Everyday Lunch Salad (Paleo & SCD)

Eating the way I do now has been a journey that has been evolving over the past two years.  A lot of people ask me what I eat every day, so I've decided to write some posts about what I think are the Basics of Paleo/SCD eating.  (I must admit, I'm also hoping my kids will one day read these when they move out of home so they'll know how to cook!)  

This salad is my favourite meal of the day and probably my favourite food to eat.   Everyday when I eat it I say something like, "Yum!  I just love food!"  My poor kids are sick of hearing it.
If you know me personally, you would have seen me eat this huge salad.  :)
If I was at home, you would have seen me eat the huge dinner plate full that most people ask, "Is that for all of us?"  I assure them that no, it's just for me. :)
At work, I take a smaller version in a Tupperware container.  
I've found that my body just loves this salad.  It is so fresh and full of wonderful vitamins and minerals.  Cooked veggies are wonderful, but I truly believe we all need a big salad once per day.
The beauty of this salad is that it's always different.  I've listed what was on my salad today, but any combination of salad ingredients, vegetables and protein is great.  Don't forget to include some good fats to keep you full.  I add olives and tahini everyday and often avocado.

Yes, it does take about 10 minutes to build this salad from scratch, but if you were very organised and had all of your ingredients pre-chopped and in Tupperware containers in the fridge, it would be very quick.  I sometimes make my lunch for work the next day while I'm preparing salad for dinner, so all I have to do is grab it from the fridge the next morning. I'm always so pleased when I do this!  Or, sometimes I make two or three lunch salads at once and then grab them each morning on my way to work.  (Don't put dressing on them if you are preparing them earlier, though.  Add it just before you eat, or your lettuce will go soggy.)

Everyday Salad.

Prep time: 10 mins
Serves 1  :)

Ingredients:
1 cup iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
1/2 of a small cucumber (peeled)
1/4 of a red capsicum, chopped finely
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
6 kalamati olives
1 tablespoon baby capers
100-200g diced left-over protein (steak in this version)
2 tablespoons fresh herbs (eg. basil, mint + oregano)
1/4 small avocado
2 Tablespoons hulled tahini

Instructions:

•  Layer the ingredients, in the order listed, onto a large dinner plate.
• Lastly, drizzle the tahini over your salad.
• Enjoy!

Notes:
I've been eating different versions of the salad for quite a while now, but have only recently added the fresh herbs.  I'm so glad I did, because they give so much flavour!  I've now planted herbs in my veggie patch so I have an abundance to add to my salad each day.

More great salad info:
Mark Sisson's 2 minute salad video.
More great ways to build your salad from Mark Sisson

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