The BEST Salad Mix

I wanted to share my salad mix with you because I've been loving so much about it. I've been making my salad mix for a few months now. As you may know I'm a big salad person. I (I should say 'we' as both hubby and I are big salad people :) have a salad almost every day. I think fresh veggies are so important in a diet. They're full of vitamins, minerals and fiber; all needed things in a healthy diet.

But salads can be a pain to have to make every single day. It's always easier to open a can of veggies or microwave frozen veggies, or skip them altogether.

On occasions I have bought those salad kits that come with add ins and dressing to simplify my day. They are super simple! One of the things I took notice of was the fact that many of them contain mostly cabbage. I can see why, cabbage stays fresh much longer than other types of greens do. In the end I began to feel I was paying a premium for cabbage (and a little convenience).

I decided that I would make my own salad mix. I really don't need the little packet of dressing or even some of the add ins, as I typically have those things on hand.

I chose veggies for my salad mix that had a long life once they are cut into. A lot of veggies deteriorate quickly once they are cut and sliced.

What I've come up with has lasted in my fridge an entire week. I do a bunch of cutting and slicing and grating once a week and the majority of the process is done. It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to do this.

Here are the main veggies I use:

Green cabbage

Red cabbage

Carrots

Kale

Once in a while I will add grated fresh beets to this mix as well.

The process is simple. I use my food processor. If you don't have a food processor it will take longer to do this.

The amounts of each of these veggies is really up to you. I usually do about 1/3 to 1/2 of a green cabbage, 1/4 of a red cabbage, 3 or 4 large carrots and 2 or 3 large leaves of kale. 

If this would be more salad then you would eat in a week, feel free to reduce the amounts. It's not a "recipe" in the sense that you need to follow a certain amount of the ingredients. It's more of a process that I'm sharing, so you can vary it according to your own needs.

I start with the green cabbage and using the slicing disk on my food processor. I slice the cabbage and put it in a large bowl. 

I repeat the process with the red cabbage....

Next I switch to the grating disk on my food processor and grate the carrots and add those to the cabbage..

Finally I remove the stem from the kale leaves and chop it as finely as possible, and add it to the bowl..

Then mix it all up (not only is it healthy but it looks pretty! :) ...

I store this covered in the fridge.

Here is how I use it..

I put some greens on my plate (spinach in this case, but you can use whatever type of greens you like)..

Top it with a generous portion of the salad mix...

At this point you can be done if you want, but I usually will add a few extras. If you want to make it quick you can add grape tomatoes, sprinkle with a few nuts, a couple olives, a few craisins and maybe a bit of parmesan cheese.. super easy!

I will usually add a couple more veggies when I serve. If all I have to do at a meal is slice a couple veggies it doesn't take long at all..

I also use this salad mix in other ways. If I'm stir frying up veggies I'll add a generous amount of this to the frying pan. I have added it to soups and even used the mix on sandwiches and wraps. It's very versatile.

I love this because not only does it last several days (If all your veggies are super fresh it will last a week or more), make salad making super easy, but it's so much more frugal than the prepackaged salad mixes. 

Crystal :)