The simplest of salads

Try this sometime (if you haven't already) - go into any all-American restaurant and tell them you're eating a vegan diet today. Ask what they have that you can eat.

There's a 90% chance that the very well-intentioned response will be, "We have salad." With a generous, delighted smile of a server who honestly thinks that's all a vegan could ever possibly want to eat.

I could understand that if I was 98-pounds-soaking-wet. But really - I don't live on salads!

All too often, to add insult to injury, I find that the so-called "salads" on the menu are covered in strips of meat, cheese and egg : (

Well, as I like to joke - Just because I eat a vegan diet, does not mean I'm a bunny!

Like many Midwesterners, I think of a green, leafy salad as a side-dish, not a meal.

And, I seldom want one of those fashionable salads with a sugary sweet dressing, a slick of oil poured across the top, or with fruit syrup flavors. Just a nice, healthy, refreshing accompaniment to my main dish.

So, with that in mind, here's how I've been eating my every day side-salads lately:

Super Simple Salad
A bed of Greens (Sliced Romaine Hearts or Mixed Baby Greens are my favorites)
Diced Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and/or Bell Peppers
Some nice Green, Kalamata, or Oil-cured Olives
1 to 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice drizzled over the top
A generous sprinkle of Garlic Salt
Oregano sprinkled over the top

It's a lovely-tasting, every day sort of salad. No sugar, no oil, no fruit, no meat. Just nice, delicious salad : )

Fresh, Homemade Bread - Every Day!

A homemade loaf from my oven, baked by this method

.A few years back, I stumbled upon a GREAT bread cookbook, and a great blog to go with it. Being a frugal person, I checked the book out from the library the first time I used it. It was so amazing that I have since bought SEVERAL copies of it, and I regularly visit the authors' blog.

Really, once you have tried their the method - which they share on their Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day website - a few times, you might do what I did - donate your bread machine!

Personally, I'm not sure why other bread-book authors are out there. These guys have done it!

These recipes allow me to have homemade yeast bread on the table at virtually every meal, with almost no work. Boule, Foccacia, Naan, Pita, Pizza - it's all fresh from MY kitchen. And, it costs about 40cents/pound : )

I have control over all the ingredients - nothing yucky in my bread that I don't want there!

And, they have great recipes for Gluten Free Bread & Pizza Crusts, Whole Wheat Bread (I frequently make that one, too) and lots of other yummy stuff. Like Cinnamon Rolls : )

I use a slightly different baking method. The authors of the book & website allow their bread to rise on a board, then transfer it onto a preheated pizza stone. I prefer to use a perforated, non-stick pizza pan for rising & baking - no preheating of the pan is necessary, and there's no risk of a clumsy cook dumping a loaf of dough on the bottom of the oven ; ) Best of all, it still turns out a delicious, artisan loaf.

The perfect container to mix and store the dough? A brand new plastic shoe box from the Dollar Store! 

Check out their blog - and seriously consider buying one or more of their books!

Here's the link to their wonderful recipe & method:

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day 

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