One Cup Salad
Summer is officially here! And if there is one thing I crave during the hot months of summer, it's cold food. Salads, smoothies, fruit... Just don't make me turn on the oven!
Now this recipe will have you cooking over the stove for a hot second, but it makes so much food that you won't have to visit the cook-top for a few days!
I created this recipe due to my current obsession with pesto. While healthy, pesto still packs a punch in the calorie department, so I offset that by pairing it with a ton of low calorie, high nutrient veggies! I kept them all raw because what is better than cold, crunchy vegetables? I also added in quinoa to soften the salad up a bit. If you family hasn't embraced quinoa yet, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, or a grain of your choosing would work perfectly.
ONE CUP SALAD
It's as easy as it sounds.
1 cup of each of your favorite vegetables - chopped. Fresh will work best for most vegetables but frozen peas (defrosted) would be delicious. For this one, I used tomatoes, carrots, peppers, zucchini, celery, and broccoli.
1 cup of cooked quinoa (approx 1/4 cup dry). Cook according to package directions, cool, and squeeze out excess moisture in a clean towel
4 tbsp jarred pesto (or homemade if you're ambitious). You can add more to taste, but I keep it at 4 tbsp of pesto to keep calories down.
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stir, season to taste, and chill. That's it! Enjoy! If you make it, please let me know how you like it. Send pictures to lesliehallcoaching@gmail.com or post them to my Facebook page www.facebook.com/lifeinthepresent
