A little effort once a week will turn you refrigerator into a homemade salad bar so you can enjoy a fresh salad at home whenever you want for half the price.
There's nothing quite like the convenience of a salad bar when you want a healthy dinner on the table fast. Unless, of course, you can skip the trip to the grocer and make a salad at home from your own homemade salad bar fixings. No washing, no chopping, no wrapping, just your own favorite salad bar ingredients right in your own kitchen. It requires a little effort and advance planning, but once you get in the habit, it's a piece of cake…without the calories. Here is everything you need to know about transforming your refrigerator into your favorite salad bar.
You can enjoy some extras you can't count on at your local store. For example, all the ingredients can be organic, if that's important to you. If you have a favorite farm stand nearby, you can buy everything you need there. You can also add toppings like cooked shrimp, Kalamata olives, mandarin oranges, hearts of palm or any other ingredient you love in a salad that doesn't show up at your local market. Let's get started.
Make a list
Write down the things you want in your salad for the week. Remember, it can change every week, so you don't have to have everything at once. Keep in mind that some ingredients may need to be pre-cooked, and factor that into a realistic schedule. This is supposed to make your life easier, so don't pick anything too time consuming your first week.
Go shopping
Cut corners where you can. If you've found a pre-washed lettuce bag you like, go ahead and include it. Sometimes these packages turn brown quickly, so you may be better off buying old fashioned lettuce and washing it yourself.
Prepare
When you get home, take some time to wash every salad ingredient before you store it. Yes, there's time involved in this step, but it's going to save you effort all week. Make sure everything's dry, then chop what needs chopping. Use your food processor if that makes the job quicker. Grate cheese and pull out dry ingredients like nuts that don't need refrigeration.
Store
A good selection of plastic or glass food storage containers will make your life much easier, so it's a worthy investment for this project. Pull out one container for each ingredient, and store. Keeping even the dry ingredients with the cold will make your salad bar more efficient, so include them too. Now put the whole thing in a drawer or shelf in your refrigerator. You can put them all into one tote bag and store this instead so you can just grab your salad bar with one hand when it's time to serve.
Dressing
Homemade dressing tastes better and is healthier. Use bottled if you must, but one more step is all it takes to have a tastier version. You can do this as you go or in advance, but if you make your dressings ahead of time, you'll have dinner ready that much quicker. My favorite dressing is olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Simple and delicious.
Fix
Pull it all out, remove the lids, and dump spoonfuls of each container into a big salad bowl. Add your dressing and serve.
Enjoy your healthy, simple dinner at home without having to leave home first.
