How to Dress Up Salads for Lunch at Work

For weeks now, I've been justifying my poor eating habits (read fast food) with the fact that at least I'm walking to get my meal. I'm probably walking less than a quarter of a mile, but I make myself feel slightly better for the Del Taco or McDonald's that I down.

But after finally getting on the bandwagon of being a little bit more conscious of what I put in my body (I still haven't weaned myself off the caffeine problem, but no one's perfect), I've decided that I would start bringing my lunches to work.

I normally eat salads or something like a few tacos from the places I just named above, so it's not too much of an earth shattering adjustment. What I had to get used to was packing it all up in the morning and figuring out new recipes so that the salads don't get bland. So, I've come up with a few suggestions here that I've actually made for myself. They're no-brainers, so enjoy.

Salad Option #1: I call this the fancy pants idea, but the ingredients are pretty simple. Packs of spinach leaves and other fancy mixes of lettuce (that do not include iceberg or romaine) tend to be on sale all the time at Albertsons. So, to start off, with I usually buy a few bags to last me the week.

To the spinach leaves, I'll add crumbled blue cheese, walnuts and raspberry salad dressing. I never was a fan of the fruity dressings until I had a salad of this kind at a hotel once and fell in love with the flavors. I've never been a fan of blue cheese either, but with this combination, it works. The sweetness of the raspberry complements the tanginess of the cheese.

See, simple ingredients. I keep the cheese and walnuts in separate, little containers. The dressing (for all of my salad combos listed here) is always separate from everything else - otherwise, it gets all mushy and gross by the time lunch rolls around.

Tip: Before you go back into the office, get some mint gum or brush your teeth - the cheese is pretty potent.

Salad Option #2: Caesar salads will always be my favorite type of salad. Ingredients for this include Caesar dressing, romaine lettuce, baby tomatoes and sunflower seeds. I never used to have it with the sunflower seeds, but they add a certain meatiness to the salad, especially if you don't add chicken to your salads. The tomatoes are also a nice surprise. I usually do not slice up the tomatoes until I'm eating my salad. Otherwise, they get messy.

Salad Option #3: Cobb salads require a little more work, but if you're looking for something different, here's what you'll need for the version I like to take to work: bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, one hardboiled egg, chicken, bacon bits and romaine lettuce. To me, on the prepackaging side of the equation, I think everything here (with the exception of the chicken) can be thrown together in the same container.

Bacon bits can work for this if you're not into frying anything, but I prefer either frying or baking the bacon for that taste that bacon bits don't really give off.

With the hardboiled egg, if you're trying to cut back on your cholesterol, just get rid of the yoke and slice up only the egg white. It's still pretty much the same taste.

For dressing, I just use salsa or pico de gallo (onions, cilantro, chilies and tomatoes diced). I don't know why, but I like salsa as a dressing on salad because it usually adds some kick and spice.

Salad Option #4: Asian-inspired. So, to me this isn't something I eat all the time just because I feel like there are a lot more calories with this in the dressing and other add-ons, but it is tasty.

For the dressing, I use Walden Farms Asian dressing (it has 0 calories). For the rest of the salad, I use romaine lettuce, chicken, ramen noodles (uncooked) and sliced almonds. Make sure to get sliced almonds, otherwise it is super difficult to eat your salad. I suggest using ramen noodles, because it's faster, and I don't like slaving away in the kitchen on the pre-preparation stuff.

Salad Option #5: This has way more carbohydrates than a traditional green salad, but I think if you only eat every now and then it is fine. It seems like everyone has become so anti-carb lately that some people forget that we do need some carbohydrates in a balanced diet.

Anyway, you can buy a box of corkscrew pasta (get the three-color kind for added flavor), olives, shredded chicken and Italian dressing. This is a simple salad, and all of these ingredients can be mixed together and then put in your Tupperware to take to work. I would also bring some additional dressing to work with you because the pasta tends to absorb the dressing really quickly.

Other tips: With respect to preparation, I usually am in the kitchen on Sundays preparing everything for the week. Chicken breasts (enough for the week) can be boiled with some salt and pepper and then pre-shredded or sliced for each of your salads. The hardboiled eggs and pasta can also be pre-cooked on that Sunday (or whatever day you consider to be the start of your week).

With the almonds, walnuts and other add-ons, I just pre-bag or pre-portion into their individual containers, so that in the morning I just grab everything and go.

For dressing containers, I buy cheap little bottles or something similar at Big Lots or 99-Cent stores. Gladware is also good for the actual salad green, because they are reusable, but you have to watch for the sales. Otherwise, paying full price doesn't make sense.