Hey guys! Hope you all are having a great weekend! Well, I just looked in my gmail inbox and discovered that I was featured on Jenn the Leftover Queen’s Finest Foodies Friday, which is also featured on the Foodie BlogRoll!
Muchas gracias, Jenn!! I am honored :o)
Today, I want to share with you my love of big salads with LOTS of color. Yellow & red bell peppers, orange carrots, red tomatoes, dark green lettuce, bright green avocados, etc… We all know it is important to have a variety of veggies in different colors to nourish our body’s daily needs. We usually eat a big salad 2 or 3 times a week, but I usually try to have a good size bowl everyday. We also like to add a big scoop of lacto-fermented veggies (usually Cortido) on top to add more benefits and help us digest the raw fibers. So refreshing!
On a healthy note… A couple weeks ago I read an article from Dr. Mercola sharing the importance of eating good fats with tomatoes, but not just tomatoes… ALL your veggies too! I learned this a couple years back and since then I’ve always made sure to include good fats… olive oil, coconut oil and/or flax oil… in my salads. I don’t remember when was the last time I used commercially made salad dressing on my salads. I don’t enjoy those anymore as they are usually rancid, pasteurized, processed, contain soy and can have unhealthy ingredients. Even the organic ones on the grocery stores aren’t the greatest. I have grown to really enjoy a simple mixture of olive oil and raw apple cider vinegar with a pinch of sea salt on most of my salads, but I do enjoy making homemade dressings to have some variety. Making your own dressings is very frugal and easy… all you need is a good arm and fork OR a good blender to mix all the ingredients in 5 minutes flat!
Here I got a fun Mexican-style salad and a wonderful garlicky dressing with a kick of cilantro. The baby corn adds a sweet crunch along with the pumpkin seeds. I usually like to add dried fruit of some sort with my salads, but I didn’t really have anything on hand to go with this, but the avocado did a wonderful job of filling that void. Hmm… time to dig in!!
- MEXICAN FIESTA SALAD
- Red & green lettuce, chopped
- Carrots, sliced
- Red & yellow bell peppers, sliced
- Fresh baby corn, broken into chunks
- Handful cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- Avocado, sliced and scooped out
- Handful pumpkin seeds
- Goat cheese
- Cortido
- GARLIC CILANTRO DRESSING
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
- 2 Tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
- ¼ tsp. dried or fresh oregano
- 5-10 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
- Dash of chile powder
- Pinch of sea salt
- Pinch of stevia powder (optional)
- MEXICAN FIESTA SALAD:
- Toss all the veggies together in a big bowl. Top it with pumpkin seeds, goat cheese and Cortido.
- GARLIC CILANTRO DRESSING:
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and stir strongly with a fork. Pour over the salad and enjoy!
haleysuzanne says
Looks gorgeous! I love to make simple vinaigrettes. Usually I dress my salads with fresh squeezed lemon juice and olive oil, but sometimes I throw in a bit of mustard, some chopped shallot or garlic, and fresh herbs.
I also like to mince ginger and garlic, and whisk rice vinegar and peanut oil together, then drizzle in a little sesame oil, soy sauce and a big squirt of honey for a quick Asian vinaigrette.
Angie's Recipes says
The garlic herbal dressing sounds wonderful with all kinds of salad.
p.s. yes, you can use other beans, like red bean to make the maple syrup bean snacks.
Angie’s Recipes
My Little Space says
What a simple and healthy way of diet! Great post and beautiful pictures….and of coz, yummy yummy! he he….
Amy Green (Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free) says
Hi Mare – I found you via Jenn’s blog and figured that if she likes you, I would too. 🙂 Recognize your face from Foodbuzz – so it’s a small world after all, huh?
I recently made a dressing with buttermilk, basil, mint, and parsley – it was divine. Not quite mexican but I love it nonetheless.
Brie: Le Grand Fromage says
Looks amazing! I’ve rarely eaten salad dressing as they just taste awful to me, so my salads are usually dry. During my research on healthy, natural eating, I’ve also come to learn healthy fats are important, so I need to learn how to make my own dressing and this is a great way to start! 🙂
VeggieGirl says
Congratulations on your feature; and thank you for sharing this salad recipe!! Nice!!
Cookin' Canuck says
What a beautiful salad! I agree with adding a heart-healthy oil to a salad. I often dress my salad just with olive oil, though your dressing sounds wonderful.
Tasty Eats At Home says
I love salad and eat it nearly every day. This looks wonderful!
The Duo Dishes says
Looks really bright and healthy. The dressing sounds great! Yay for garlic.
Jessie says
congrats on the feature! that salad is truly a fiesta in a bowl. I love all of the colors in this dish and the garlic-cilantro dressing sounds so amazingggg!
JennDZ - The Leftover Queen says
De nada, Mare! 🙂 I love your blog, so I figured that other Foodie Blogrollers would too!
YUM! I love your salad. I really need to make your cortido soon, that just sounds so yummy! I agree, making your own dressings is not only easy, but FUN – you can make so many varieties and flavors.
Marillyn Beard says
Thank you everybody! Appreciate the dressing ideas!! I will be trying some of them :o)
Jenn- I nominated your blog on Foodbuzz :o)
Cajun Chef Ryan says
Garlic and cilantro are a certain marriage made in heaven and your salad is just so colorful too!
Thank you for sharing!
Cheers,
CCR =:~)
Debi (Table Talk) says
I share your passion for salads, and agree, avoid bottled dressing at all cost!
Love this colorful, flavor packed salad.
Marillyn Beard says
Cajun Chef Ryan – YES! Garlic and cilantro are the perfect couple :o) Thank you for commenting!