If you’ve been visiting the Broccoli Hut for a while, you’ll know that I’ve spent a large proportion of my life flouncing around the salad bar.

Remember, I even mourned the death of the salad bar’s inventor?

Despite all these years of experience, I am quite inept at getting the most value out of the salad bar—at least in terms of dollars and cents. I recently stumbled across this article from the New York Times on how to maximize your money when purchasing salad on a per-pound basis. According to the author, I am a salad bar failure:

1. The choice of lettuce. I usually choose my favorite baby spinach or mixed greens. I “should” be loading up on the pricier varieties such as mesclun or arugula.

2. The choice of dressing. While I often let my salads go “naked” (i.e., dressing-free), I’ve also been known to douse them with Balsamic vinegar—which translates to a lot of extra weight.

3. The veggie trap. Whenever I make a salad bar run with my dad, he inevitably reminds me to go easy on the water-logged (read: heavy) veggies. There have been a few too many incidents involving lots of cucumber and hefty price tags. Heh.

4. Toppings. Apparently, I am not making full use of the accoutrements provided by the salad bar. I prefer to fill my big brown box with colorful fruits and vegetables and run out of room for all the expensive nuts and cheeses.

With all that being said, I don’t really care that I’m not “beating” the salad bar. Although I enjoy a good bargain, I value the flavor and nutrition far more than any money I might be saving. Last time I checked, money doesn’t ensure a healthy, happy body:)

Are you salad bar savvy? Or are you more like me and just load up on whatever strikes your fancy?

I didn’t hit up the salad bar today, but I still got plenty of veggies…

I shook things up a little bit this morning and added chopped apricots and cashew butter to my bowl of oat bran. It was a nice change from my usual toppings.

For lunch, I prepared an Ellie recipe, Southwestern Slaw.

My tweaks:

-I used almond milk instead of buttermilk because I just don’t dig the buttermilk as much as Ellie evidently does.

-I used vegan mayonnaise due simply to availability in my fridge.

I wasn’t too keen on the dressing upon tasting it straight-up (i.e., before tossing it with the salad). However, once mixed into the rest of the ingredients, this made for one delicious slaw! (That brown potato-ish thing in the picture above is jicama. I would describe its flavor as a cross between an apple and a potato).

The recipe is available online: Southwestern Slaw.

Tonight’s dinner was a simple spaghetti squash meal. I’m kind of in love with fresh basil these days, in case you can’t tell.

Alright, I have some stats homework to do. G’night!

Filed under: Meals