How to Use Themes in the Salad Challenge

This year the salad challenge has ten themes that each last ~three days. This helps structure the challenge into smaller milestones and makes it easier to shop for a few days at a time. You can plan for one or two themes at once that will last for 3-6 days of salads. Mix up the order of the themes however you like or adjust them to be shorter or longer as you transition into the next theme. Most importantly, you can create your own themes, based on the type of cuisine and flavors you love. 

Theme 1: Roasting Veggies & Chicken. This is a foundation theme based on warm comfort food that is easy, healthy, and customizable with any veggie. We explore making dressings like a balsamic vinaigrette that can last throughout the challenge with other themes and is great for tossing with your salad or drizzling on top of the roasted veggies. It’s also a time to start thinking about your favorite lettuces and other accouterments like cheeses or nuts you enjoy. 

Theme 2: Eggs + Stovetop Veggies. We look at a few favorite ways to make eggs, an amazing protein, like poaching, soft boiling, and the perfect scramble, with some inspiration from California chefs like Thomas Keller (watch his masterclasses on eggs and feel his passion) and Alice Waters who focus on locally sourced, fresh food with influence from French cooking, one of my favorite inspirations.

Theme 3: Slow Cooked Carnitas. I started slow cooking this year in the Dutch Oven and most recently in a crock pot. I’ve never made a lot of pork, and rarely order it, usually steering towards chicken or beef, but the first time I made Dutch Oven carnitas it was amazingly flavorful and healthy and even the frozen leftovers were delicious a week later. This theme explores a traditional winter style of cooking with the lightness of salads.

Theme 4: Surf n’ Turf. This is a classic wide ranging theme that reminds me of cooking with my dad. There are so many great seafoods like fresh crab in California this time of year. It’s one of the themes that allows for a lot of creativity as you can go far into the seafood direction or turf direction or balance both and there are amazing veggies and greens that pair well with both (and wines!). You can also use the carnitas as a transition to this theme with a pork & shrimp taco salad.

Theme 5: Chopped Salads + Fruit. This is a great salad theme and a way to try new flavors together and use any leftovers from the last theme(s). Fruit can be a perfect addition to salads to balance some of the bitterness in lettuces or tang of the vinaigrette. There are also superfood fruits like blueberries that give you a power boost of nutrients and antioxidants. It’s a good time to bring back some of your favorite egg cooking styles for one of my favorite chopped salads: the classic Cobb.

Theme 6: French. One of the classic flavor profiles in cooking and an inspiration for many world class chefs across the world. I lived in Paris for a year in college and some of the best food memories are simple comfort foods: a ham & cheese crepe, french onion soup, or a nicoise salad sandwich on a fresh baguette. These are some of the inspirations we will explore during this theme and also French cheeses like gruyere and emmental and French olives noire & verte. 

Theme 7: Mediterranean. Transitioning from one specific part of the Mediterranean to the rest of the coastline, this theme expands to cuisine cultures like Greek, Spanish and Italian. Tapas is one of our inspirations and also lamb, one of my favorites. Fresh feta, pestos, lemon and herbs are also influences I love from this region. 

Theme 8: British. Before we leave this part of the world, the next theme will dig deep to inspire salads from a place known largely for pub food. Fish and chips, meat and potatoes, and Scotch eggs. Inspired by a trip to England last summer I’m excited for this challenge; it's out of my comfort zone and definitely not what you think of first when you think of salads. Think outside the box too as there are British influences all over the world and some of the best cooking in the UK is influenced by other cultures like the spices and cooking styles of India.

Theme 9: American. Moving over across the Atlantic to another hodge podge of cuisine, the American theme spans a range of styles as well. We’ll test out styles like BBQ and classics like the cheeseburger. This is a great way to express your creativity as the Americas encompass a huge blend of cultures and countries and the flavor profiles are basically unlimited. 

Theme 10: Mexican. While this flavor profile may have come up in some of the prior themes, it’s one of my favorites and will get a theme all to itself to end the challenge. I’m excited for creative possibilities with turning my favorite Mexican staples into salads and maybe even testing a new recipe like homemade salsa or refried beans. 

Follow along with these themes for the month, mix and match, or come up with your own! There are so many other amazing flavors and cooking styles. I chose these themes because they are familiar to me and the ingredients are fairly easy to come by where I live in the Bay Area. Depending on what you love to eat, what you’re familiar with, and what is available to buy, along with what’s easy when committing to 30 days of salads, the more creative and customized to you the better! 

I’ll be posting my salads on IG (@typeonecoach) and in my Facebook group starting January 2nd (https://www.facebook.com/groups/typeonelivefree) as well as recapping on the blog.