the best salad ever.

so this week when i went to the grocery store i tried to keep some type of meal plans in the back of my mind so i could be better prepared for dinners.  a lot of times i get overwhelmed at the grocery store and walk in circles and end up buying lots of wheat thins and nothing else.  putting a skinny girl in wegmans is like throwing a four year old in a chuckie cheese.  we love everything so much that we don't even know where to go first so we just end up throwing a tantrum in front of the prize counter.  or cheese counter. whatevs, you get the idea.

anyway, i did successfully come up with a bunch of different dinners with only a few ingredients this week, but one of the things we always end up having for dinner once a week regardless is this:

i call it a la carte dinner.
normally it's just a smorgasbord of different healthy snacks.  it's good when you're a picker.  you can graze around the a la carte dinner all night and enjoy yourself without feeling super full like you would after, say the mashed potatoes and fried chicken i made last night.

a la carte dinner tonight featured hummus and pita chips, strawberries, white cheddar and wheat thins, and my favorite light salmon salad- that i make with a high quality canned salmon that i rinse well and mix with fresh lemon, capers, salt, pepper, and a little german mustard. it's tasty.  sometimes a la carte dinner will have different types of cheeses, olives, carrot sticks and raw veggies (if you're fancy you can call it crudite), other fruits, whatever is on hand.

but i almost always include this salad on the side.

i stole this salad recipe from billy's sisters.
it's possibly the best salad on the planet, and the simplest. i'm addicted to it and i eat it a few times a week.  i love this salad because it doesn't taste like salad.  it's the salad for people who hate salad.

so i thought i'd share the recipe with you.

here it is:
lettuce- i like to use baby butter (crunchier white lettuce) or organic herb greens.  either is great with this salad, it just depends on what you like.
blue cheese crumbles- or feta crumbles if you don't like blue cheese.  but i didn't like blue cheese either before this salad so you might should try it.
craisins- that's right craisins.  any flavor or original.  right now pomegranate is my favorite.
one packet of equal- yeah that highly controversial sugar substitute.  love it or hate it, it's what makes the salad.  just do it, you'll thank me later.
balsamic vinaigrette- billy's sisters make their dressing from scratch.  it's easy to do with balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar or rice vinegar, whatever you like, a little olive oil, maybe whisked up with a little honey, salt and pepper, some lemon zest, whathaveyou... but i like to do it the easy way, which involves only buying a bottle of newman's own at the grocery store.  oh newman, why you makey the dressing so nice?

toss it all together and you have the best salad on the planet.

i'm telling you, try it.
it's sweet and zesty and kinda good for you (pretend you didn't see the equal packet... and the sugary craisins... and the cheese. well at least you're getting your greens, right?).
it tastes like summer.
hope you likey.