This salad is fast, easy, and packed with nutrition. When I serve it at dinner parties, every last leaf is eaten. The raw garlic adds loads of flavor, and is a great anti-viral and anti-bacterial. I’ve been known to put in 3 or more cloves in when I feel a bug coming on. Just make sure those around you eat it too!

Equipment:

1 high quality vegetable peeler (I use OXO)
1 garlic press

Salad

½ 6 oz bag, ready-to-eat organic spinach, romaine or other salad greens
1 carrot
1/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
1 clove fresh garlic (or to taste)

Optional:

1 handful pre-sliced mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes tossed in whole or cut in half
Slices of peeled cucumber
2 T Defrosted frozen peas
Chopped walnuts
Chopped pecans

Dressing:

2 T extra virgin olive oil
1T balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Put lettuce in a large bowl. Peel the carrot. Continue to use the vegetable peeler to peel off slices of carrot, directly into the bowl. This creates light bits of carrot that add color and flavor, but do not sink to the bottom of the salad. Add cheese and any optional ingredients.

Crush the garlic by placing the flat side of a wide chef’s knife on top of the garlic clove. Smash the garlic clove under the knife blade. This will make the skin easy to separate from the clove. Place the clove in a garlic press, and press the garlic directly onto the salad. Discard the remaining garlic inside the press.

Combine oil and vinegar and stir or shake well, immediately before using. (I use an old jam jar with a lid and shake to combine). Pour over salad and toss.

Yield: 2 – 4 servings

Today’s San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on how to select home exercise equipment, as well as which health clubs have the highest member satisfaction. It’s a good review of the options, and refers to recent consumer reports testing.  The link is below.

And, I thought I would add my two cents.

I have a home gym, and love it, and I also belong to a gym - 24 Hour Fitness.  What do I recommend?

Home Exercise Equipment

You know the cliche. We buy it in January, and use it as a coat hanger from February on.  Nevertheless, many people do find that having a home machine is a great option, and they do use it.  What’s the differentiator?  There are two.  Firstly, don’t assume that just having the machine will make you use it. It won’t. You have to have the committment first.  Second, if you buy, buy quality.  If it feels cheap and awkward to use, then you won’t.  Remember, this is something you want to be a regular part of your life, like your sofa. So invest in something that feels good to use. I’m especially thinking about cardio equipment.  If you can’t afford new, or simply want to get a deal, troll craigslist.org, ebay, for second hand, and sign up for freecyclel.org, if it’s active in your area.  A friend of mine got a great folding treadmill for free on freecycle!  And by the way, the key to using cardio equipment is to keep yourself entertained.  And I know you, dear listeners, know a great way of doing that…

Gym Memberships

I have one criterion for chosing a gym. Location.  That’s it. It has to be convenient. Towel service is nice, but I won’t even think of towels if I’m not there.  I used to be very picky about equipment. I wanted only the original Nautilus weight training machines (they are wonderful). Consequently, I didn’t have a lot of options.  Now I will work out on any machines and free weights.  It’s more important to do something rather than nothing, so as long as it’s a gym, and it’s convenient, I’m happy.

If you are fortunate enough to have multiple convenient gyms, think  about what you like to do. I like my gym because they have unlimited exercise classes available with my ridiculously cheap membership. So I can spice things up by going to Step class on Saturdays, and once in a long while, lunch time yoga.

Here’s the link to the SF Chronicle article by Kathleen Pender:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/01/17/BUHKUGB4S.DTL

And Consumer Reports can be found at www.consumerreports.org.

Enjoy!

Inside Out Weight Loss has a very cool new sponsor: “Skinny Songs”. It’s great music to work out by that delivers motivating messages as you go. Check it out here:

This is why I do what I do.  Thank you for letting me know! Click the link below to listen to a short voice message about the show.

Comments from a listener

I couldn’t have said it better myself… 

Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemna”, has just released his new book “Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”.  I heard an interview with him the other day on NPR.  Almost every statement he made echoed my own philosophy of what to eat, and why.  Plus he tells the insightful story of how and why so much of our food supply is toxic for our health.  Cut and paste this link into your browser: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17850369 to listen to the NPR interview. Or support the show by using this link to pick up the book from Amazon.com:

To your health!