30 Day Salad Recipe Challenge Group

Great idea! I'm in. We eat salad at least 3 times per week at home. Below are 2 of our favorites. Each serving is about 300-400 calories.

Cashew Pear Grape Salad

Topping:
3/4 cup cashews
1 TBS butter, soft
1 TBS fresh rosemary
1 tsp curry powder
1 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Dressing:
3 TBS white wine vinegar
3 TBS dijon mustard
2 TBS honey
1/2 cup olive oil

Salad mix:
1 head of romaine (or other lettuce you like), torn up
1 pear, sliced
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
4 slices bacon, fried and chopped

Toast cashews in a skillet for about 5 minutes. Cool slightly. Toss cashews with the remaining topping ingredients and set aside.
Mix vinegar, mustard and honey. While whisking, slowly drizzle the oil into the vinegar mix.
Toss the dressing and salad mix. Top with the cashew mix. It's 6 large servings.

Crunchy Asian Salad

Topping:
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1 TBS butter
1 TBS brown sugar
3/4 cup chinese rice noodles (or use chow mein noodles if you can't find the rice noodles)

Dressing:
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 TBS poppy seeds
1 TBS Jane's "Crazy Mixed up Salt"
10 packets of sweetener (original recipe called for 1/2 cup sugar - oye!)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Salad mix:
1 head of romaine lettuce, torn or 2 bags of European salad mix
3 stalks of green onions, chopped
1 cucumber, sliced

Toast almonds with the butter and brown sugar. Cool and break up almonds if necessary.
Mix all dressing ingredients, except oil. While whisking, drizzle the oil into the vinegar mix.
Toss all the salad mix ingredients and dressing together.
Top with the toasted almonds and rice noodles. Makes about 6 large servings.

Sure there is sodium and sugar in the salads but it's so much better than what we used to eat and the hubby and I have each lost 20 pounds from our peak weights this year.

^^ I could deal with this.