Kid-Friendly Persian Cucumber, Tomato and Green Apple Salad

This is a great kid-friendly salad. Doing my usual lunch salad prep, I found what I threw together pretty tasty. Of course... I think that about all my salads. Veggie salads are my favorite food. Seriously! But you may find your kids think it's yummy too.

For kids, I would leave out my recommended spice blend due to the amount of pepper, which kids may find too hot. Use only dressing and a dash of sea salt to finish it off for the little ones. They should find the sweet and tart of the apple appealing. Let them know the salad will make them grow tall and strong. Forget telling them it's healthy for them—that's not relative in their young minds. For more tips on getting your kids to eat healthy, read 11 Proven Ways to Get Kids to Eat More Vegetables.

There's lots more in this salad than cucumbers, tomatoes and green apples. You get sugar peas, kale and cabbage. Prepare the veggies per the Ingredients list.

To cut-up the kale, first remove the leaf from the spine by grabbing it and tearing down the sides as shown in the picture. Toss the spine in the compost or save for juicing later. Then cut the leaves length-wise into long strips then chop into small pieces.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl. Add dressing, seasoning, mix and serve.

When you prepare the dressing, make enough to have for many salads. Put it in a glass bottle with a cap and use on any salad or a base before adding rub to fish.

Persian Cucumber, Tomato & Green Apple Salad

From Chris Pedersen

Yield 4 servings

Category Salad

Cuisine Vegan

Ingredients

2 Persian cucumbers, sliced in rounds

handfull sugar peas, 1/2 inch slices

1 leaf kale, chopped

1 1/2 C chopped cabbage

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

1/2 granny smith apple, chopped small

2 shakes of spice blend
salt to taste
Dressing
equal parts olive oil and apple cidar vinegar
splash of balsamic vinegar
dab of dijon mustard

Directions

1. Add ingredients to bowl.

2. Add dressing ingredients to small bowl and whisk to blend. Then pour into glass bottle with cap.

3. Add about 2 Tbsp of dressing to salad bowl and mix til dressing is distributed.

4. Add spice blend (e.g., TJ's 24 Seasoning Salute) and sea salt. Stir and serve. 

What's your favorite dressing?