I’m famous for my crazy combinations. I love sweet and spicy together, crunchy and creamy. Lots of color. Hey, if you can’t have fun with your meals then what can you have fun with? Life is too short to not enjoy what you’re eating most of the time. Like 99.9% of the time. I spent way too long dieting and choking down dry chicken breasts. Never again!
Yesterday what What I Eat Wednesday on Facebook and I made a great spur of the moment salad. It actually just entailed me opening the fridge, grabbing random ingredients, and mixing them up. They were based on flavor combinations that I’ve liked in the past but mixed together in new ways. Try thinking this way the next time you’re bored with your food and see if you can’t come up with some new ideas.
I’ve had strawberries and Greek yogurt before. Good. I’ve had cucumbers and spicy dressing. Good. Greek yogurt and lime goes together nicely. Peanuts and cayenne work well. Hmmm, what happens if I put them all together? Tah dah! 😉 Seriously, this is how my brain works in the kitchen. I haven’t had too many things turn out inedible yet, but I’ve had tons of winning combos created.
Strawberry Cucumber Salad with Lime Yogurt Dressing 
- 3 cups (300g) strawberries, sliced
- 1 large cucumber (300g), sliced
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp mace or nutmeg
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 oz (56g) roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
Toss the strawberries and cucumbers in a bowl with the sugar and mace or nutmeg. Let them sit for about 10 minutes to marinate. Mix the lime juice and yogurt in a small bowl with the sugar. If you need to, add just a little water to thin the dressing.
Place the strawberries and cucumbers on a plate and drizzle with the dressing. Sprinkle on the peanuts and cayenne pepper, to taste.
Makes 4 servings at approximately 147 calories each – 8g protein, 13g carbs, and 7g fat.
Another tip when I throw things like this together is to combine it with food prep. I don’t really start out with set amounts of ingredients in mind. I grab the entire container of strawberries and slice them all. I take out a whole cucumber, and slice it as well. When I’m putting the salad together, I throw an amount and ratio in a bowl that looks good to me.
The leftover sliced fruits and veggies go in plastic containers for another purpose, so it kills two birds with one stone. I get salad and leftovers plus I have ingredients chopped and ready to go for whatever I think of next. No additional prep needed. It makes life so much easier that way. I also had dressing leftover so I used that instead of mayo to mix into tuna for a sandwich. 🙂
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