My Favorite Chopped Salad

Hey Everyone,

I am posting this recipe because I had a request for it this morning...I ate this in place of the oatmeal that I tried yesterday (which I didn't like!) This salad was delicious, and I'm pretty sure it would be about as healthy as the oatmeal.

Ok...this is a standard "chopped salad," that I change around to suit whatever I have in the house.  I saw lots of these kinds of salads in Israel and I learned to love them.

Usually, I chop up a bell pepper, an onion, a red pepper.  But this is where the variations begin.  You can add celery if you like, or maybe a cucumber, a tomato, or whatever raw veggie suits you.  I add a couple of cans of different kinds of beans.  I like black beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans, garbanzo beans, whatever beans.  Then I make up a vinegar/oil dressing - and I kinda guess at the amounts, based on how much I have chopped and put into the bowl.  I would suggest starting with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and maybe 3-4 tbsp. of olive oil.  Taste the whole thing after it's done, and if you need to add more, add more.  If you need to, put in a couple tsp. sugar, but I don't usually do that.  Put in some seasoning, like garlic powder, or cilantro, or whatever you like.

I know I'm not the most precise recipe person.  I totally "wing it" in the kitchen.

Ok...so last night, I really wanted some vegetables, since our grilled fish and veggies got (shall we say) "flame broiled to a dark color?"  I remembered that I had bought a bag of these:

Here is the EXACT RECIPE I used as pictured, and on my Facebook this morning.  It was REALLY easy.

I put this bag of Birdseye Recipe Ready vegetables into a colander and ran some water over them till they thawed a little.  Then I put them into a bowl.  I opened a can of garbanzo beans and poured them in.  Then I poured on approximately 2 T. of rice wine vinegar, and maybe 2-4 T. olive oil.  I sprinkled in some garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  And that was it!  It was much less work, and actually tasted about the same as when I chop and chop and chop.  (But I recommend trying different variations...it's fun.)

I ate it with half a piece of whole wheat pita bread and it was very filling and satisfying. Also very good with corn chips.

Hope you enjoy.