Wrap't

I just got home from a trip to Atlanta, with one sister and my mom and I visiting my other sister (more on that later), and I’m leaving tomorrow for two Marillion concerts in Hollywood (they haven’t toured the US in 15 years, and I think we got to see them only once when we lived in Wales), so I don’t have time for a proper journal entry.

But!

I’ve lost about 10 lbs and about 4% body fat in the last couple of months, and long story short, several people have asked me about salads and wraps. I love me some salad, boy howdy. Real Salad, not some namby-pamby wilted iceberg lettuce excuse for a salad. Salad with lots of interesting textures and explosions of taste and a tempting variety of colors. Crunchy veggies, a smattering of cheese, healthy fat in the form of avocado, filling protein.

(The word salad now officially is looking weird to me.)

So here you have them.

Salad #1

Good for a small dinner salad or a big entrée salad, the latter depending on how much protein you need.

• mixed greens of choice
• spinach
• fresh herbs if you’ve got them (I love basil)
• broccoli slaw
• tomatoes – I love little grape tomatoes, and I cut them in half so it’s easier to stab ‘em with my fork
• yellow pepper (or if you like green or red or orange, go for it)
• Persian (Trader Joe’s has them) or English cucumber (why do regular cucumbers have no taste?)
• thinly sliced red onion
• half an avocado
• garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• bleu cheese (I like TJ’s crumbled Salem Bleu)
• balsamic vinaigrette (see below) 

Salad #2

Good for a big entrée salad because it has more protein. I have this for lunch a lot.

• same veggies as above
• delete bleu cheese
• add feta cheese
• add Kalamata/Greek olives if you so desire
• add single-serving packet of tuna
• delete vinaigrette
• add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
• add red wine vinegar to taste

Balsamic Vinaigrette à la Dayle

• 1 part extra-virgin olive oil to 2 parts balsamic vinegar – I usually do ½ cup oil and 1 cup vinegar, because that fits nicely in the bottle I use. Do what works best for you.
• some sort of mixed seasoning of your choice. I like Trader Joe’s Italian seasoning mix because it has no added salt and is tasty.
• dried mustard
• finely chopped garlic if you want (I don’t because it’s hard to clean out of the bottle)

• pour oil and vinegar into a measuring cup
• sprinkle seasoning until it covers the surface of the liquid
• sprinkle mustard to taste
• whisk like a mad whisking person
• decant into a nice bottle for serving

Wrap #1, aka Greek Wrap

• Trader Joe’s organic whole wheat olive oil wrap
• hummus (I love Trader Joe’s Mediterranean)
• spinach
• fresh basil if you’ve got it
• thinly sliced red onion
• sliced grape tomatoes
• thinly sliced Persian cucumbers
• Kalamata/Greek olives, roughly chopped
• crumbled feta
• sprinkle of red wine vinegar if you remember (I usually forget, dammit)

• schmear wrap with two tbsp hummus
• add veggies and feta
• I like to add the spinach last and pile on as much as I can
• wrap the wrap, baybee
• eat up 

Wrap #2, aka Sandwich in a Wrap

• Trader Joe’s organic whole wheat olive oil wrap
• stoneground mustard
• good thin-sliced deli turkey that isn’t full of preservatives and additives and crap
• veggies of your choice (spinach unless you can’t keep it refrigerated, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, etc.)
• half an avocado