Big Salad

This week’s recipe is a great way to get some vegetables into my family.  Chefs tell us we eat with our eyes as much as with our taste buds so if something looks pretty and looks appetizing, then we want to eat it. Because of the way I serve this salad, all the toppings laid out individually, it is not only pretty but makes it easy for everyone to pick what they like instead of ‘picking out’ what they don’t like. And something about the bacon and eggs served in this salad is just so yummy; they are not something I typically put into a salad, so they make this salad special in my house.  

Sometimes I serve this with grilled chicken, sometimes with grilled steak tips, but I always buy the meats premarinated to speed up the preparation and to make this dish easy.

This is not one of my fastest dishes, but it is one of the easiest. The bacon and eggs and tips or chicken can be cooked earlier in the day and the vegetables can be washed and chopped inbetween you “running around town”.  If you have the room in your refrigerator for the platter, then you can put the salad in there to be served as your family arrives. And cold, cooked steak tips or chicken is delicious on a salad – who says they have to be hot?

Ingredients

Romaine Lettuce – I have read that the greener the lettuce, the more nutritional value - so stay away from iceberg

Baby spinach

Tomatoes – chopped or grape tomatoes.  I think this time of year the grape tomatoes are more flavorful

4 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 cup shredded, cheddar cheese

½ lb. cooked, crispy bacon

1 large cucumber – peeled and sliced

1 ripe avocado – chopped

Croutons

And/or any other vegetable you or your family enjoys, for instance, radishes, mushrooms, red pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper, black beans, onions, celery. etc. Sautéed peppers and onions are a great addition to this salad. I also like to add any leftover vegetables I may have from another meal, for instance, steamed broccoli or steamed green beans.

1 lb. of grilled, marinated steak tips or marinated, boneless chicken breast

Put the eggs in a sauce pan and cover with water. Once the water starts to boil, set the timer for 10 minutes. Then cool the eggs and take off the shell and chop. In the meantime, cook the bacon. You want the bacon crispy so you can easily break it up and it will be crunchy on the salad.

Get a sizable platter or use a cookie sheet to serve this salad. Make a layer of lettuce and spinach and cover the whole bottom of the platter; then start laying out the other ingredients in rows on top of the lettuce – see picture. Serve this salad with a variety of salad dressings and encourage your children to try a dressing they don’t usually use.

Serve the steak tips and/or chicken on the side.