So last week I entered on a self-imposed Instagram food-venture called #saladweek. I wanted to kick-start some healthier habits and with the warmer weather nearing, I figured I’d put it out there and commit to a salad a day for a week. I don’t like eating the same thing every day, especially salad, so I got creative. And I’m happy to report, a new salad habit was formed in just a week.

That week was off to an enthusiastic start with a fridge loaded up with a ton of veggies and lots of recipes in my head. But, by day two, about 3 p.m. in the afternoon, I got ‘hangry’. That’s Hungry + Angry. A deadly combo. That arugula salad with strawberries was just not doing the trick. Actually, I’m not going to lie, I was hangry after that Greek salad on day one too. I ended up supplementing my light and healthy lunches with late afternoon chips. My bad. I didn’t realize I had to also pack a zillion healthy snacks during #saladweek. Lesson learned. Day 3 I loaded up with some potatoes and tuna in the no-egg Nicoise and the afternoon ‘hanger’ didn’t really happen. Day 4 got some wakame seaweed salad with my sushi takeout. Let’s call it a #humpday hiccup.

Left: Grilled Haloumi and Fresh Herb Salad
Top Row L to R: Greek Salad; Arugula, strawberry, goat cheese, quinoa, and walnuts
Middle Row L to R: No-egg Nicoise, Roasted Brussels, charred cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and quinoa
Bottom Row L to R: Tuscan kale salad with currants and Parmesan, Mixed berries with coconut yogurt and cereal

By Day 5, something weird happened. I started craving salad. That’s when the two-a-day salad situation started. A salad at two meals was actually delicious and satisfying. I ended up doing 9 salads in 8 days, and there was only one day I didn’t have any salad. Not too shabby.

Haloumi is a semi-hard cheese, usually made from sheep’s milk (sometimes with goat and/or cow’s milk too) that can be grilled. Warm cheese in a salad is amazing. You must try. This was probably my favourite salad from #saladweek.

What have I learned from #saladweek?  Let me share:

• Have a game plan before you go grocery shopping (a general idea of recipes, ingredients will keep you from running to the store every night)
• Pack snacks… LOTS of snacks
• Make sure to include some protein
• A mix of textures, colours, and flavours keeps it interesting (and probably more nutritious)
• Make enough for dinner and lunch for the next day if possible
• Be creative and have fun

So now that #saladweek is over, I’m no longer doing salad every day. But I am eating a lot better and healthier than I was before #saladweek. I have so many more new salad recipes to share with you, and hopefully, it’s inspired you to try eating more salads too.  Salad-spiration.  And just to clarify, that sounds like Salad + Inspiration NOT Salad + Perspiration.

PS – For pictures of what I’m eating/cooking, follow me on Instagram here.