"Rainbow Salad" is my new favorite lunch.
I remember, years ago, in Tiamat's Olive Dr. apartment, seeing a post card on the fridge about eating by the rainbow. Assassin also mentioned it to me.
Basically, eat one veggie from every color of the rainbow to get a well rounded set of nutrients. This philosophy also prevents boring salads.
Lately, I've returned to this concept, in part for health, but also because I like salad, when it's not boring, and this is a good way to prevent myself from making a boring salad.
Red: Radishes, tomatoes, peppers, cherries, cranberries, strawberries (I don't really like sweet things in my salads, but I know others do)
Orange: Carrots, some squash, apricots, nasturtiums, oranges
Yellow: Yellow onion, squash, nasturtiums (again), sprouts (sometimes), pineapple, some varieties of cauliflower.
Green: All varieties of lettuce, I usually use at least two, spinach, cucumbers, herbs, mustard greens, broccoli, green beans, peas, edamame
Blue: Blueberries... um... M&Ms?
Purple: Purple onions, cabbage, Okinawa sweet potato, eggplant, some varieties of Cauliflower, again, some carrots
I also like to add some kind of nut, some kind of crunchy thing (won ton skins, sliced up and baked until crispy work really well for this), and protein. I usually use cheese, egg, and meat of some variety.
I usually make these in mixing bowls, with huge, generous servings of each veggie, and less than an once each of the proteins. You can basically assume zero calories for the veggies; even my largest mixing bowl full of salad comes out to less than 30 calories, and it'll serve three.
An adult on a 2000 calorie diet needs about 6oz of protein, so 1oz of meat, 1oz of cheese, and 1 egg and some nuts is plenty of protein for lunch, unless you're working out a whole lot. The meat will vary, calorie wise, but breast meat from a roast chicken is 231 calories/ cup, chopped, which is roughly 5 oz of chicken, and cheese is about 100 calories/oz, depending on type. The egg will usually be about 85 calories, and nuts vary widely. Assuming 1 egg, 1 oz of chicken, and 1oz of cheese, you've got about 230 calories. Add 1oz of sunflower seeds (approximately 2T), for another 165 calories! yikes, and you're at 395 calories.
Salad dressing is an interesting topic. Most people recommend having oil and vinegar dressings, because they're lower in calories and fat that things like Ranch and Caesar. They're actually dead wrong. Ranch dressing has about 2/3 the fat of Italian, and 10 fewer calories. Cesar is lower in fat and calories than both. This does vary brand to brand, so read your labels.
My favorite dressing is an "asian" dressing made with hoisin sauce, tahini, and rice vinegar, and it comes out to be about 40 calories per tablespoon, which is pretty good.
If you bake your crunchy things, they tend to be quite low in calories, particularly since you don't generally need a lot of them (unless you're like V, who seems to enjoy getting his mouth stabbed). If you buy croutons, read the label, they tend to be really fatty.
So, basically, without too much effort and trouble, you can have a delicious lunch for about 500 calories, which leaves you room for a snack later in the day (assuming you eat 3 approximately categorically equal meals a day).
'nother bonus: you can mix up a huge batch of your salad base (lettuce, and any veggies you're adding whole, or which won't spoil faster after cutting, like carrots or edamame) on Sunday night, and slice your protiens to stay in the fridge, and you can toss together lunch in about 5 minutes each day. I have been keeping my salad base on my counter, in a large bowl, with a damp dish towel over it, because I don't have room in my fridge. The salad is still crisp and nice, and the towel has only needed to be re-dampened once a day. I'm also keeping it away from heat sources, like the sunny window and my oven, but it seems to be working quite well.
Basically, eat one veggie from every color of the rainbow to get a well rounded set of nutrients. This philosophy also prevents boring salads.
Lately, I've returned to this concept, in part for health, but also because I like salad, when it's not boring, and this is a good way to prevent myself from making a boring salad.
Red: Radishes, tomatoes, peppers, cherries, cranberries, strawberries (I don't really like sweet things in my salads, but I know others do)
Orange: Carrots, some squash, apricots, nasturtiums, oranges
Yellow: Yellow onion, squash, nasturtiums (again), sprouts (sometimes), pineapple, some varieties of cauliflower.
Green: All varieties of lettuce, I usually use at least two, spinach, cucumbers, herbs, mustard greens, broccoli, green beans, peas, edamame
Blue: Blueberries... um... M&Ms?
Purple: Purple onions, cabbage, Okinawa sweet potato, eggplant, some varieties of Cauliflower, again, some carrots
I also like to add some kind of nut, some kind of crunchy thing (won ton skins, sliced up and baked until crispy work really well for this), and protein. I usually use cheese, egg, and meat of some variety.
I usually make these in mixing bowls, with huge, generous servings of each veggie, and less than an once each of the proteins. You can basically assume zero calories for the veggies; even my largest mixing bowl full of salad comes out to less than 30 calories, and it'll serve three.
An adult on a 2000 calorie diet needs about 6oz of protein, so 1oz of meat, 1oz of cheese, and 1 egg and some nuts is plenty of protein for lunch, unless you're working out a whole lot. The meat will vary, calorie wise, but breast meat from a roast chicken is 231 calories/ cup, chopped, which is roughly 5 oz of chicken, and cheese is about 100 calories/oz, depending on type. The egg will usually be about 85 calories, and nuts vary widely. Assuming 1 egg, 1 oz of chicken, and 1oz of cheese, you've got about 230 calories. Add 1oz of sunflower seeds (approximately 2T), for another 165 calories! yikes, and you're at 395 calories.
Salad dressing is an interesting topic. Most people recommend having oil and vinegar dressings, because they're lower in calories and fat that things like Ranch and Caesar. They're actually dead wrong. Ranch dressing has about 2/3 the fat of Italian, and 10 fewer calories. Cesar is lower in fat and calories than both. This does vary brand to brand, so read your labels.
My favorite dressing is an "asian" dressing made with hoisin sauce, tahini, and rice vinegar, and it comes out to be about 40 calories per tablespoon, which is pretty good.
If you bake your crunchy things, they tend to be quite low in calories, particularly since you don't generally need a lot of them (unless you're like V, who seems to enjoy getting his mouth stabbed). If you buy croutons, read the label, they tend to be really fatty.
So, basically, without too much effort and trouble, you can have a delicious lunch for about 500 calories, which leaves you room for a snack later in the day (assuming you eat 3 approximately categorically equal meals a day).
'nother bonus: you can mix up a huge batch of your salad base (lettuce, and any veggies you're adding whole, or which won't spoil faster after cutting, like carrots or edamame) on Sunday night, and slice your protiens to stay in the fridge, and you can toss together lunch in about 5 minutes each day. I have been keeping my salad base on my counter, in a large bowl, with a damp dish towel over it, because I don't have room in my fridge. The salad is still crisp and nice, and the towel has only needed to be re-dampened once a day. I'm also keeping it away from heat sources, like the sunny window and my oven, but it seems to be working quite well.