An Easy Side or Salad

It always great to try new recipes to build a library of healthful recipes, but you need a small number of quick and easy options to round out a meal. One of our favorites revolves around two ingredients - cucumbers and tomatoes.

The simplest variation is equal parts diced cucumbers and tomatoes with an olive oil and balsalmic vinegar dressing. From there you can add a can of salmon, tuna or chicken to make a full lunchtime meal.

Adding a few grapes to the basic cucumber and tomato combo is an easy way to sweeten it up a bit. Be sure to slice the grapes in half to release some of the flavor and to make it easier to spear the grapes with your fork. We often use a pre-made dressing with this, usually a greek dressing that we buy at Fred Meyer. Or make your own Greek dressing, as follows:

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Enjoy this great snack, lunch or dinner side salad!

Peloton Race Snacks

The Saris Cycling Group posted some great videos featuring Allen Lim that share their recipes for in-ride snacks. These are great recipes, though I would only recommend them for in-ride fueling. They are pretty high carb. If your body can't use the carbs it'll turn 'em to fat to use later, so go easy.

Here are links to the videos:

• Rice Cakes. (Add a little honey when making the rice, then add cranberries, golden raisins and sliced almonds for a sweet version)
• Wrap Ups.
• Panini.
• Boiled Potatoes.

Too EZ Coleslaw

My wife and I ate at a Claim Jumper Restaurant earlier this summer. I ordered a salad that was basically coleslaw, but with dried cranberries, golden raisins and almonds, plus some sort of meat (I forget, probably chicken or fish) and some fancy chutney stuff. It was great! It got me looking for a way to liven up plain old coleslaw. The result is that we use coleslaw as an almost daily snack. It's inexpensive, good for you and very easy to prepare. Here are our basic recipes. Once you try a few of these you'll quickly come up with your own variations. We split the recipe into roughly 6 oz portions and store them in 9.5oz Ziplock storage containers.

The basic no-brains recipe:
16 oz bag Coleslaw
½ jar (6.5 oz) 13 oz Lighthouse Coleslaw dressing (or your favorite brand)
1/3 cup Dried cranberries
1/3 cup Golden raisins
1/3 cup Almond slivers

Mix it all together. Refrigerate an hour before serving, if possible.

And Endless Variations:
Variation #1
¼ cup Raisins
¼ cup Coconut
8 oz Pineapple tidbits

Variation #2
1 cup Diced apple
1/3 cup Toasted walnuts
1 cup Halved red grapes
¼ cup Blue Cheese (optional)

Variation #3
½ lb Shrimp (bite size)
1 can Pineapple tidbits, or sliced mandarin oranges

Variation #4
2 cups Cantaloupe

Variation #5
¼ cup Chopped, toasted walnuts
1 Small orange, chopped
2 Tbsp Raisins

Variation #6
½ can Mangoes
½ Red pepper, diced
½ Yellow Pepper, diced
3 Green onions, sliced

Variation #7
1 Mango
1 cup Green apple, diced or julienned
1/3 cup Dried cranberries
¼ cup Halved red (or green) grapes

Variation #8
½ cup Golden raisins
½ cup Dried cranberries
2 Green onions, sliced
3 Tbsp Shredded coconut
½ cup Halved red (or green) grapes (optional)
½ cup Dried apricots, chopped

Variation #9
1 Diced green apple
½ cup Celery
2 Tbsp Chopped, toasted walnuts
2 Tbsp Raisins
1 Tbsp Honey