoon or two of garlic and lemon juice with finely diced cucumber slices and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Creamy

Last night when I was making the roasted veggie pizza for dinner, I chopped up extra veggies and tossed them with feta cheese to stuff inside my pita pocket.

Cucumber, Plum Tomato, Zucchini

Chopped Veggies

Lots and lots of feta!

Anything with Feta is Betta!

Before stuffing my pita, I spread the homemade tzatziki sauce inside.

Waiting for the Veggies

I then stuffed as many of the chopped veggies as I could inside the warmed pita bread.

Veggie Overload

This was one packed pita. I loved all the veggies and the creamy goodness of the tzatziki sauce really made the pita pop!