Lettuce-Free Chopped Salad

After the winter we had I will not complain about the heat we are now having. I am just happy I have air conditioning in this house since through college and my previous house did not. I am cheap and have it set at 77 degrees but still. :)
This past weekend I competed in an event for Heroes: Supporting American Snipers. This is a picture of my team: Steve and KK and one of my sister and me... we rarely do the same competitions so it was great to be in the same event. We are partners for the battle of the sexes coming up so watch out!

 It was a fun day and I finally did muscle ups in a competition. I have been able to do them for a while but for various reasons haven't done one in a competition or the CrossFit Open. I even strung 2 and 3 together a few times. I realize for some people it isn't a big deal, but it's a proud moment for me since I have been wanting to do them since I started CrossFit and saw people up there on the rings.

This is a salad I have been making for years... a lot during college actually. My roommate Alicia used to do something similar so I took the idea form her. Lettuce in college was another expense and often it would go bad and get wilty before I could use it all... solution? Make a salad with no lettuce. You can add whatever you want, but this is my original version. I would think grilled chicken would make this fantastic... maybe tomorrow. Super refreshing and light after a really hot workout involving multiple rounds of running, deadlifts, rope climbs, and muscle-ups+ring dips after which I did not stop sweating for probably a month... or at least a few hours even after a shower.

Lettuce-Free Chopped Salad

- 1/3 Large English Cucumber, peeled, quartered and chopped
- 1 Roma or Vine-Tomato, seeded and chopped
- 1 small or 1/2 large Carrot, peeled and chopped
- Red Onion, as much as you want... I use just a few "rings" chopped
- 1/4 cup (or less) Chopped Pecans
- Handful of Unsweetened dried cranberries (I like to be exact when measuring :)
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar (or apple cider)
- 3 Tbsp Feta (optional)
- Handful of gluten-free croutons or pita chips (optional)

1. Mix everything together and enjoy. :)