Meal prep lunch salad, anyone?

Have you had the grain & celery salad from Costco? I absolutely love it, but it’s too much food for my little family of two. And I always wish it had more protein in it. Ross isn’t a fan of prepared foods, so we make most things from scratch. And he also has a definite thing against meal prepping now that I think about it 🤔 His lunch of choice is leftovers from dinner the night before with a side salad. Rarely does he eat a sandwich unless it’s a Wawa tuna shorti with sweet peppers. He’s a leftovers-for-lunch guy. But me, I hate even thinking about lunch. I’ll do a turkey sandwich happily but ever since I saw Violet Witchel’s Dense Bean Salads on TikTok, I’ve been obsessed with ways to meal prep salads for lunch. And I’m 100% trying to focus on fiber these days as well as low-inflammatory foods, so this meal prep salad has been hitting the mark for me. And I love not thinking about what to eat.

I’ve been down the spiral of macro tracking and calorie counting for years. I would love to lose 30-40 pounds, yes, but I find that obsessing over calories and macros really messes with my head, and I’m a happier person if I don’t focus on the minutiae like that. So what I’m saying is that I don’t know the macros of this salad recipe, but it wouldn’t be difficult to figure out if you want to try. But for me, I just know it satisfies me for several hours, and this recipe lasts me all week, so I’m extremely happy with it.

Grain, Chicken & Veggie Salad

• For the salad:

  • ½ cup dry quinoa

  • 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth

  • 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed

  • 1 bag Taylor Farms sweet kale chopped salad kit - don’t use the included dressing but include the dried fruit and nuts, if you wish

  • 1 cup cauliflower, finely chopped

  • ½ cup shredded red cabbage ( I buy the bag of shredded red cabbage and then cross chop the amount I need into bite-sized pieces)

  • ½ cup diced celery

  • ½ cup shredded carrots (same as cabbage, above)

  • ¼ cup dried cranberries

  • ¼ cup slivered almonds

  • meat from 1 whole rotisserie chicken, diced

• For the dressing:

  • ½ cup olive oil

  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar

  • 1 T dijon mustard

  • 1 T pure maple syrup

  • salt and pepper to taste

• DIRECTIONS:

  • cook quinoa according to package directions in the vegetable broth. Cool slightly and mix with all other ingredients in a large salad bowl. Mix dressing ingredients in mason jar and pour over all salad ingredients and toss to coat. Store covered in refrigerator in a large bowl and dole out servings throughout the week as needed. Add or substitute any desired vegetable that won’t wilt (bell peppers, blueberries, cucumber, broccoli, shaved brussel sprouts, sunflower seeds, flaxseed, etc) and make this your own concoction each week. The dressing suits any combination.

Enjoy!

Love, Karen