The {UN}salad

One of my most favoritist foods is a great salad.  I mean whats not to like?  I love the colors, different textures, the dressing, yum! When I was going through my tummy issues, I would default to a salad, not even knowing it was one of the worst things I could put in my body.  One of my staple breakfasts was an over easy egg over sautéed kale and onions with a side of turkey bacon!  Yes KALE for breakfast - you should try it :)

Anyway, when I made the discovery that I could not eat leafy greens and the majority of green veggies, my life was literally turned upside down.  I went about six months without eating a salad and lots of veggies.  This past Christmas, we were in Atlanta visiting my husband's parents and his mother had made side salads to go with a delicious dinner of ribs.  As I was sitting there being jealous of their salads I had an "A-HA!" moment. I then made my first ever UNSALAD (thanks to my MIL for the name :) )  I used all the toppings (that I could eat) and made a salad, many colors, textures, and dresssinngg! Oh so stinkin good.  Back in Charlotte at Christmas, we went to Common Market  for lunch with my brother, Davis, and his girlfriend, Christina.  I ordered my first ever unsalad in public.  The guy looked at me pretty funny - It went something like this: "I'd like the cobb salad with no lettuce please", "uh...okay?"  The great thing though, is he asked me if I wanted anything extra...and I got extra avocado for free!  I learned that I need to feed my body what it needs and not worry about what other people are thinking about me.  They don't know my body, I do.  Plus, most people simply don't care.

Lastly, as I was talking to Christina about my conundrum she offered this idea: julienned zucchini as the lettuce bed!  Brilliant!  SO without further ado...I present my UNsalad.

It was 70 degrees and sunny yesterday - The hubs and I went for a run then launched into food prep for the week. All it takes is an hour in the kitchen for a week of healthy eats!







The UNsalad: (Makes 5 salads - Food prep for the week!)

Ingredients: 

• 2 zucchinis
• 1 package of carrots
• 1 package baby bella mushrooms
• 1 package cherry tomatoes
• 1 can black olives
• 1 sweet red onion
• 1 beet/salad (Trader Joe's makes peeled and cooked beets - find in produce aisle)
• Goat cheese or feta cheese
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Dressing: a touch of EVOO, lots of balsamic, pepper, and basil

How to:

First, peel the zucchini, throw the peels away.  Next use a mandolin or an veggie peeler and start peeling thin layers of zucchini. Divide among five containers. These will be part of your "lettuce" base.

Next, peel your carrots.  Use veggie peeler to peel thin layers of carrots.
These will be part of your "lettuce" base.

Add the rest of your toppings and store!The morning of, peel your egg, cut into fourths and add to your UNsalad!

A few side notes: 

• No, you do not HAVE to peel the zucchini.  I do because my body doesn't handle insoluble fiber properly (i.e the skin of a zucchini) which means I cannot break the skin down.  If I eat the skin, I suffer severe stomach pain including bloating and swelling.  If you can eat the skin, use it! 
• Don't like mushrooms? Me neither!  I'm trying - really, really trying!  Read up on the benefits and maybe you can begin to acquire the taste for them!

And a few pics of the cutest pup ever made doing a dance for some carrot peels!  Isn't she just the cutest??