This is my life saver recipe.
Here's why:
- I can make this healthy, chopped salad on a Sunday and have fresh, healthy lunches for the whole week.
- There's no planning involved. If I'm at the store last-minute and I'm wondering what to buy for the week, all I have to do is choose whichever fresh vegetables look good to me. I've never met a vegetable that didn't play nice with another vegetable, so I don't really concern myself with what will taste good with what. Do I like it and is it fresh and healthy? Great…in my cart it goes.
- I can make it taste very different throughout the week depending on what I dress it with. Sesame-ginger if I'm in the mood for Asian, Cilantro-Lime or Cilantro-Jalapeno Pesto if I'm feeling more Mexican or just plain ol' Ranch or Blue Cheese if I need something more comforting. Adding some rotisserie or leftover chicken or steak helps switch things up, too.
- It's all healthy and keeps my weight in check. So, there's that. Yes, I occasionally splurge with a little goat cheese. No, I don't feel even a little bit guilty.
- It keeps well. Which means it's always waiting there for me in my fridge when I get cravings.
There's really no recipe to it, either, it's just all raw chopped veggies. I've always preferred less lettuce-to-the-goodies in my salads anyway, so here I just omit the lettuce altogether. You can certainly add some if you wish, it's your salad after all! Here's a list of the veggies I used in the photo above, written up as a recipe for your convenience:
Skinny Chopped Veggie Salad
Yield:
4
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Total Time:
10 minutes
My go-to recipe for healthy lunches all week long.
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved if large
- a few celery stalks
- 1/2 bunch asparagus, I did drizzle with olive oil & kosher salt and roasted it for about 3 minutes at 400F...you're always going for crisp-tender with roasted asparagus, but for a salad like this I kept it slightly more crisp than tender so didn't cook it quite as long as normal
- 1/4-1/2 red onion
- 1/2 english cucumber
- chopped parsley & cilantro
- avocado, add to your individual bowls so it's fresh each time and doesn't brown
Instructions
- You’ll want to season your veggies with kosher salt before dressing. I wait to season on a bowl-by-bowl basis so the salt doesn’t draw out the moisture as the veggies sit in my refrigerator throughout the week. It really helps to keep them fresh.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 59 Sodium: 41mg Carbohydrates: 13g Fiber: 3g Sugar: 6g Protein: 2g
Things You'll Need
Salad Spinner A good salad has lettuce and veggies that have been washed and spun dry. Watered down salad is never good!
Salad Dressing Shaker You can mix, serve and store your salad dressings in the same container! I love mine so much that I bought one for my mom!
Veggie Chopper If you make this salad often enough (which you should!), you might want to consider this veggie chopper to make quick work of it.
More sinfully delicious dishes...
Chopped Veggie Salad with Lemon-Garlic Dressing
Zucchini Ribbons with Lemon & Black Pepper Vinaigrette
Mexican Salad with Cilantro Jalapeño Pesto
Shaved Asparagus Salad with Meyer Lemon & Grana Padano
Chopped Salad Recipe with Cumin Shrimp and Cilantro Lime Dressing
stuffed zucchini with goat cheese & marinara {3-ingredient recipe}
Lizthechef says
You are so right – all I have to do is discipline myself to chop, chop and then I am good to go –
the wicked noodle says
Thanks, Liz :)
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Gorgeous, I love all the vibrant colors. If this is healthy eating, I am so in!
the wicked noodle says
Thank you, Laura!
Fructe uscate says
Simple and very healthy!
Rachel from Rose Tinted Home says
Thanks for this! I’m on the hunt for EASY healthy recipes that I can bring to work. I’ve been so bored with my lunch routine lately and it is driving me to unhealthy options or eating out – both bad ideas!
Thanks for sharing! I’m going to try this next week.
xo Rachel
PS – Love your site but your Solve Media puzzle is sort of annoying.. I have to watch an ad in order to comment? Really?
Kristy Bernardo says
Hi Rachel! I’m so glad you found this recipe, it’s one of my favorites and I make it OFTEN. Let me know how you like it! As for the Solve Media puzzle…it’s been a serious struggle fighting spam and Akismet (a plugin that many bloggers use) doesn’t work on my site and the GASP plugin has also caused some issues. So, yes, I’ve given Solve Media a try after seeing on the Martha Stewart site. I do make a small amount from the ads but it’s such a small amount that it’s last on the list of reasons I’m using it. Mostly, it’s worked wonders for reducing spam on my site and, for that, I love it. Having said that, I am still on the lookout for a better way as the last thing I want to do is annoy people. So thanks for the honest opinion – it’s much appreciated! Cheers :)
Becca says
I will be retiring the end of May! This is the way my roommate and I try to eat! We are getting to where we don’t like to cook all that much any more! This is one if our favorite ways to get our veggies! That and my Nutribullet! Thanks for sharing and if that picture doesn’t make folks want to eat it I don’t know what would!
Kristy Bernardo says
Becca, you are SO SWEET!! I don’t have a Nutribullet but I’m addicted to my Vitamix. Our cooking styles sound very similar!