Cooking during a pandemic has forced me to rethink meal planning. While we no longer are strictly quarantining and limiting our trips to the grocery store, I’ve gotten into the mindset of trying not to let food go to waste, from leftovers to fresh produce.
The September issue of Prevention magazine provides creative salad ideas. I’ll no longer settle for simple greens and bottled dressing if I have fresh fruits and vegetables in the crisper drawer, too.
After reading the magazine’s suggestions for chopped salad and grain salad, I combined the two ideas. I threw together a portable lunch with leftover brown rice, cherry tomatoes, mini rainbow peppers, red onion, cilantro and clementine segments. To make your salad a meal, Prevention provides ideas for protein-rich toppings, such as chickpeas, grilled chicken, salmon, shrimp or canned tuna. I had canned salmon waiting for some inspiration, so topped my salad with that. A vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar and olive oil, plus fennel seeds, was the perfect finishing touch.
The salad lasted several days in the refrigerator, providing nearly a week’s worth of lunches!
The September issue of Prevention is available to request at Whitehall Public Library. Call us today, or add it to your holds list by clicking here. It’s also available as an e-magazine on Overdrive/Libby.
