We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ok, so we leave for our vacation a week from today and as much as I like to work out it totally isn’t enough because oh mylanta (literally) we have been eating and drinking like crap lately.  And I can feel it.   We love eating out.  I love my beer.  We never met a pizza we didn’t like.  It’s a recipe (no pun intended) for disaster.  So, in an effort to detox a bit and ditch this bloat I am going to do…

7 Days of Salad.

Now, let me preface this by saying that it is NOT a cleanse.  I am not only eating lettuce.  No counting calories.   I may or may not have ate the left ear off a chocolate bunny this morning.  And I might have had a vodka, tomato, olive, celery and Tabasco liquid salad this evening.   This is purely an attempt to give my body some of the fresh fruits, vegetables and lean proteins that it is begging me for.  I am not a fan of fad diets or super niche elimination of food groups or nutrients.  But I am a fan of moderation and listening to my body and right now it is telling me to lay off the canned beer and pizza this week.  So here we go!

Each day for the next week I will eat a salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I’m not really into recipes and like to throw stuff together as I go but will share some brief instructions in case you want to throw it together too!  I think that I’m going to rate  them too.  Out of 10 stars.  Just for fun.

So, lettuce get started.  #crackingup

Breakfast

Fresh Fruit Salad I didn’t go to the store until after lunch today so these first two meals are a little random.  For breakfast I just diced up a grapefruit, halved green grapes, chopped some cilantro and then defrosted some blackberries and blueberries.  I tossed it all together and there you have it.  I love making random fruit salads.  So, much morefun than just chomping on an apple.

Rating: 8/10 stars.  The grapefruit was a little out of place but it was going to go bad anyway so it did the trick for today!

Lunch

Chopped Salad So, again, I was making due with what I had at this point.  So, why not chop up half a cabbage and some celery.  Right?   I used that as the base and then tossed it in olive oil and salt and pepper.  Then sliced a tomato and some Boar’s Head Chipotle Chicken Breast and then drizzled it with some light balsamic vinegar.

Rating: 7/10 stars.  I loved how crunchy the base of this was and it was a good way to use up that extra stuff from the fridge but it didn’t rock my world.   It was really filling though!

Dinner

Ok, so, I went to the store and from here on out I am going to make each salad great.  I don’t want to get bored with them only being mediocre.  So, for dinner I blew myself away.  Inspired by a salad we had at a restaurant I worked at a decade ago this is a work of art.  I am drooling typing this and thinking about it again.

Thai Shrimp Salad  The base is just fresh spinach.  Next, I have some marinated noodles.  I basically made spagetti noodles earlier and portioned most off for kids and then set aside some plain noodles in a dish.  I added olive oil and crushed red pepper and put them in the fridge to cool for the rest of the afternoon.  Then just before serving I sauteed up some 24/30 shrimp in whipped butter, olive oil, a dash of dijon, a teaspoon of Annie’s Organic Chile Lime dressing, half a lime squeezed and a handful of white and green onion slivers.  I placed the cold noodles over the spinach, the hot shrimp over the noodles and then drizzled it with Annie Chung’s Thai Peanut Sauce and some crushed peanuts.  I put a lime wedge and a few slivers of green onion on top as garnish.

Rating: 10/10 stars.  This salad will change your life and you will never think of salads the same again.  Make it and come back and let me know what you think!  You can substitute any peanut sauce and try to find any chile based light dressing or marinade for the shrimp if you can’t find Annie’s products local.