Colorful Lettuce-less Salad

Jamie says: Who says a salad has to have lettuce? My Colorful Lettuce-less Salad certainly doesn’t. I’m not gonna lie, I did run out of lettuce, but sometimes when you don’t have you’re go-to pantry items on hand, you get a little extra creative. Here’s a new spin on salad:

Colorful Lettuce-less Salad

Have no fear, if the lettuce isn’t here!

Shredded carrots, squash, and cucumber make a good lettuce substitute

Prep the night before for a grab-and-go workday lunch.

Perfect for a workday (or school day) lunch

Doesn’t the ”red stuff” look like bacon? The pieces are actually sun dried tomatoes, and, might I add, equally flavorful.

When packing your lunch box next time, think outside the box

Colorful Lettuce-less Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cucumber
• 1 small squash
• 8 baby carrots
• 1/3 cup chickpeas
• 1/4 cup smoked sun dried tomatoes, julienne cut (California Sun Dry)
• 1 oz sharp light Natural Vermont Cheddar Cheese, 50% reduced fat (Cabot)
• 8 black olives (Lindsay Naturals)
• 6 crackers
• 2 Tbsp salad dressing (Annie’s Naturals- Organic Goddess)

Directions:

1. Peel cucumber. Chop ends off of squash. Use a food processor to shred cucumber, squash, and baby carrots. Place into a sandwich-sized reclosable container.
2. Add chickpeas and sun dried tomatoes. Shave cheese; slice olives; and add to “salad.” Refrigerate.
3. Pack crackers and a side of salad dressing. When ready to eat, crush crackers and drizzle salad dressing on top. Enjoy!

Servings: 1

• Nutrition note: Greens are great, but when you don’t have them on hand,  substituting them for shredded vegetables gives you another way to get some veggies in.

About these ads