Making A Salad to Go

I’ll have to admit that when marathon training, the last thing I want to eat is a huge bowl of salad…since I usually crave carbs 90% of the time when I’m training. But with my mileage down lately because of my foot injury, I’ve been trying to eat a lot more greens and vegetables. I’ve been enjoying large salads for lunch every day and I feel so much better about getting my veggies in!

One of my most hated tasks is packing my lunch, so I usually hate making salads in the morning. One of my friends had a brilliant idea (why didn’t I just think of this in the first place?) to make a HUGE batch of salad the night before with all the fixings and just keep in the fridge during the week. All I have to pack my tupperware full of salad, add the dressing and I have a salad to go.

Sunday I bought the following at the Trader Joe’s to put together an easy, TASTY salad:

• Three bags of greens: power greens (kale, chard, etc.),  baby spinach, and a bag of romaine (these bags lasted me a full five day workweek and with some leftover for juicing)
• Shredded carrots
• Sugar snap peas
• Slivered unsalted raw almonds
• Golden raisins (for a hint of sweetness)
• Tofu (I cooked the tofu on the stove by this method on Sunday night and then just added it to the bowl afterward–must have protein in my salad to keep me full!)
• Sliced olives
• Avocado (again, for me I need healthy fats to keep me satisfied after lunch)
• Light Champagne Dressing
• Hemp hearts (I got these as a free sample at the Girlnetic Expo and they make a great addition to a salad and add omegas, protein & fiber)

One thing I’ve learned about myself is that if I have a boring salad, I’m less likely to eat it and feel satisfied. Making a list of all the ingredients I like and getting them at the store before makes it so much easier. But this might be old news for most of you! I am just a HORRIBLE meal planner!