Recipe Gurl's Fave Lunch Salads

I eat one of these two salads for lunch almost every work day. They are so simple, healthy, and always filling, I created these by just experimenting to find healthier things to eat for lunch, when I was putting them together I wasn't sure if they would quite come together or not, but the tastes go together so well and it seems like whatever I'm craving for lunch, this always satisfies it.  It takes 10 minutes to throw together the night before work. You can put whatever dressing you want on them (believe it or not low fat ranch goes really well with the first one) or make this simple salad dressing that I've been using for a while and love, I've listed that below as well. This dressing goes well with any salad and I like that it's made from scratch, I feel like salad dressings have so many mystery ingredients that aren't good for you, at least when you make this dressing you know exactly what's going into it. I like using hard boiled egg as my protein for these salads but I think adding rotisserie chicken or even left over boneless pork chops would be good too. If you do like the idea of using hard boiled egg, just boil 5 of them on a Sunday and keep them in your fridge to throw on the salad the night before when you're preparing your lunch. Hard boiled eggs stay good in your fridge for 7 days. Sometimes I add bacon crumbles if I have it on a hand and I want a little more salt taste. There are no directions because you basically just add as little or as much of each ingredient as you want. I definitely use more spinach for the health factor and try to balance the toppings, you really don't need a lot of toppings because each one has a distinct taste. Definitely take it easy with the feta and craisins because their tastes are so strong and tart. I hope these salads become a staple for you as much as they have for me!

Staple Lunch Salad #1

Spinach

Craisins

Chopped walnuts

Hard boiled egg

Feta cheese

Staple Lunch Salad #2

Spinach

Chopped walnuts

Canned mandarin oranges (don't get the kind that comes in a sugary syrup, get the kind that comes in it's own natural juice)

Hard boiled egg

Feta Cheese

Homemade Salad Dressing:

Base:
1 tsp Dijon
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper


Start with 1 tsp of dijon and slowly whisk all of the other ingredients in. You can just use the base or add the additions; it depends on your taste.


I usually add one or all of these additions:
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fresh/dried parsley or dill
1 pressed garlic glove
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp parmigiana cheese
Taste and you can always adjust based on your taste, if you want it more sour add more vinegar, want milder add more olive oil, want creamier add mustard or cheese, want spicier add more mustard.


You can find this salad dressing recipe here