Italian Chopped Salad

Sometimes you need a really hearty salad. Winter is an especially good time for this because all the ingredients are widely available all year long. 

This salad has everything: lettuce, cheese, meat, chickpeas, onions, peppers, and a dressing packed with oregano and garlic. It's a real treat. An excellent meal on its own or a great side dish with soup or a sandwich.  It will serve 4 as a meal or more as a side.

The recipe comes from Nancy's Chopped Salad in the Mozza cookbook, via Smitten Kitchen.

Here's what you need for this delicious salad.

Bean and Shrimp Salad with Curried Yogurt

Here's a tasty dish on the lighter side for a fresh start to the new year.  I still have holiday leftovers so I'm not quite ready to start eating clean, but soon you should see plenty of lighter dishes here.  

This recipe uses crisp beans, which I love.  I used a mix of purple and yellow beans.  They look great raw, but the purple ones turn dark green when cooked.

I really should get back to cooking with shrimp more often.  They are satisfying but very healthy, and it's easy to always have some waiting in the freezer to quickly defrost.  

This recipe comes from Cooking Light.  Here's what you need: