I have a confession to make :: I have been a salad hater for, pretty much, ever. Something about eating lettuce and vegetables as a meal has never sat right with me. Technically, I’m not sure if you can call this little concoction a salad.. but thats what I’m going with.
The most important thing with this salad is FLAVOR. The flavors you use when working with veggies are everything, at least for me. Vegetables can be so bland, so I make sure to add flavor via salt / pepper / garlic / lemon or lime juice / cilantro / spices / whatever else.
This is one of my favorite recipes to make for the week and just keep it in the fridge for easy heating up later.
I mean, talk about a photo-ready ingredient line up. Could these colors get any better? Per usual, I didn’t use a set amount of each ingredient, I just crafted the combo to my liking. That means: A lot of Cilantro / Lime ( think Chipotle-ish ) / sea salt & pepper. Like I said before :: I made more than a serving of this all at once, so I could eat it for the next couple of days, which is so convenient for busy days.
So lets get down to business :: Pour a lil’ of the olive oil in a sauté pan on the stove at a medium to medium-high heat. Add in the minced garlic + onion and let sit until the onion starts becoming clear. Then, add the zucchini + whatever other veggies you’re into + sea salt + pepper + lime juice. I used a wooden spoon to mix this up in the pan until the zucchini started to get soft.
Then, I added some cooked quinoa and thawed mini shrimp ( and more lime juice because I love it soooo much ) and mixed that in / let it sit until the shrimp became more translucent-looking. Since both of these things were cooked before, this step was just to heat them up / let them soak in some of the flavor.
When I took my concoction out of the pan, I mixed in some fresh cilantro + some of my homemade salsa from earlier this week + half an avocado. When I tasted it, I decided it needed a leetle more pepper / sea salt, so I added that and it was perfecto.
Like I said, its all about what you like, so I encourage you to test out different proportions / add flavors / etc. This is just my personal fav. If I’m going to eat veggies, I have to spice them up a little. The cilantro + lime combo is heaven to me.
I drank my healthy lil’ lunch with some lemon water ( went well with that citrus-flavor in the salad ). Plus lemon water is so much more interesting than normal, boring water. It adds a little kick.
Hope y’all like my simple summery salad!
What’s your favorite summer dish ?
[ PS ]