You Don't Make Friends With Salad

I have never understood the salad appeal.  It seems that everyone who is trying to lose weight or eat healthy believes that salad is the answer. Is it really though?

Currently, I know someone on the "flat belly diet".  While I think all fad diets are bullshit, I was curious about this one.  I looked up foods to avoid, and guess what was on the list: bulky raw veggies, peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.  Seems to me that these are pretty important salad ingredients, yet if you want a flatter stomach, you should steer clear of these belly bloaters. Finally, a diet that isn't all about salads.

Personally, I am not a fan of salad. Yes, I know, it's a great way to get the recommended daily vegetable intake, but I find them boring and bland.  Anyone who has ever made a salad for me knows that I put a few pieces of lettuce on my plate and then load up on the salad fillers: tomatoes, avocados (a salad must), mushrooms, nuts, berries....pretty much all the things that make the salad actually taste good.  Yes, I am a selfish salad eater; I bogart all the good stuff.   Other than adding crunch, what purpose does lettuce serve anyway?

Of course I do eat salads, but it's only due to the fact that they are jam packed with nutrients and vitamins.  I make a salad to accompany most dinners, but I ensure they are bulky and have interesting ingredients.  Among my favourites: chicken, hearts of palm, cooked corn, peas, cashews, sauteed veggies, pomegranate seeds, hard boiled egg and cheese (obviously).

One of my favourite ways to add some excitement to an otherwise boring leafy green salad is to saute mushrooms and pour balsamic vinegar into the pan when the mushrooms are nearly finished.  This serves the purpose of adding warm ingredients to the salad (which makes it way more appealing for me) and it also acts as the salad dressing.

How do you make your salads exciting? Please share some recipes. Who knows, you might inspire me to become a salad lover.

Barbequing Is Not Just For Boys

This past weekend (yes, I know it's Thursday but this Fat Girl in a Little Coat has had a pretty hectic week!) my friends and I found ourselves sans significant others and decided to have a fabulous and long overdue girls weekend.

There is nothing better than spending quality time with the ladies in your life.  In fact, it's necessary. Our girls weekend was spent eating (of course), laughing, sunning, reading gossip magazines and consuming plenty of sangria.  

We had talked about going out for a dinner to one of those really popular, overly expensive and raved about tapas places.  Instead, we decided to barbeque.  Barbequing is not a foreign concept to me, however, if left on my own to use one, I would likely blow up the neighbourhood.  Thus, I have always left grilling to the man in my life.

Side note: Last summer my friend and I tried to use a Hibachi to grill some vegetables.  It took us over an hour to get the damn thing lit and when we finally did we were covered in soot and ash. 

This weekend I concluded that girls can barbeque too. In fact, I think we do it better. We seasoned some veggies, seafood (which I obviously didn't consume) and meat and headed down to the cabana area of my friend's condo building for our grill fest (we also made an amazing summer salad- the recipe is at the end of the post). She barbequed everything perfectly and the meal was absolutely delicious. For the first time all weekend we were quiet- too busy enjoying our meals to say anything.

Later this week, I ventured into barbeque territory myself.  I didn't let my boyfriend (fiancé...still not used to it) man the grill (pun intended).  I flipped the turkey burgers and grilled the veggies and made an amazing barbeque dinner, mostly on my own.    I still left turning on and off the barbeque to my boyfriend but I watched as he did it. Next time, I may even light the grill myself without worrying about being arrested for arson.

Grilled Watermelon and Feta Salad:

Ingredients:

• sliced watermelon
• crumbled feta cheese
• arugula
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze (reduced vinegar)
• fresh basil or fresh mint leaves 

Directions:

Cut Watermelon into big enough slices so that they won't fall through the barbeque grill.  Grill slices for 2 minutes on each side and place on top of arugula.  Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and top with crumbled feta and basil or mint.  Yum!

Stephanie Salad

I got an email yesterday from my friend Steph with a great salad recipe.  The recipe uses canned tuna, so my immediate thought was that my last blog posting inspired her to send it my way. I was wrong.

While sipping on some pinot grigio and chatting with my girlfriends last night, Steph admitted that she has not been following my blog.  It was simply a coincidence that she sent me the recipe for a salad that uses the only fish I will eat. This admission bruised my blogger ego, but I told her that if she started following I would dedicate a posting to her. 

Steph, I am sharing your recipe on my blog for all of the interweb community to see. Now will you follow me regularly??

Stephanie Salad

Take one can of tuna and put it in a bowl with chopped up pickles, artichoke hearts, chopped up red pepper and cucumber.  Toss with arugula (Steph LOVES arugula) and baby romaine lettuce.

Dressing: Lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, apple cider vinegar, fresh thyme and freshly ground black pepper.

In the words of my dear friend Steph, "YUMMMMMMMMMMM!".

Super Fruit

As the weather starts to warm up, I start to crave refreshing treats. Ice cream, gelato and Popsicles are usually a must.   Since I have adopted a new healthier way of being, I have traded in my after dinner ice cream treat for a much healthier alternative: grapefruit.

It's tart, tangy, sour and sweet and has certainly been satisfying my after meal need for a sugary treat.  Grapefruit is jam-packed with health benefits and actually helps to curve hunger.  It's the perfect end to any meal or a great accompaniment to a balanced breakfast.

I am slightly ashamed to admit that I watch a lot of Dr. Oz.  He is an alarmist and scares the crap out of me by making claims that pretty much everything causes cancer. But, his show is like a train wreck- I just can't seem to look away or change the channel.  Like myself, Dr. Oz is a big fan of grapefruit.  Last week, he named grapefruit a superfood.  This prompted me to do some reading and here is what I found out:

Grapefruit is high in dietary fibre, vitamin C and potassium. It contains lucopene which is said to have anti-tumor activity and helps to fight oxygen free radicals, making this super fruit a great source of antioxidants. Grapefruit helps in lowering cholesterol, lowering the risk of kidney stones and helps protect against colon cancer.  And...it 's low in calories. 

I'm no expert, but the benefits of eating grapefruit seem to outweigh my alternative dessert choices.

I also read that grapefruit can interact negatively with certain medications, so ask your doctor if you are taking any prescription meds.

Not only is grapefruit a perfect dessert alternative, it is also a great addition to any summer salad. Try this refreshing salad recipe on a warm summer's day:

Grapefruit, Orange & Avocado Salad
serves 4

Ingredients:

• romaine lettuce
• 1 large grapefruit peeled & sliced
• 1 large orange peeled & sliced
• 1 avocado, sliced
• feta cheese

Directions:
Place lettuce on four salad plates.  Arrange slices of fruit in alternating layers on top of the lettuce. Squeeze grapefruit and orange juice over top.  Top with some crumbled feta cheese and zest from both citrus fruits.