December 6, 2022

Daily Diary, Day 826: My Favorite Things, day 2

I have finished my lunch-time salad, (but not before having taken numerous photos), and before I get back to work, I am going to expand on why these salads are one of my favorite things. By the way, I have done my walk, my cleaning, and already gotten 302 words written today.

Because of health issues (a rare, non-life threatening disorder where the cures are half the problem) my diet is very restricted and there a lot of things I can’t eat or can only eat in small quantities (for example, fruits, fried foods, processed foods, sugar are pretty much off the list.) You add the fact that I am a rather picky eater (for over 50 years I’ve been a vegetarian who doesn’t like a lot of vegetables), and it is not surprising that finding food that gives me pleasure and at the same time is healthy for me is challenging. As a result, when I find something that does both, I celebrate, and it turns out the salad I have come up with for lunch is one of those meals to celebrate.

Now, when I was growing up in the fifties and early sixties, we had salads for every meal (along with meat, potatoes, and vegetables.) My job in helping prepare these meals was to make the salad. Frankly, I was terrible at any other meal preparation that required me to pay attention to timing—(turning oven off, stirring gravy, watching a pot come to a boil) because I would go off to read—for just a moment--and let things burn. But I could, right before dinner, put together a salad. And 99% of the times, these salads were always the same--iceberg lettuce, sliced carrots, and tomatoes, (occasionally maybe cucumbers) with store-bought salad dressing. These salads did not bring me joy. I seriously doubt they brought anyone joy.

Occasionally my mother would mix it up, and I was taught how to do what was called a Waldorf Salad that had apples, celery, walnuts, raisins, dressed with lemon juice and mayonnaise. I really did enjoy those salads, but we had it infrequently, for some reason only in the summertime.

Fast forward decades, and as I (with help from a nutritionist) tried to figure out what I could eat now that I had to forego my usual meals, which were all too high in carbs. Out went all the by tasty pasta-based meals, the rice-based meals, and the soups and stews that were bean based, leaving me primarily salads as my main source of fiber and sustenance. I also can have cheese, in small quantities, which is one of my other favorite things, but that is for another post.

Slowly I discovered exactly what I wanted in that salad, that I could tolerate—for example, no apples or raisins (ruling out Waldorf Salad)--that were the right mix of textures, colors, and taste.

So, every day I spend at least 30 minutes, making this salad. First, I clean and chop2 kinds of lettuce (romaine, red leaf) and then add either arugula or fresh basil.

Then, I chop up red or orange peppers, radishes, and fresh snap peas. Next, I add chopped walnuts and very sharp cheddar cheese. And finally, my dressing is fresh virgin olive oil and Apple balsamic vinegar. Yum!

And there you have one of my favorite things! and I would love to hear about your favorite meal that you never get tired of!