Eating salads for dinner more often is something I've been aspiring to do for a long time. I love the idea of eating salads for dinner. I even love actually eating salads…at restaurants. But making salads at home that I'm excited to eat happens rarely…until recently. I figured out something that has taken us from eating salads almost never to eating them regularly at dinner. Are you ready for this?

It's whole hearts of romaine.

That's it. Buying hearts of romaine and having them on hand has been the key factor to our recent salad craze.

I used to always buy bags of spinach, arugula and other leafier, tender greens, which Dr. Wharton told me are more nutrient-packed. The problem is, I really don't like tender leafy greens. Because they can be stemy and weedy and I do not want a meadow in my mouth, thank you. Some are also incredibly wimpy and wilt and bruise with the slightest nudge. So even if I did work up the enthusiasm for a salad it's hard to stay excited about a bowl of limp greens.

Enter hearts of romaine. They're sturdy and crisp, they do not resemble a frilly meadow weed, and they stay salad-ready for a week at least. Romaine doesn't have the awesome nutrient profile that other greens do but, hey!, I'm eating salad, OK? And sometimes we will bulk up our romaine salads with spicy arugula or spinach (if it's not too stemy). Overall, I'm eating more greens and veggies now than before so I think that's a win.

Now we buy at least one bag of romaine hearts each week (if we aren't already getting romaine in our Chow Share). To make a quick salad I chop one romaine heart, rinse and wash in our salad spinner, toss it into two bowls and then top with whatever we have on hand. Some of our favorite salad toppings include:

+ Avocado

+ Red bell pepper

+ Shaved carrots (using a vegetable peeler)

+ Mushrooms

+ Feta

+ Toasted walnuts

+ Quinoa or chickpeas

+ Trader Joe's Gorgonzola Champagne Pear Vinaigrette dressing

Yaaaaay salad!