Here’s a quick, no mess way to dice up an avocado

1. Cut the avocado in half lengthwise and twist the two halves slightly to loosen one half from the pit

2. Remove pit by carefully inserting knife and gently twisting

3. Cut the avocado flesh diagonally in one direction, then cut it again diagonally in the other direction

4. Use a spoon to scoop out the pieces

I call this recipe a ‘super salad’ because it’s a super way to make a quick meal out of whatever is in your fridge. Simply start with a base of cooked brown rice or quinoa and then add whatever is on hand … the possibilities are endless and changeable.

Don’t worry if there is no salad dressing on hand nor time to whip one up … a simple splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar always works. And sometimes you won’t need a dressing at all because the blend of flavours from your ingredients happens to work perfectly … so don’t forget to taste your super salad before adding dressing.

Super salad will keep in the fridge for several days.

Suggested Ingredients

Base: cooked brown rice or quinoa

Vegetables: whatever you have on hand or feel like eating. Here are some suggestions: alfalfa sprouts, arugula, asparagus, avocado, basil , beet greens, bell pepper, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chives, corn kernels, cucumber, daikon radish, dandelion greens, fennel, fresh herbs, green beans, green onion, hot peppers, leafy greens, lettuce, mushrooms, parsley, pea greens, peas, radish, red onion, spinach, sprouts, tomato

Protein: quinoa and brown rice are both good sources of protein, but if you want your super salad to be more substantial, here are a few suggestions: almonds, black beans, brazil nuts, cashews, cheese, chick peas, feta cheese, grilled chicken, hard boiled eggs, kidney beans, pine nuts, walnuts

Extras: add flavour, texture, colour and interest with a few extras such as: apple, berries, currents, edible flowers, kiwi, nasturtium flowers, olives, peach, pear, raisons

Dressing: use whatever premade dressing you have on hand, or try this suggestion: splash of a good quality oil such as olive or hemp and a splash of either balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, lemon or lime juice

… told you the possibilities are endless. Of course this is a non-exhaustive list of possible ingredients for your super salad. Let me know what your favourite super salad ingredients are.

Directions
1. Chop whatever needs chopping
2. Toss everything together into a bowl
3. Enjoy

To help get you started, here’s a picture of what I found to use for my super salad today. Most of the ingredients came from my fridge, but I also found some in the container garden on the patio. The picture at the top of this post is the finished salad just before I ate it.

Don’t be afraid to experiment … as long as you like all the ingredients you are putting in the super salad, you won’t go wrong.

My purchases today were simple: 2 avocados and a large ripe tomato.

No plastic involved! Yeah!

I was curious about the produce sticker with the PLU number on it. The stickers on the avocados seem to be made of paper because I was easily able to rip it. I started searching through my fridge for other produce stickers and found one on those oranges that I bought the other day. That sticker was definitely plastic because it didn’t rip, it stretched as you can see in the picture below.

I did a little research on the stickers and discovered that the glue part that attaches the sticker to the produce has to be ‘food grade’ … whatever that means … because it seems to me that the definition of “food grade’ keeps changing.

I did learn some interesting things about the PLU number on those little labels. Apparently a four digit number means the produce was conventionally grown. If the number starts with ’9′ the produce is organic. If the number starts with ’8′ the produce is genetically modified. You can read more on the International Federation for Produce Standards website.