How can I get my children to LIKE to eat salads?
Friday, 09. May 2008 by Renee Ellison
Well in the FIRST place, don’t use iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce has no personality, no color, no taste and no nutrition. There, we nailed that one. Get somethin’ that LOOKS exciting. Try baby romaine leaves, or baby spinach, or something multi-green. Get the triple washed, if you want (interpretation: open and dump...much less work). Organic is always preferable, if you can find it and can afford it.
SECONDLY, you gotta get the dressing right! You can throw out (or use up) all your bottles of dressing that are packed with preservatives, and WHITE distilled vinegar (corrosive stuff) and never buy them again...only use lemon or apple cider vinegar (contains centuries-old known health benefits) as your vinegar from now on. There, I just saved you TONS of money! Here is a simple little dressing that you could use everyday for the rest of your life: stir together 3 T olive oil, 3 T lemon/or apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 clove garlic, a smidgeon of honey or agave or maple syrup to taste (well, you’ll all want more than a smidgeon: 1 tsp. or more), 1/2 tsp Frontier’s All Purpose Seasoning—and if you have a large family just add 1/4 to 1/2 C water to stretch it. Mix it all together and dump it onto the greens. Then get out two huge spoons and mix and mix and mix and mix and mix and mix and mix and sing, and say hoidee-doidee, hum-de-dum, and LOOK happy. The salt and oil take the other ingredients into every leaf...you wanta thoroughly coat backsides and frontsides of every leaf. The mixing is IMPORTANT. Ya gotta get it RIGHT!
THIRDLY, add somethin’ HEFTY to the salad, somethin’ different every day—cubes of baked potato, rice and zucchini, steamed green beans, broccoli/cauliflower, butternut squash, tuna, kidney beans, walnuts and raisins for a sweet salad, etc.—and serve it with whole wheat toast spread with olive oil and garlic, or rye crackers, or hearty whole grain muffins of some sort.
FOURTHLY, LOOK and act like a French Chef. Get yourself a huge 13 qt. bowl to make these salads in EVERYDAY. Put an apron on and roll up your sleeves with relish. Talk outloud with utter delight, “I think I’ll add a little bit of this”...as you treasure hunt for additional things to add. Always start with gobs of cucumbers, and celery as a base. Then red/yellow/orange bell pepper (skip the green pepper if you can, it’s less nutritious), tomato, olives, artichoke hearts, scallion onions, radishes, beets (different things on different days.) Have one of these salads EVERYDAY for lunch and maybe you can kiss your family doctor goodbye.