This is really not even worthy of being called a recipe but I wanted to show how easy it is to throw a hearty meal together into a salad bowl with most likely ingredients that you have on hand. Here’s what I did to make this delicious lunch salad, but I could have easily added other leftover veggies, like green beans or roasted beets, cheese, roasted nuts, pickled vegetables, hard boiled eggs or whatever might be around. The key is to mix flavors (salt, sweet, sour, bitter, etc) and textures.

Base ideas:

• Lettuce

• Shredded cabbage or kale

• Chopped endive and radiccho

• Grains such as brown rice or quinoa

Veggie ideas:

• Anything pickled such as red onions, carrots, beets (you can make these or buy them)

• Anything marinated such as artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, red peppers or mushrooms (you can find these in jars at the market)

• Anything roasted such as fennel, onions, cherry tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes

• Anything fresh and grated (carrots, beets), sliced (onion, fennel, radish) or chopped (scallions, celery). I highly recommend investing in a mandoline

Other add ins:

• Pepitas

• Toasted almonds, pecans, pine nuts

• Crumbled bacon

• Shredded seaweed

• Sesame seeds

• Olives

Proteins:

• Hard boiled eggs

• Jarred tuna in oil or water

• Poached chicken breasts

• edamame

• Tofu or seitan

Dressing ideas: I start with good olive oil and in a bowl, I whisk with whatever vinegar I fancy that day- some days it’s balsamic, sometimes it’s red wine or apple cider vinegar. You can always add a clove of garlic you’ve run over the microplane, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard (not with the red vinegars though) and definitely herbs such as oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk mightily so the dressing emulsifies and then toss.