Ever heard of the phrase, “If you’re bored then you’re boring”?
For some reason I was thinking about this the other day in the context of food as I was photo editing this recipe. If you eat the same foods day in and day out and are just kind of blah about your meals, you’re most definitely a boring eater. And you’re probably bored with your diet.
Let’s talk about salads in this context. Numerous people have said to me, “I can’t eat a lot of salads because they just get boring.”
Well yea, if you eat the same salad combo every single day…. but why would you when there are so many options? I have many beloved salad combos, including:
- Kale Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese & Almonds
- Black Bean Burger, Cheddar & Ranch Salad <— my recent favorite
- Mexican Tortilla Salad, where I throw in avocado, shredded cheese, tomato, tortilla chips, corn, and every other type of vegetable I can find that can be found in Mexican food
- Heirloom Tomato, Arugula & Mozzarella Salad
….and the list goes on and on. I eat a salad at least a few times a week, and they never get boring because I’m always coming up with fun new combos.
Recently I was thinking about how wedge salads at restaurants are typically bathed in bleu cheese and bacon. Despite my love of cheese, I’m not a bleu cheese fan, and we all know that I think pigs are way too cute to eat them. So, I decided to come up with a wedge salad recipe with a Mediterranean twist, using some of my favorite ingredients, including avocado, slivered almonds, crumbled feta and tomatoes.
Since I usually am boring with my salad dressings and do an olive oil + white balsamic + fresh lemon juice + sea salt mix, I made it more interesting this time by making it a chickpea vinaigrette — which is a sneaky way to add in more veggies!
If you’re making the salad as an appetizer, it’ll easily serve 4. But, if you’re like my hubby and me, you each eat a huge plate of wedge salad as your main entree, alongside some warm pita bread wedges.
Mediterranean Wedge Salad with Chickpea Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 large head of iceberg lettuce
- 1 medium vine ripe tomato
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 oz avocado
- 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
- 1 large stalk of green onion
- 1/2 large cucumber peeled
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 TSP dijon mustard
- 1 TBSP sherry vinegar
- 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 2 TBSP water
- Juice from 1/4 medium lemon around 2 TSPs
- 1/4 TSP sea salt
- 1/8 TSP black pepper
Instructions
- Quarter the iceberg head. Chop the tomato, avocado, green onion and cucumber.
- Place the lettuce on 2-4 plates, depending on if you're serving as a smaller appetizer dish or as the main entree. Arrange the tomato, feta, avocado, almonds, green onion and cucumber evenly on each dish.
- To make the dressing: Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add another TBSP of water if necessary to adjust to the desired consistency. Spoon dressing onto each iceberg wedge, coat evenly. Serve with pita wedges, fresh bread, or whatever your heart desires.
Tell me, are you more of a boring eater? Or do you like a lot of variety? What’s your favorite salad combo?
Add avocado to anything and I’m in! I don’t think I’m a boring eater, but if I find something I love, I’ll stick to it until that particular phase is over. (For example, I’ll get addicted to egg white oatmeal, greek yogurt+protein powder, or overnight oats and eat one of them exclusively for a couple (or few) weeks until I move on to something else!). My favourite salad lately is anything made with kale… it’s so much more interesting than regular lettuce!
I also love avocado! I know what you mean, sometimes I get addicted to certain meals or combos… but I know people that eat literally the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I could NOT do that without getting bored!
HA, I go back and forth between boring and not boring. Although TO ME neither are boring, I eat whatever sounds good. Even if that means the same things daily.
Whatever floats your boat, right?! 🙂
This salad looks anything but boring! It wouldn’t last more than a few seconds in front of me. I love the idea to use chickpeas in the vinaigrette too. So unique!
Thanks, Sarah! You should try it.. I really liked using chickpeas in my dressing!
You had me at feta. I love it!
Thanks for reading, Jen!
You had me at chickpea! I’m kind of a boring eater, I eat the same things all the time because I’m lazy.
Hehehe, love the honesty… but on the contrary, as a reader of your blog I don’t think you’re that boring of an eater! The eats that you post always sound delicious.
I so agree – there are so many awesome salad ideas out there – definitely not boring! This looks absolutely fantastic – I love that you used the chickpeas in the dressing!
Well I know that you’re not a boring eater because I am always DROOLING at your recipes lady!
LOL you think pigs are way too cute to eat? LOL!! I respect that 🙂 I go through salad phases sometimes I love them sometimes—not so much. I need to tr these suggestions!
WAY TOO CUTE!!! But then again, I pretty much think all animals are too cute to eat 🙂
That dressing sounds amazing! I love that it’s like a hummus dressing. 🙂
Thank you, Laura! I definitely liked switching up my normal EVOO + balsamic dressing mix.
WOW! This looks amazing! I would love to eat this! I am definitely not a boring eater. I hardly ever make a recipe twice. The only thing I’m boring about is lunch. I never know what to have!