Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad is Bari Healthy Life’s colorful name for a rainbow salad that features a blend of baby greens paired with raw, crunchy vegetables of every color we can imagine. It almost feels like it is OTT (over-the-top), like I lack self-editing powers. Or, maybe it looks like Mr. F. stood in front of the veggie crisper and shouted, “Okay, everyone outta the drawer and into the salad bowl!”
Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad is Dedicated To The Ones I Love!
This salad is dedicated to those, Forever Diet (Bariatric Stage 4 Forever Diet), Bari Healthy Buds, who love and need to crunch and chew. And, it’s especially for those who need fiber in their lives. Because, Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad provides all the crunch, chew, and fiber a girl could want, including a few super foods like baby bok choy, arugula and rainbow chard. You can read more about arugula’s superfood status at Dr. Axe’s place (source). And here’s a great article about baby bok choy’s superfood prowess over at The World’s Healthiest Food site (source). Web M.D. calls rainbow chard a nutritional powerhouse. It’s another superfood packed with vitamins A, C, and K, rich in magnesium, potassium, and iron (source).
Spicy arugula and green and purple cabbage shreds play together with a blend of baby rainbow Swiss chard, spinach, and bok choy. They form the leafy foundation of this beautiful salad while our accent veggies provide crisp, refreshing, crunchtastic texture: radish, carrot, purple onion, red bell pepper, and English cucumber. Shew! What a mouthful, right? Feel free to add or subtract any salad ingredient that doesn’t suit your taste or doesn’t play well with your bariatric pouch or sleeve!
Do Salads Play a Roll in a Bari Healthy Life?
We eat a lot of healthy, clean, salads at Casa Fluffy. One of the promises I made to myself when I decided to have WLS (weight loss surgery), was that I would include at least one salad per day into my routine—just as soon as my bariatric surgeon and RD gave me the all-clear for my Bariatric Forever Diet progression. Today I’m at goal weight of 130 pounds and I’m happy to tell you, I followed through with my promise. Some days I actually eat two salads! (Yes, true confessions; I love raw, crispy veggies, and salads!)
Veggies, especially raw vegetables and leafy greens, make up an important part of our daily bari healthy life eating plan. We go through jags where we’ll take the same combination of ingredients and combine them with different toppings and dressings for variety. Our current salad crush is this Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad; trust us, it’s so full of micronutrients, phytonutrients, polyphenols, and fiber that it makes for a Bari Healthy Life! Try it with our Almost Zero Calorie Asian Dressing and see how it sits with your bari tool!
Why Use Zero or Low Calorie Dressings?
Many days I’m super lazy and simply top the salad with a little healthy fats like those found in pumpkin seeds and avocado. Then, I’ll add a bit of tomato to it. I’ll top it with a Walden Farm zero calorie dressing straight from the bottle. You can find many of these flavors at your local grocery store, but you can also order them at Bariatric Pal Store and Amazon. Our current favorites: Italian Vinaigrette, Asian Vinaigrette, Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette, and Raspberry Vinaigrette.
If I’m feeling extra energetic and have time, I will doctor the Walden Farms dressing up with a few extra ingredients to improve the flavor. I consider the base dressing like I would a zero calorie “oil replacement” in salad dressing recipes. That way, I don’t take a salad that’s naturally very low calorie, nutrient dense and healthy, and load it up with high calorie dressings that just add unnecessary fat and heaviness.
These dressings work brilliantly for this purpose. I especially ate these kinds of low-no calorie dressings during active weight loss mode. I had more control over calories and sources of healthy fats in the salads by using them.
Salad Dressing Rules May Change in Bariatric Maintenance Stage
But, now that I’m in maintenance, I’m adding more full fat dressings to our salads. Switching to full fat dressings is a great maintenance strategy. It’s a way to add calories without adding more volume to a meal. I’ll share my Tarted-Up Sesame Ginger Dressing with you. It’s so great with the Healthy Tuna Salad. For reals.
Although, I have to admit, I still tend to rely on the low-no cal dressings. Since surgery, my RNY pouch seems to prefer low fat, low cal, and low carb foods. It doesn’t get along with heavy, fatty dishes. Are you like that? I’d love to know if your food preferences have changed since bariatric WLS surgery. Hit me with a comment below, okay? I promise to answer back!
Will Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad Keep in the Fridge?
Because there are a lot of ingredients in this recipe, I will make it once and serve it as part of 2-3 meals. It makes about 3 cups of salad. I just chop all the veggies and seal them in a jar and toss them with my greens when it’s time to add the dressing and any toppings. Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Low-No Cook Variation
Don’t feel like chopping? Visit the salad bar in your local market and choose the veggies you want for your confetti salad. Grab a bag of mixed greens. Don’t forget to grab a container of grape tomatoes and an avocado or two! Then come home and assemble your salads in Mason jars. Place the wetter ingredients on the bottom and layer with the harder, firmer veggies and place the greens on top. Seal jars and store in the fridge. Add dressings, meats, and toppings immediately before serving to keep the salad from turning mushy.
Serving Suggestions for Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad
This bariatric salad super star is a meal on its own, but if you want to round it out, try adding a scoop of our Healthy Tuna Salad. When I use the tuna salad as my protein source, I will simply mix the chopped salad into the creamy tuna and let it be the dressing. But, another option for would be to top it with a lean, dense protein such as salmon, or sliced chicken or turkey and a bit of reduced fat cheese, maybe a few nuts or seeds. You can even serve it with a nice cream soup. (Don’t forget to eat your soup first and then pause for about 15-20 minutes before eating your salad. That way you’re not mixing liquids with solids.)
We love changing the dressings and the toppings up. Just use this confetti base and then get creative! One of our favorite variations involves leftover Mustard Crusted Salmon and using our Near Zero Sesame Ginger Asian Dressing along with avocado, grape tomato, and sesame seeds. Drool!
Get Healthy Tuna Salad Recipe!
Cheater Sesame Ginger Dressing!
Can You Make Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad Fit into Earlier Stages of a Bariatric Diet?
Salads are firmly part of the Bariatric Forever Diet (aka Bariatric Stage 4), but many bariatric teams restrict you from eating raw veggies (especially ones with peel) for 4-6 months following weight loss surgery. Be sure to ask your doctor if it’s safe and appropriate for you to begin including raw veggies into your forever plan. (Conversely, the only way you could turn this salad into a lower stage would be if you made it into a smoothie or juiced it, but then you would miss out a lot of the phytonutrients, most of which are found in the first layer under the skin.)
Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad
Course: SaladCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy3
servings15
minutes21
kcal1
cup15
minutesCrunchy Confetti Chopped Salad is Bari Healthy Life’s colorful name for a rainbow salad that features a leafy blend and crunchy raw veggies. Recipe yields 3 cups salad.
Ingredients
1 ounce organic Power Green Blend (baby spinach, bok choy, chard)
1/2 ounce organic baby arugula
1/2 ounce organic shredded cabbage (green, purple)
4 g Italian flat leaf parsley (optional)
3g fresh cilantro (optional)
2 ounces English cucumber with peel, chopped
1 ounce baby carrots, chopped
1 ounce purple onion, chopped
1 ounce red radish, chopped
1 ounce red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
Directions
- Wash and dry vegetables.
- Chop each of the veggies to your preferred size, about 1/4 to 3/8 inch dice.
- Make your favorite salad dressing or use your favorite zero calorie or reduced calorie dressing.
- Just before serving, place greens in a bowl. Add chopped veggies.
- Measure out 1 cup of Chopped Confetti Salad and place in small bowl. Portion remaining 2 servings of salad into 2 separate 8 ounce Mason jars. Place the wetter veggies at the bottom of the jar and place the leafy greens on top.
- When ready to eat, toss your salad portion with 2-3 tablespoons of low to no calorie dressing and your choice of salad toppings, just enough to lightly coat the leaves and crunchy veggies.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- BARIATRIC STAGE 4 (BARIATRIC FOREVER DIET PHASE).
- VARIATIONS: This salad can be used so many ways. Change the dressing and toppings and you have a new Confetti Chopped Salad! Watch the toppings though, because typically, it’s the dressing and the toppings that add caloric density to a salad. And that can be bad news, right? Toss this with Low Cal Asian Sesame Ginger dressing from Bari Healthy Life. We love adding an ounce of avocado and a half ounce of grape tomatoes for a burst of fresh flavor. Add a tablespoon (8-10 grams) of shelled pumpkin seeds or sprinkle with 1 gram of sesame seeds and you’ll have a healthy Asian chopped salad that’s still super light and super nutritious-perfect for lunch or a light dinner! Pair with your favorite protein. Works great with 2-3 ounces of any lean, dense protein.
- NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per 1 cup serving): 21 calories; 1 g protein; 0 g fat; 4 g carbohydrates; 1 g fiber; 3 g net carbohydrates; 2 g sugar; 0 g added sugar
Nutrition Facts
3 servings per container
- Amount Per ServingCalories21
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat
0g
0%
- Saturated Fat 0g 0%
- Trans Fat 0g
- Cholesterol 0mg 0%
- Sodium 26mg 2%
- Total Carbohydrate
4g
2%
- Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
- Sugars 2g
- Protein 1g 2%
- Vitamin A 35%
- Vitamin C 59%
- Calcium 3%
- Iron 3%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Please let me know how your BHL Crunchy Confetti Chopped Salad turns out in the comments (scroll all the way down)!
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