Salad Lunch

In an attempt to avoid falling asleep at my desk or inducing the chocolate excuse I am attempting a new way of lunching this week. Wait for it. Salads. Usually I cringe at the thought of salads. They are a side dish, the prep for the main course at a restaurant, they are treated with so little respect, why should they deserve mine? Julia Child, Auguste Escoffier and Anthony Bourdain are not known for creating or finding amazing salads but rather grand feasts of meat, pasta, and fish. And butter. We can't forget butter.

For lunch yesterday I ventured to Pret A Manger because there was no time this past weekend to grocery shop. There, I picked up the 'Super Health & Hummus Salad' which made me feel super healthy. As that dreaded 3 o'clock time rolled around I did not feel the impending doom of drowsiness I usually experience. Rather I sat upright typing away and being my cheerful self.

Today I attempted to replicate those sentiments. I made my own salad. This one did lack the variety of flavors and excitement but it was a salad and I was being healthy. Composed of field greens, chopped walnuts, chopped red pepper and heirloom tomatoes, it looked very pretty. Instead of salad dressing I purchased pineapple cottage cheese and plopped a spoonful of that in the center of the salad. When I did weight watchers last year (and lost 10 lb) I learned that more often then not a salad's nutritious army of soldiers is crushed by the sugary, fatty dressings we dump all over the beautiful lettuce. So fat free cottage cheese provided some dairy, more texture, contrasting colors, and a touch of a fruity taste. I snuck my carb in with a whole wheat tortilla with hummus spread on it.

Salads have earned a new level of respect in my life. I will finish off the bag of lettuce this week and probably earn a promotion because I am so efficient at work. I'll be back to carbo loading next week, knowing me.