Green with Envy Salad

I would call myself a heavy consumer of produce.  Yep.  My hubby and I can attack a whole head of lettuce (okay, maybe just half), as long as it isn’t filled with the typical, boring salad constituents like iceberg, pale tomatoes, and onion.  Ugh – how is that even legal?  I think the best salad I had ever eaten at a restaurant was at Habana, a Cuban restaurant in Costa Mesa’s the Lab (aka the anti-mall, as they say it).  The salad was half a head of romaine lettuce, brushed with olive oil and grilled (yes!  You CAN grill romaine!), then topped with marinated eggplant and other vegetables.  I’m all about sharing, but I was swatting eager forks away from my meal that night!

Anyways, my point is, I try to add things to salads that will keep them interesting.  Adding things like beans, peas, sun-dried tomatoes, or avocado all provide antioxidant-fighting nutrients and gives you a hefty amount of fiber to your day.  Here’s my “Green with Envy” salad.  I don’t really put amounts of anything in the recipe, because are you really going to measure “1/4 cup of clover sprouts” or “2 tablespoons of petit peas?”  I don’t think so.  You’re just going to add whatever you fancy.  But I’ll give you the exact proportions for the cilantro-yogurt salad dressing – I assure you, you’ll feel almost green goddess-like (or Jolly Green Giant-like, for you men out there) eating this salad.

Green with Envy Salad

serves as many as you want

Green leaf lettuce

Clover sprouts or pea sprouts (don’t eat alfalfa sprouts for now due to salmonella contamination – read about it here from the FDA!)

Thinly sliced green apple

Petit peas

Snow peas or sugar snap peas

Medium-boiled eggs

Fried shallots (you can find these prepackaged in Asian grocery stores)

Freshly cracked black pepper

For the Cilantro-Lime dressing:

1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro

1 clove garlic, pressed

1/4 cup plain lowfat yogurt

2 Tbsp fat-free mayonnaise

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Pinch of salt, to taste

Freshly cracked black pepper

Preparation:

1.  Compose your salad however you like.  For the salad dressing, combine all ingredients in the food processor or blender, and blend until the salad dressing is uniform in consistency.  Top the salad with your Cilantro-Lime salad dressing, and serve!