To start off the blog and the week I thought I would share with you a meatless lunch/dinner recipe that is easy and quick to whip up and will fill you up just enough so you won’t be hungry and avoid the usual meal-induced coma* at the same time.
(*Meal-induced coma: the very real and feared condition that you experience after a copious meal when all you feel is that you need to lie down and take a nap since there is just not enough blood in your head, making it quite impossible to think and be productive).
So first things first: what is Meatless Monday? From Wikipedia:
Meatless Monday is an international campaign that encourages people to not eat meat on Mondays to improve their health and the health of the planet.
If you’d like to learn more about MM and why it is good for you to forsake meat for a day a week at least and increase your veggie/fruit/grain, etc. intake, take a look at their website.
I am no vegetarian, but ever since I did an 8 week-long fast cleanse I came to realize and appreciate how my body functions much better when not bogged down with heavy meat-filled meals, and since then I eat even more plant based meals.
The classic Niçoise salad (a French salad featuring lettuce, tomatoes, tuna, hard-boiled eggs dressed with vinaigrette) served as my inspiration for this salad: it has fresh green leafs, sweet and colourful tomatoes, crunchy carrot slices, protein due to the hard boiled egg and healthy fats courtesy of the avocado slices.
What I love about this salad is that
1) it comes together in mere minutes, which is always a great bonus when I am already starving and don’t have any more patience left for cooking, and
2) it doesn’t require fancy ingredients, basically you can use whatever vegetables you have home, you may add anything else you’d like to make it more colourful and varied: olives (black olives compliment it wonderfully), corn, shallots, capers, mozzarella or feta, beet, radishes, bell peppers, etc.
- 1 egg
- 1 carrot
- 1 tomato
- 1 avocado
- 2-3 handfuls of lettuce (arugula, romaine, etc.)
- Boil your egg for 5 minutes, once it is cooked place it in cold water.
- Wash and slice the carrot and tomato, peel and slice the avocado.
- After washing and patting the lettuce dry arrange it on two plates.
- Once your egg has cooled down peel it, and slice it into thin slices. (I use an inexpensive slicer like this one)
- Pile the carrot, tomato, avocado and egg slices on the lettuce, serve with your favourite salad dressing or simply drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
- Serve immediately, enjoy while fresh.
Really very colorful and delicious!!