This is a very nutty salad. Peanutty, pecanutty, and whole wheat nutty.
After a weekend of eating straight chocolate cake, I hit the gym for the first time in over two months and made this salad to pack for weekday lunches. Oddly enough, I lost two pounds over chocolate cake weekend, but I also almost fell off the treadmill on Monday, and I wasn’t even texting this time! No good. Salad to the rescue.
I picked out these veggies because they don’t wilt, not even after a few days, so I can make a huge tray that will keep for a while in the fridge. Cucumbers and tomatoes give it enough juiciness, carrots and pecans enough crunchiness. Green peppers keep it fresh. And beets, why not? With a side of whole wheat Israeli cous cous and sauced all over with creamy peanut dressing, this is a filling meal, not just a bunch of lettuce. Lettuce is for the bunnies.
That peanut sauce is nummy enough to lick off a spoon. Happy munching.
Ingredients
Directions
- The way to keep a mixed garden salad fresh is to keep the ingredients compartmentalized. You can toss them together the day of eating.
- Separate the cucumbers, tomatoes, and beets with layers of green pepper, pecan, and carrots. This prevents the veggies with higher water content from getting soggy.
- Rinse the whole wheat pearl cous cous under ice cold water and store in a separate container.
- For the dressing, vigorously whisk or blend all the ingredients together until smooth. It might seem very liquidy at first, but peanuts soak up water, so setting it in the fridge overnight will return it to a thick creamy texture.
If you like this recipe, also check out Señor Chompy’s Fiesta in a Jar:
5 comments
I want it now. Do you deliver?
Hello Bobby’s Friend, if you can score a 104 on a chem test, you can definitely make this yourself 😉
Ooh…good call on using veggies that don’t wilt. This looks delicious – a perfect lunch to pack to bring to work! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Thanks CakePants! Yep this is my lunch for the week 😛