Friday, January 28, 2011

Salad Bar Night

**Originally posted on my old cooking blog.

One of our family's favorite dinners growing up was when Mom would make a salad bar. Even my non-veggie eating brother would load up his plate with sliced eggs, ground beef or ham, cheese, chunks of pineapple and a few token leaves of lettuce for the salad effect.

When making a salad bar meal for your family, think about and take ideas from the salad bar at your favorite restaurant. Keep in mind that you don't have to have everything to have a good selection, but rather you can clean out your veggie bin this way, using up what you have!

I've made a list of different ideas to get the gray matter perking. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments!

Lettuce
( a big bowl or open a pre-washed bag)
-spinach
-a variety of dark leafy greens
-iceberg(if you like watery, colorless lettuce that has very little nutritional value!!!)
-fresh herbs can add some flavor to your lettuce bowl

Protein(1-3 of these)
-shredded cheese
-browned ground beef
-chopped ham
-crumbled bacon
-drained tuna
-grilled chicken
-sliced hard-boiled eggs
-drained and rinsed canned beans(garbanzos and kidney beans are good choices)

Veggies& Fruits(as many as you can stand!)
-sliced tomatoes
-sliced radishes
-green peppers
-cucumbers
-mushrooms
-onions
-shredded carrots
-sprouts
-thawed frozen peas
-sliced olives
-broccoli
-cauliflower
-sliced apples
-sliced strawberries
-pineapple

Toppings
-salad dressings of choice
-sunflower seeds
-chopped nuts
-raisins
-dried cranberries
-croutons

Sides(optional)
-cottage cheese
-jello
-prepared salads such as bean salad, potato salad, pasta salad
-muffins
-hot crusty bread, rolls, or breadsticks
-hot soup
-fruits

Arrange all salad toppings in a variety of little bowls or in sections on a platter. Use your creativity with this. Your kids will enjoy helping to prepare this meal as well as making their own salads. In fact, salad bar was the very first whole meal I prepared at the tender age of 9.:-)This yummy,healthful and fun meal definitely works for me!

No comments: