Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Resolutions, and salad ...

So many people make resolutions for the new year. Quit smoking. Quit sugar (the horror!), lose weight ...

I’m not alone in those resolutions. I hate that word though, I prefer to think about improving my life, and trust me, there are a lot of improvements to be made. But to discuss that would surely bore you.

One thing I am trying to do is be more mindful of how/what I eat. I don’t like “diets” as some drastic, strict forced way of looking at food. Eating should be a joy first and foremost. But in addition to eating more mindfully I am also trying to eat more vegetables, because I simply don’t eat enough. How embarrassing!

So, I buy salad fixins (as I refer to them on my shopping list) and make a big batch of salad, keeping it on hand for munching. The mix is always the same, baby greens, sliced English cucumber, yellow and orange pepper and scallions. It is my favorite salad, and it doubles as sandwich/wrap filler as well.

salad

But, I am very finicky about dressing and will rarely purchase dressing from the store. It’s too expensive and I can surely make something just as good if not better at home. So I did.

salad dressing

Shallot Thyme Vinaigrette.
Sherry Vinegar: Olive Oil in whatever your preferred ratio is, whether it’s 1:2 or 1:3.
Chopped fresh thyme (dried thyme is too poky for me)
1-2 minced small shallots
Dijon mustard (for emulsifying)
Salt and pepper.

This is definitely a “to taste” recipe, as I didn’t measure a thing. But it made a lot of salad dressing and it was/is really good. Also I had way more shallots when I made it then I thought so I ended up making A LOT. But it’s all good, since it means I’ll be eating a lot of salad. :)

I should also add that I'm resolving to post in here more, rather than allowing it to rot away in the dark corners of the internet. We'll see how successful that is.