Exhaustion reigns today and I could not bring myself to make ANYTHING. So Salad Monday became Sandwich Monday. Or takeout Monday. Whichever.
It’s been one of those days where I had too little sleep the night before but work demanded 100% and then some. It’s weird how you can rise to the occasion even when you’re running on nothing. Actually that’s not true. I had chocolate 🙂
Goodnight world!
This was a salad that was borne out of desperation.
Picture this.
It’s Thursday night and it’s 8:00pm I am ready to make my dinner. I had already gone to the grocery store two hours before and I got my salad leaves and MAH chicken.
I had gone for a run and I’m now showered and ready to EAT.
I should have the chicken ready by 8:30pm. I slit open the clear wrap on the chicken packet.
*Sniff*
*Sniff* *Sniff*
What the hell is that smell?
No it’s nothing. No, nevermind, it’s fine, I mean uncooked meat sometimes smells interesting. Right? Right.
Hmm.
Facetime beep boop boop sounds.
“Mom, MOM, can I eat chicken if its smells a little weird? Like just a bit?”
“Like how weird?”
“Like, just a bit. Nevermind I’m sure it’s ok.”
“Dini, just throw it away. Do you have eggs?”
“No Mom, it’s fine, really.”
Looks at chicken – takes a big sniff.
Facetime beep boop boop sounds.
“Mom I think I won’t eat it.”
“Good idea.”
BAHHHH. That was 10 minutes lost and me 10 minutes hangrier.
WHATDOIDONOW?
The only thing there is to do. Boil eggs and fry bacon.
Find some lemon and make a dressing.
Chop up all the vegetables I have.
Oh wait. This is yum.
Dammit. I was ready to be irritated allnightlong.
Serves 1 hungry girl
Protein
2 free-range eggs
3 strips of streaky bacon
Dressing
2 Tbsps olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 garlic clove, crushed
dash of salt
sprinkle of pepper
Salad
½ cup cooked quinoa
handful of mixed salad leaves
1 Japanese cucumber, chopped
1/2Â yellow pepper, diced
9 baby tomatoes, halved
Protein
Preheat water in electric kettle or stove for eggs.
Once boiled pour over eggs and boil on stove with lid on for one minute.
Remove from fire and let sit for 10 ten minutes. Pour out hot water and submerge eggs in tap water.
Fry the bacon until brown and crispy in a saucepan over medium heat.
Remove from fire place the bacon on paper towels to get rid of excess oil/fat. Crumble once cool.
Dressing
Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
Salad
Put the salad ingredients and protein in a bowl.
Toss evenly with the dressing.
Eat. And congratulate yourself for being resourceful.
Guys – I can’t do my Salad Monday post today because I’m busy with some ultra secret plans.
BUT I did come across some truly fun reads to kickstart not only your work week but the new year. Oh yeahhh Happy New Year cool kids – may 2015 be awesomer than the last and may you be kind to everyone around you!
Great fashion and generally closet advice/rules for the new year here. Definitely going to be following it. Also goes hand in hand with my don’t-spend-money-coz-you-don’t-have-much-of-it resolution.
Another thing to be mindful of next year is that chatting online while at work is definitely bad for you and NO you are not good at multitasking because multitasking isn’t actually a real thing.
Also GREAT food habits to incorporate into your life.
So, I’m not sharing salad with you but I definitely want to eat one. This one, specifically.
Hi friends,
I am firmly back in reality, after a weekend of rest, recuperation and frenzied Christmas shopping.
So just in time for the end of the day, my Salad Monday post today is also a bit of a #saddesklunch.
See its lying a bit forlorn in front of my keyboard, ready for me to absently shove down my throat while I feverishly surf fashion blogs.
Could I have made that any sadder? Yes, yes I could have.
But as you can see, this is not a sad salad. This was yummy and filled with nutritious things.
The other nice thing about this salad was that I made it without even really thinking. I just wanted something quick and simple and I wanted to use cheap and easy to find vegetables. Make it the next time you need a no-brainer meal.
It is guaranteed to satisfy.
Serves 2
Protein
1 chicken thigh
Rind and juice of ½ a lemon
½ tsp dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced/crushed
1 Tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt
Dressing
4 Tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced/crushed
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
Salad
½ cup cooked quinoa
1 packet of baby spinach, washed and dried
2 Japanese cucumbers, chopped
2 red or yellow peppers, diced
22 baby tomatoes, halved, this is only because I am sometimes super OCD and occasionally have to eat things in prime numbers – don’t ask
Protein
Marinate the chicken thigh with the rind of the juice of the lemon, dried thyme, minced garlic, 1 Tbsp olive oil and pinch of salt.
Ideally let it sit in the fridge for an hour to a whole day.
When ready to eat, bake in the oven at 175C/350F for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping once in the middle.
Check if done by cutting the meat in half, it should not be pink.
Cut into cubes.
Dressing
Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
Salad
Divide the salad ingredients and chopped chicken into two bowls.
Drizzle evenly with the vinaigrette.
Toss!
Eat!
How was your weekend?
Mine was rather good – full of Mom time and dress up and dancing – courtesy of a friend’s upcoming nuptials that I, and a bunch of other people, am/are preparing for.
Didn’t do too badly this weekend in terms of the diet – my mobility is still limited courtesy of my back issues SO I’ve been good with portion control and making sure I’ve been eating a lot of salad. Though I am struggling with the smaller portions, feeling the gap between myself and my work pants this morning was a welcome feeling!
Don’t know where I’m going with this except oh yeah:
SALAD MONDAYS!
This salad – is – awesome.
It was a complete surprise find courtesy of the craft/everything blog A Beautiful Mess, which I adore, and has turned out to be a staple in my salad/meal rotation.
Give it a try, it’s spicy and fresh and everything NICEEEE.
serves 3
3 salmon fillets, you gotta decide how much per person
olive oil
salt, to taste
1 bag of lettuce – use a salad mix or romaine
1 1/2 avocados, sliced
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
6 Tbsps kewpie mayo
1 1/2 Tbsps sriracha
1 tsp wasabi sauce from a tube
roasted sesame seeds
seaweed sheets, cut into ribbons or squares with a scissors
Preheat the oven to 175C/350C.
Lightly coat the salmon with olive oil and season with salt.
Place in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
Shred salmon into pieces once cool.
In the bottom of a large serving bowl, combine the kewpie mayo, sricacha, wasabi, and lemon and mix the sauce with a spoon.
Toss the lettuce, sesame seeds (as much as you like) and seaweed sheets (as much as you like).
Dish out into three bowls and serve each serving with the cooked salmon fillet and sliced avocado.
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