Size Matters!!! Get Your Big Salad On.

As I was preparing my ginormous salad for lunch today, I thought - I wonder if any of my readers are making the mistake of not eating enough salad.  As I've mentioned, many of my friends and family are on the Gundry journey.  Early on, a few of us made the mistake of not putting enough greens in our salads.  In order to feel satisfied, you're going to need a lot of roughage.  It's not atypical for me to go through at least a half a bag of salad for one serving (depending on the size of the bag).  I'm talking eating your lunch out of a mixing bowl size salads.  So, if you've been torturing yourself with a lunch that fits on a salad plate - suffer no longer.  Also, you don't need to skimp on the dressing.   You should be mindful of the condiments you use, but you don't need to deprive yourself of a well-dressed salad.  And lastly, make you salads interesting - load them up with your favorite veggies.  They're "free" after all.  

Eating at my desk at work - this huge salad has bell pepper, broccoli, roasted Brussels sprouts, green beans and pepperoncinis with a few halved boccacini (small, fresh, mozzarella balls) and pecans for protein.

Some of our favorite salad mixings include:

Lightly steamed and chopped french green beans (haricot vert)
Lightly steamed broccoli

Sliced radishes

Chopped or julienned bell pepper

Thinly sliced fennel

Thinly sliced red onion

Hearts of palm

Artichoke hearts

Mushrooms

Pepperoncinis
Leftover roasted veggies (like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts)

Getting my lunch packed for work - I've got a little more than half a bag of salad and a large tupperware of  mixings.

I work with my dad, so I get to see his salads everyday too.  His bowl is even bigger than mine.  He loves adding capers and pickles to his salads.  

Here are some protein ideas too:

Chopped hard-boiled egg

Sliced deli meat such as turkey or ham

Chopped chicken

Smoked Salmon

Feta cheese 

Nuts (toasted pecans are my mom's favorite)
Leftovers from the night before (roasted chicken, sausage, steak)

I often chop and prep at the beginning of the week and store salad fixings in tupperware in the frige.  Everyday before work, I throw greens in one container (or just bring the bag), fixings in another and bring a small container (recycled spice jar) of homemade dressing. 

Speaking of homemade dressing, I usually just mix together extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a large glass jar and use it throughout the week for salad dressing.  You can try the recipe here or experiment with making your own dressing.  Max likes a lot of mustard in his dressing, I prefer less.  Sometimes I use apple cider vinegar, sometimes red wine.  But maybe you prefer balsamic.  If I'm feeling especially lazy, I simply drizzle my salad with a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Every once in a while I make homemade Caesar (there's a recipe for a Gundry-friendly version at the bottom of this post.) There is no magic formula, but it's worth it to find one that works for you.  Making dressing at home saves you from hidden sugar and preservatives found in store bought dressings.