Lady Who Lunches

Sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than a light and healthy lunch of a sandwich and salad. As much as I love fried food and sweets, I need some simple whole foods meals to balance everything out.

It's May, which means I had a new Sarah Kramer Go Vegan 2011 Wall Calendar recipe to make — Baby Spinach Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette:

Look at that hot pink dressing!! It's made with olive oil, flax oil, vinegar, and fresh strawberries — all blended up together. I still had some mixed salad greens with baby spinach that needed using, so I subbed that for the plain spinach. And those little brown things are pine nuts. The dressing is sweet and strawberry-ish with just the right amount of tang. Like spring in a bowl.

To go along with my salad, I made a Chickpea-Hijiki Salad Sandwich from Vegan with a Vengeance:

Now, I never, ever liked real tunafish. In fact, I only liked fried catfish when I was a kid, and I even started to hate that by my pre-teens. Something about the fishy taste just grossed me out. But I do love sea veggies! The hijiki in this dish actually makes it taste a little like tuna, but in a totally un-gross way. This is the most tuna-like fake tuna spread I've ever tried.

What's your favorite soup and salad combo?