Saladsssss

Susan's Lite Goddess Dressing has become one of my salad staples (alliteration <3).


The 1st Frost came really late this year (read: this week). So, we were still getting tomatoes from our garden through October. Awhile ago (I have a backlog of food pics :-/) I used some to make the Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad from The Mediterranean Kitchen (I actually found this in the stacks of the library I work at!); the nice thing about this cookbook is that, even though it isn't a "diet," "low-cal," or "low-fat" cookbook, it lists the nutrition information for each recipe, which is nice. Oh, and many of recipes--like this one, if you have homegrown tomatoes, and fresh mint in your garden like me--are nice and cheap to put together.

And finally, something a bit more seasonally appropriate...

I <3 dried cranberries. In salads. (Actually, I love dried cranberries in pretty much most things.) This is my reimagining of a salad I used enjoy at a coffee shop in Pittsburgh near where I used to work. But, but but--with super-special Raspberry-Flax Vinaigrette. Recipe follows.

Raspberry-Flax Vinaigrette!

(makes 2-3 servings, I kind of like to drown my salads)

1 tbsp ground flax seeds
4 tbsp raspberry blush vinegar (or raspberry balsamic/other raspberry vinegar of your fancy)
1 tbsp flax oil
salt & pepper to taste
1-3 tbsp water (optional, to thin, depending on your preference; I went with minimal H20)

Whisk together, or shake it all up in a clean jam jar!

...and THE DATA (for 2 servings) per serving--cal=117.5, g fat=7, g sat. fat=0.5, g polyunsaturated fat=5, g monounsaturated fat=1.5, mg cholesterol=0, total carbohyrdates=11, g dietary fiber= 1, sugars=8, g protein= 0.8 plus g omega-3=8, g omega-6=2, g omega-9=3

Typically, when I order a salad like this it is made with baby mixed greens, sliced almonds, and dried cranberries. However, another slight departure from the standard: This is a red-leaf lettuce salad with a 1/4 cup of Trader Joe's Anti-Oxident Nut & Berry Mix. The latter is seriously good stuff, and tastes delicious on this salad, even though it's not all cranberries, but also dried blueberries, raspberries, and raisins, and has a mix of walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.

Yayyy.