(*Picture to come!)
This one is easy to throw together and satisfy three different audiences - Whole30 adherents, vegan/no dairy peeps, and vegetarians/'fickletarians' (as I affectionately call my little picky eaters).
Ingredients (makes 4 total servings - assumes 1 Whole30, 1 vegan, 2 vegetarian):
Base salad-
1 bag of your favorite greens from TJ's (I like green leaf lettuce mixed with shredded carrot and radicchio)
1 zucchini, diced
1/3 white onion, sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Garlic powder to taste
Paprika to taste
4 large mushrooms, sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 radishes, thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, diced
Juice of half a lime
Additional options based on eating style-
3 oz. Whole30-compliant meat of choice (cooked chicken or steak/brisket works well), reheated and chopped
1/2 can cooked black beans
1/2 can cooked corn kernels
Handful shredded TJ's Mexican cheese blend
2 handfuls broken tortilla chips (I save the small bits at the bottom of the bag for this purpose!)
Handful raw pepitas
1/4 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 habanero, finely diced
Non-Whole30 dressing-
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. coriander powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Directions:
1. In a saute pan over medium heat, add olive oil and zucchini. Sprinkle with garlic powder and paprika, mixing well and stirring regularly. Continue for a couple of minutes and add onion and lime juice. Continue stirring and cooking for several minutes until soft, then remove from heat to cool down. (You can then cook the bell pepper the same way if you want to keep it separate from the other veggies because your fickletarians don't want it touching their other veggies; if they're cooler than mine, then you can cook the bell pepper along with the zucchini and onion.)
2. Combine greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, radishes, cilantro, and avocado. Mix well. Once cool, add zucchini/onion mixture and mix well. Be careful to overmix at any point because avocado will get smushy and thereby render itself inedible for fickletarians.
3. For Whole 30 option, remove serving from main bowl and put in separate bowl. Top with meat and half of pepitas (and some habanero, if desired). (Add 1/2 cooked bell pepper here if you're being held hostage by fickletarians.) Drizzle with Whole30 compliant dressing, such as olive oil and lemon juice.
4. Add corn and beans to main bowl and mix. Mix dressing ingredients separately and stir into salad.
5. For vegan option, remove serving from main bowl and put in separate bowl. Add rice, remaining pepitas, and habanero if desired. (Add bell pepper here if you've given over your life to fickletarians.)
6. For vegetarian/fickletarian option, set tortilla chips on a large plate and sprinkle with cheese. Microwave for approximately 15 seconds. Mix 'nachos' into salad and serve. Watch fickletarians pick through the salad with their grimy little fingers, scooping out the chips and cheese until you beg, plead, and cajole them into eating the rest of it. As they do, watch their faces as they realize with horror that this is a salad that they actually LIKE! ;)
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