31 Days of Salads

In January 2012, I embarked on a challenge to eat a salad a day. I ultimately succeeded in eating 31 salads that month.

Below are images of those salads. (Please excuse them being out of order; my HTML Jedi skills aren’t fully developed yet…)

For what I learned about incorporating more salads into my life, read here. For advice on how to pack your own salads for eating on the go, click here.

Day 22: Grilled buffalo chicken salad: grilled chicken breast, marinated in canola oil and hot sauce, spinach, red pepper, red onion, blue cheese, light ranch dressing, and a dash of hot sauce. Eaten with baked potato chips.

Day 24: Gardenburger salad: Gardenburger, spinach, broccoli, red pepper, red onion, reduced fat cheddar, light ranch dressing.

Day 25: Antipasto salad: turkey pepperoni, provolone cheese, pepperoncini, spinach.

I skipped day 26. Here’s the first of 2 salads today, a japanese house salad: lettuce, cucumber and carrot with tahini dressing. Eaten with sushi.

Day 27b: Bacon cheeseburger salad: lean ground beef, center-cut bacon, reduced-fat cheddar, red pepper, red onion, spinach, ranch dressing.

Da7 28: blackened salmon salad: blackened salmon, spinach, broccoli, red pepper, red onion.

Day 23: Chicken and fig salad: grilled chicken, sliced dried figs, blue cheese, spinach.

Day 29: Steak salad: Grilled sirloin, spinach, red cabbage, red onion, red pepper, guacamole, salsa. Eaten with red beans and rice on the side.

Day 30: tuna salad salad: tuna made with light mayo, spinach, red cabbage, and petite carrots. Eaten with ranch flavored mini rice cakes.

Day 31: a variation of the salad on Day 6, this time made with chicken steak and topped with baked tortilla chips.

Day 13: Caesar side salad, made with reduced-fat parmesan and Caesar vinaigrette.

Day 12: Salad featuring my steak, corn, bean & olive hash. Topped with low-fat guacamole and fat-free Greek yogurt.

Day 11: A takeout buffalo chicken salad: Buffalo chicken tenders over veggies, no dressing. There was enough for lunch and dinner! Eaten with a light hot dog bun.

Day 10: Chicken Caesar: grilled chicken thigh, Caesar vinaigrette, shredded parmesan. Eaten with ranch flavored mini rice cakes.

Day 9: Chicken thigh, satay sauce, romaine lettuce, red cabbage, carrot, cucumber. Served with ranch rice cake minis.

Day 8b: baked tilapia, topped with a bit of a sauce made with butter, vermouth, capers, onion, garlic, lemon juice, and chicken stock. Served over butter/red leaf lettuce and carrots, with thinly sliced white onion. Eaten with a toasted light hot dog bun on the side.

Day 8a salad (catch up from being sick yesterday): butter/red lettuce, carrots, dried cranberries, pecans, and light blue cheese dressing. Eaten as a side with an egg white omelet.

Day 6: Buffalo chik’n salad (vegetarian): Quorn Chik’n patty, low-fat cheese, low-fat blue cheese dressing mixed with hot sauce, butter/red lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, peppers. Eaten with oven-baked French fries.

Day 5: Jerk chicken salad: chicken thigh grilled with jerk rub and tossed with jerk marinade, low-fat cheese, peppers, butter/red lettuce, carrot, broccoli, grape tomatoes. Pineapples on the side.

Day 4: Turkey burger, low-fat cheese, fat-free honey mustard vinaigrette, red/butter lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber. I forgot my side today…

Day 3: Turkey salad and dried cranberries, romaine mix with carrots and red cabbage, grape tomatoes and cucumbers. Baked chips and salsa on the side.

Day 2: Hash of canned (rinsed) black-eyed peas, turkey ham & onion, over red/butter lettuce, cucumber, carrot and low-fat cheese. I added a dash of hot sauce after the pic. Eaten with a side of pretzels.

Day 1: BBQ chicken thigh, butter/red lettuce, shredded carrots, and corn. I ate a cup of black-eyed peas on the side with this.

Day 14: Greek salad: Chicken thigh, (store bought) tzatziki sauce, and veggies. If I had feta cheese, I would’ve added it… Eaten with low-fat guacamole and baked tortilla chips.

Day 15: Grilled lamb salad: lamb diced from a grilled lamb chop, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, and tzatziki sauce. Eaten with baked tortilla chips.

Day 16: Turkey chef salad: turkey deli meat, turkey ham, part-skim mozzarella, low-fat ranch dressing, spinach. Eaten with baked potato chips.

Day 17: Remnants of takeout cobb salad from lunch (grilled chicken, bacon, blue cheese, egg, romaine, tomato, red onion, with guacamole on the side) served over spinach. Lunch was eaten alone; dinner eaten with baked potato chips.

Day 18: Side salad of spinach, red pepper, red onion, blue cheese, and honey mustard vinaigrette. Eaten with a lean ground beef burger.

Day 19: Shrimp salad: grilled shrimp, red pepper, red onion, carrot, and spinach, with low-fat ranch dressing. Eaten with whole wheat toast buttered with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Light.

Day 20: Side salad: spinach, a little coleslaw, red onion, red pepper. Eaten with fried chicken.

Day 21: Crab cake salad: mashed crab cake with a little coleslaw, over spinach. With red pepper and red onion. Served with tater tots.