Basic Salad

I could eat salad every day ... and I frequently do. Lucky for me, my whole family likes salad, too. They never get bored with a salad. The reason for that? Vary the ingredients!

Here's my basic salad recipe:

1 cup lettuce

1/2 cup fresh fruit

2 Tbs. cheese

2 Tbs. nuts or seeds

The secret to the basic salad? Mix it up! For the lettuce, try mixed mesclun, cut up romaine, red or green leaf lettuce, or spinach. For the fruit, try pear slices, apple slices, oranges, or dried fruit like cranberries or cherries. For the cheese, try parmesan, asiago, or stronger flavors like goat, feta, bleu, or gorgonzola. For the nuts, try slivered almonds, pecan or walnut pieces, or use sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Then, mix up the salad dressings, too!

Here's how to make the salad pictured above:

2 cups mixed baby greens
1/2 cup sliced pear
2 Tbs. feta cheese
2 Tbs. sunflower seeds

Mix all ingredients together. Use your favorite salad dressing.

Stealthy Cooking Tip:

Don't have time to make a salad? The pre-bagged, pre-washed salads in stores are a real time saver! In general, the darker the color of the lettuce, the greater the nutrients. Whichever kind you buy, lettuce is one of the foods that's it's best to buy organic.