I have been truly enjoying finding new recipe ideas and making up some of my own...I think vegan shopping/cooking has become a hobby of sorts. I am learning so much! My family has been enjoying eating less meat, but I still prepare pretty normal standard american diet items for them. I have been omitting most oil in my cooking, too...but occasionally I do have some olive oil, like in the salad dressing below.

One of the main things I have been doing is trying to incorporate more green vegetables into my diet. I am not a picky eater at all, so I am open to trying lots of new things. One of my new favorites is watercress greens for salads. I have had watercress quite a few times in restaurants, but have not ventured out in buying it and having it at home. After researching the nutritional values of vegetables, I found watercress to be such a great source of lots of good things..."By weight, Watercress has more calcium than milk, more vitamin C than an orange and more absorbable Iron than Spinach (spinach is loaded with Oxlactic acid, which blocks the natural absorption of iron). A single 4 ounce bunch has more than a full days RDA for Potassium". (Quote from Watercress.com)

Watercress and Pear Salad

INGREDIENTS

1 bag (4 ounces) baby greens (about 4 cups)
1 bag (4 ounces) watercress (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup toasted walnuts or slivered almonds works nicely
1-2 organic d'Anjou pears, grilled in a grill pan, chopped or sliced...(sliced looks really pretty)

DRESSING

4 teaspoons raspberry flavored red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
A little sea salt

You can alter this recipe to be lots smaller. I made this for just me today for lunch. The dressing can be made and saved in refrigerator for lots of other green salads. I especially like this dressing with baby spinach and strawberries.

I enjoyed this beautiful salad with a big chunk of the seeduction bread from the Whole Foods Market. Have you tried this bread? You should...it is so good for you and delicious!