Daily Salad Template

This is more a template than a recipe and we eat this for at least one meal a day.  Really, except for breakfast, every meal begins with a bed of greens.  It’s an easy way to get a lot of nutrition in without a lot of calories or carbohydrates.  We have a different template for him than for me because I do not have diabetes and I’m not counting my carbs as he is.

The basic template is as follows:
1 layer of cruciferous shredded veggies
1 layer of leafy greens, whatever mix you like or baby spinach
Cut up low carb veggies like cucumbers, celery, tomatoes, etc.  We don’t do avocado, but if you do not already have heart disease, it can be a great addition
1/2 cup of “beany stuff” – this is whatever plant based protein we’re using.  We avoid anything processed and this is where my husband’s salad finishes since he spends all his carbohydrates on protein

This is an example of a salad I made for him:

The beans in the center are just black beans cooked with some onion, garlic, tomatoes, and Mrs. Dash Southwestern Chiptole seasoning.  No oil or salt added and I’ll include recipes for beany things as well.
For me, since I do not have heart disease or diabetes, I will also sometimes add in the following:
Handful of “carby” veggies – I like roasted sweet potato cubes or winter squash
Fruit – I sometimes will add fruit or berries to my salads
Walnuts – These really have a lot of nutritional benefits and are worth including
Avocado
Grains like quinoa, farro, barley, etc.

This is an example of a salad for me, without carbs restricted:

I have everything he has, with some roasted delicata squash and sliced figs added in.

This template works really well for keeping his carb count manageable.  His salad had less than 30 carbs total and with the amount of protein and fiber, he didn’t have to dose a lot of insulin and his blood glucose level never climbed above 130.  Even better?  He’s FULL and that’s a lot of nutrition packed into that salad.  We use this template for most meals, using up whatever produce we have on hand and swapping in different veggies and salad mixes.

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