8 Steps to Preparing 7 Days of Salad in Less Than 60 Minutes

Preparing a salad every day is such a chore and can be very time consuming. Most people have wonderful intentions of a salad every day with lunch, dinner, or both. But then they realize that they just do not have enough time to wash, peel, and chop all of those vegetables. So they go without a nutritious and delicious salad with their meal.

What these people do not realize is that they can take some time to wash, peel, chop, and store their veggies for an entire week in less than an hour. I know it sounds impossible, if it takes 20 minutes every day to make a salad, how can someone prepare a week's worth of salads in less than one hour?

Think about it, if you do the bulk of the work, it doesn't take that long. Then when you are ready to enjoy your fresh vegetables, they are ready and waiting. Here are the step by step instructions to prepare your entire week's worth of vegetables in less than one hour:

1. Gather all of your supplies. This includes the vegetables, knives, peelers, and a garbage bowl for everything that will be discarded, moist paper towels, dry paper towels, colander, large pot, and a storage bag for each vegetable you are preparing.

2. Wash all vegetables in the colander and place in the pot for drainage.

3. Vegetables like celery and mushrooms can be washed with the moist paper towels.

4. Start with the largest vegetables. I always have 3 heads of romaine lettuce and 1 head of iceberg lettuce. This gives me nutrients, crunch, and sweetness. Cut each romaine head lengthwise and then chop into 1 inch cubes. Remove the core from the iceberg lettuce and cut in half. Take the first half and cut lengthwise and then into cubes. Repeat on the other half. Toss all of the lettuce together and place in the bags; usually you will need 2 large storage bags. Place a dry paper towel in each bag to prevent wilting and molding. All unused portions are to be placed into the garbage bowl. You can always mix it up and add spinach, kale, or any other greens you like.

5. Next do the vegetables that do not need to be peeled. I use peppers, celery, green beans, and mushrooms. I slice them into the portion sizes I like and place them in bags. These do not have to be accompanied by a paper towel but you can if you so choose. Any unused portions can be placed in the garbage bowl.

6. I peel all of the vegetables at one time and set them aside for chopping after I have finished this task. I typically have carrots and cucumbers. Peel directly over the garbage bowl. Once you have finished peeling everything you can chop your vegetables into bite sized or slightly larger chunks and place them in separate bags. Do not include a paper towel in these bags. Place all unused portions in the garbage bowl.

7. Place all of the vegetables in the fridge.

8. Dump the garbage bowl into your compost pile or garbage can. Clean your work surface.

It really is that simple. Now when you are ready for your salad, everything is pre-washed and chopped for your convenience. Toss some into a bowl or on a plate when you are ready.

You can add chicken, steak, pork, or fish for an entire meal or have this as a side. Adding some hard boiled eggs and cheese could turn this into a perfect lunch. Play with the ingredients and you will find that salads are worth taking some time for preparation, they are nutritious, delicious, and full of variety.