My Easy Hearty Stand-by Salad

Prep Time: 

Cook Time: 

Servings: 4

This is easy to make, healthy, delicious, and will fill you up.

Directions

Start boiling the eggs if you are using them. I didn't use them last time and the salad is just as good, but with less protein. I generally put two eggs in a pot with just enough water to cover them, and turn the heat up to high. I set the timer for 5 minutes, and at the end of 5 minutes, the eggs are usually boiling softly. When they are boiling softy, you can turn the heat down to low-medium and then re-set the timer for another 10-15 minutes depending on how much you like to boil them. Now while the eggs boil, you can be making the rest of the salad.

Rinse and dry the heart of romaine. Chop it to bite size pieces. Drain the cans of kidney beans and sweet peas. Add them to the chopped romaine. Add the sunflower seeds. (You could toast the sunflower seeds first if you like) Slice the tomatoes up to the size you like and add them to the salad. Take the carrot, wash it, peel it, and then grate it into the salad. At this point, hopefully the eggs are done. If you are using them, go ahead and pour out the boiling water. You can let the cold water from the sink flow over the eggs while peeling them if you want to have an easier time peeling off the shell. Then just chop them into a few rounds and add to the salad.

It is up to you if you want to add the dressing to the whole salad or to your individual serving. If you plan to save the salad for later, adding it to the whole salad may eventually result in a wilty salad. If you are going to eat it all right away, you can just toss the dressing in with the whole salad. Also, some find it easier to control their servings of dressing when they do it on their individual plates. I do not worry as much now that I've reached and maintained my goal. All my dressings are made with extra virgin olive oil, a very healthy fat.

Also the servings that I list are an estimate. The canned beans that I used were a 15 ounce can, but when drained, there were probably not really 15 ounces of beans etc. Also, there would be less protein if you didn't use the egg or less of the sunflower seeds etc. And the lettuce is a "free" food if you didn't know. And depending on how many tomatoes you use will change the carb count. I erred on the side of if you used the full portion of everything listed. I counted 10 total carbs and 10 total proteins. Then I broke it up into 4 portions which amounts to about 2 to 2 and 1/2 proteins and 2 and 1/2 carbs per serving.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do if you make it.