Salads make for healthy alternative


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Week three of classes and we are all still alive and kicking. Congratulations and Happy Wednesday, Trojans! I hope everyone is managing their time well and that their New Year’s diets are still intact — if not, I have a great recipe that might help you stay on track while still satisfying those stubborn cravings. Chances are, this recipe will also get you in your kitchen and away from picking up a Chinese Chicken Salad or a package of sushi from Seeds Marketplace everyday.

Salads can be boring and monotonous to order, as well as to make. The ingredients can be repetitive and the options can become limited — sometimes, all you need are the right ingredients such as bacon, bacon and more bacon.

Aside from my bacon obsession, I recently added three simple ingredients to that list — no, they are not some crazy foodie ingredient such as mangosteens or kale -— the ingredients are freshly grated Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Olive oil is one of the most versatile oils around and is also very good for you. I use olive oil to cook vegetables, meats and pastas. Olive oil also goes great on whole grains and of course salad. Parmesan cheese is flat-out delicious and always makes me feel like I am in some sort of classy Italian café, as well as the sweet smell of balsamic vinegar — reminiscent of the warm bread you scarf down with olive oil and vinegar before you give your order to the waiter.

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Parmesan seem to be making their way into every entrée I make, from eggy breakfasts to quick lunches, olive oil even makes an appearance when it is time for dessert — like drizzling some on top of ice cream — sounds bizarre, but it’s actually delicious. With these ingredients, I used my culinary skills to make a one-of-a-kind salad — not really.

I got creative with some bacon, lettuce and tomato; then I realized that I started adding all of the vegetables I had in my fridge at that time, magically tossing them here and there, ultimately creating the BLT Cobb College Salad. This salad is exactly as it sounds, part BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) without the bread, and part Cobb all chopped up, with a couple extra ingredients such as freshly grated Parmesan cheese, cucumbers, fresh cilantro, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

In Southern California, there is not a time that is not qualified to have a fresh salad tossed in the middle of it, so here is one that I feel covers all bases: meat, protein, dairy, fruit and the classics. Maybe this plate is not something incredibly new to you, but I like it, especially with extra Parmesan.

Staying on a diet has never been so easy, in my opinion. You can seriously have it all in one salad, and hold the guilt — if you do not have access to a kitchen, dining halls on campus have salad bars that have all of the following ingredients.

The BLT Cobb College Salad

Ingredients

1 head of romaine lettuce

4 hard-boiled eggs

1 large cucumber

2 tomatoes

8 pieces of thick cut bacon (can also use turkey bacon and as much as you want)

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan cheese

Fresh bunch of cilantro, washed and dried

Directions

Boil the eggs.

While the eggs are boiling, take the cucumbers, tomatoes and head of lettuce and chop them into bits.

Put the slices of bacon on a skillet, and cook to your liking. Once done, place on a paper towel to absorb the extra grease, then chop the bacon to bits.

Take the cooled eggs and chop them to bits.

Toss all the ingredients in a bowl.

Take the fresh cilantro and pull off the leaves and place in the bowl.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and add about two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and four tablespoons of olive oil — feel free to add more or less of each ingredient.

Alegra Hueso is a sophomore majoring in Creative Writing. Her column “In Love with the Edible” runs Wednesdays.