Most nights, I serve salad with dinner because I find that it's easy to toss organic greens into a bowl and top it with chopped veggies and a vinaigrette. I've been finding lately though that I'm getting sick of the same old salads.
In other words, I'm in a salad slump.
It's easy to get stuck in a "recipe rut," whether it's salads, main dishes or sides; rotating through the same three or four week after week. When you are a busy mom, it can sometimes seem daunting to experiment with new recipes because it's just easier to throw together an old stand-by dish that you know your family will like and eat. But adding a fresh new recipe to the mix can brighten up a meal, pleasantly surprise your family members and give you that culinary confidence boost that you need.
March is Nutrition Month and this year, Dietitians Of Canada has chosen the theme "Simply Cook And Enjoy." I love this theme because I find that too often, people are turning to processed, ready-made foods or ordering food in because cooking seems too time consuming or difficult. The truth is, cooking healthy meals for your family doesn't have to mean creating pin-worthy, fancy and complicated dishes day in and day out. The messages that we're sharing as Dietitians will hopefully encourage Canadians to just get cooking. It's a simple way for the whole family to connect, eat better and enjoy.
A great place to start is by making a new salad, which is what I did last month to get out of my salad slump. I have to admit, before I tasted this recipe, I had never really eaten zucchini raw or in a salad. I had always grilled it or added it to a stir-fries or roasted it along with root veggies at Christmas. My sister-in-law made this delicious zucchini salad while we were in Hawaii last month and I fell in love with it. I tried it again when we returned home and we now can't get enough of it. The zucchini is sliced with a carrot peeler lengthwise so it looks looks like beautiful green ribbons piled on top of eachother when you're done.
Enjoy!
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
Directions:
With a carrot (or potato) peeler, peel zuchini lengthwise while rotating zucchini until you reach the seedy middle part (stop there)
Top peeled zucchini ribbons with sun dried tomato, feta, nuts
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and drizzle over the salad right before serving.
Recipe adapted from Chatelaine Magazine's "Zucchini Pasta Salad"
If you'd like to try out a couple of my most popular, easy but yummy weeknight meals, check out my Thai Peanut Chicken Thighs Recipe and this Easy Stuffed Peppers Recipe.
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