Saladstravaganza!

Most of the time, when I go to the usual meat-based mealtime restaurants and ask for something vegetarian, I'm pointed to the one item on the menu without meat - the iceberg lettuce salad. I've spent most of my life hating salad and excluding meat from my diet hasn't done much to change this. However, this year I'm challenging myself to really jump on the salad bandwagon. They're such a versatile way to incorporate a large helping of fruit and vegetables into any diet. The hard part is getting creative.

In an effort to motivate myself, I've been growing "salad bowls" on my back stoop complete with a red leaf lettuce, mescalin, and baby spinach mix. Tonight, I harvested and washed a bowl of greens and made the following Mediterranean-inspired salad:

Ingredients
3-4 cups loose greens
1/3 cup red seedless grapes
3 tbsp halved sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
3 marinated artichoke hearts
a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar
a sprinkle of olive oil

Toss and chow down.

Due to the ease of assembly and the delicious results, I see many more salad-laden nights to come! I totally intend to dig in to these recipes next. What are your favorite salad creations?