Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Salad

Gosh.  I am sitting here a tad overwhelmed, and, if I’m honest, a bit giddy.  I am also eating ice cream – I do that when I’m all discombobulated.  The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind.  A nice whirlwind, though.  An exciting whirlwind.  A wholly unexpected whirlwind.

The reason for my discombobulation is the response to my last post.  I was musing on calories in v. calories out, and it clearly struck a chord with an awful lot of you; along with an enormous number of lovely people who had never wandered into my little corner of the world-wide web before.  A friend of mine swung by my office on Monday and said, “You said out loud what no one else will say.  We all think it, but then we push it away and go back to doing what the experts tell us.”

Thank you for your torrent of emails and messages.  Thank you for letting me know that this is important stuff.  Thank you for sharing me with your friends and family and colleagues.  Thank you for your enthusiasm and encouragement.  Thank you for letting me know I am on a good path.

Who knew that after crafting hundreds of light-hearted ditties packed with tales of travel, fabulous feasts & other single goings-on, plus picture after picture that you told me made you want to lick your computer screens, that *by far* my most read post ever would be the one with nothing but a bunch of prose about calories?  Oh, and one picture of a fence.  Funny the way the world works.

So now…now that you know that I am not just one of those lucky people who can eat like a horse and stay skinny; now that you know there is a reason I can eat like I do and not gain weight, here comes the fun part: putting it into practice.

This is turning into a much more exciting and entertaining journey than I first realized when I embarked on it.  It’s a whole new chapter.  I knew I’d lose weight & get my numbers sorted out, but I didn’t know that I’d be throwing dinner parties every Friday night so that I could test new recipes out on unsuspecting friends in order to confidently share them with you.  This whole Friday night healthy cooking thing has turned into my favorite night of the week.

I promised you recipes, and recipes you shall have.  Every week.  I do aim to please.  To kick things off I give you a simple salad.  When you’re eating a boat-load of veggies, you need to come up with ways to keep it fun and interesting.  Lettuce and tomatoes every day could quite easily become a little dull, however much you love lettuce and tomatoes.  And let’s face it – you’re going to be so darn excited at the re-emergence of your sylph-like self, no longer having to starve yourself and no longer having to spend hour upon hour in the gym, there’ll be no room for dull.

So I give you a Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Salad.  Zucchini sliced so thin your taste buds will have no clue they are eating an uncooked vegetable.  I dished this up alongside a bubbling pan of Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage.  Even the die-hard cabbage-hater that I served it up to is now a Cabbage Convert.  (Justin – chime in any time!)

I hope you’ll find good grub and inspiration here.  I hope you’ll give me feedback on things you loved and how you’re doing.  Most of all, I hope you find the whole darn thing fun & uplifting & filled with goodness.

And…we’re off!

Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Salad

Serves 4 as a side salad to a main dish.

Serves 2 as a main dish salad with a lean protein such as pork chops or chicken breast.