It’s so easy to get caught in a rut when you’re doing any kind of diet, healthy reset or, for me, a Whole30. I am already a pescatarian, which leaves me a sea full of options. Even then, I’m often leaning on shrimp and veggies to pull me through weeknight dinner after weeknight dinner.
Sometimes those dinners just need a salad or side dish to mix things up. That’s where I came up with this Mediterranean-inspired salad that starts with a couple of Whole30-compliant canned ingredients and mixes in a few fresh flavors.
The best part about this salad is it also takes care of one of my biggest cravings during a healthy reset – the desire for a big chunk of cheese. If you’ve never had hearts of palm, they have the shape of string cheese and the texture of a creamy, mild cheese. It feels like a treat when I open a can, because it’s not an ingredient that’s in my regular rotation.
Put this salad together for a pot luck and impress your friends or co-workers, or save the entire thing for yourself. The nice thing about both hearts of palm and artichoke hearts is that they’re low in calories because, they’re vegetables … NOT cheese. (Do you get the point that I might be having a craving right now?)
Ingredients
- 1 14-ounce can hearts of palm
- 1 13.75-ounce can quartered artichokes
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1 small shallot
- 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Open hearts of palm and drain off water. Slice into 1/4-inch rounds and add to a bowl. Drain quartered artichokes and chop each into 2 or 3 pieces, adding to the bowl.
Rinse cherry tomatoes, slice in half and add to bowl. Chop olives and parsley, adding to the bowl. Peel shallot and slice into half moons, breaking into individual pieces and stirring into the salad.
For the dressing, squeeze the juice of one lemon into a small bowl. Add salt and pepper, then whisk in olive oil as you drizzle it into the dressing. Pour dressing into salad, stir and refrigerate for an hour or serve immediately.
Leftovers will store well for 3 to 4 days in refrigerator.
