Salad Creations -- at home version

Near where I work is this cool little lunch place called Salad Creations.

They have all sorts of salads and toppings and dressings and I adore going there for lunch because I can be healthy and have a yummy lunch. Problem is, when all is said and done, my lunch costs almost $15!! So I decided to do my own Salad Creations at home; it worked out great and was a LOT cheaper than $15 per day for lunch. :)

At Publix, I bought everything I could want on my salad. At Salad Creations, I get the create your own and ask for almost everything they have. This is what I bought, but feel free to get whatever you like -- croutons, nuts, dried fruit, anything!

• lettuce
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• shredded carrots
• green pepper
• broccoli 
• mushrooms
• red onion
• canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• canned water chestnuts (drained and rinsed)
• canned corn (drained and rinsed)
• eggs (which I hard-boiled and peeled)
• canned black beans (drained and rinsed) 
• bacon (cooked and chopped or crumbled)
• shredded cheese
• frozen, shelled edamame (thawed)
• frozen peas (thawed)

I spent an afternoon chopping, thawing, draining and rinsing everything. Then I put each item in a Ziploc sandwich bag, then all of them into a bigger Ziploc bag and into my fridge. I also bought some chicken breasts, butterflied them, and threw them in a quick marinade of olive oil, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard & lemon juice (whatever you have really!). Every night before work, I put a spoon full of each of my ingredients plus a lot of lettuce in a big Tupperware and a small Tupperware full of dressing in (I made an awesome roasted garlic vinaigrette, but use whatever you have in the fridge). I put the dressing in the big Tupperware to keep it from spilling in my lunchbox. I also quickly cooked my chicken in a frying pan, chopped it up and put it in a separate container. At lunch time, I warmed the chicken separately, tossed it into the salad, emptied the dressing, and shook! I also brought a few crackers or breadsticks because I need carbs at every meal (LOL). For maybe $30 worth of groceries I probably got 6 or 7 big salads. Take THAT Salad Creations $15 lunch!

Try it with whatever ingredients you like in your salads! Check out all the combos on the Salad Creations website and make your own Chipotle BBQ Chicken Salad! :)

(Fail whale for me, forgot to take any photos at all of this process. But when I was using all those ziplocks I looked like a real hoarder, I am sure!)