Rain, Rain go away on our Salad Bar Tuesday

Well on this rainy Salad Bar Tuesday - despite the fact that the ceiling is about to fall in outside of our offices - we had an excellent turn out, shocking I know. With everything from the normal lettuce, tomatoes and cukes to our new favorite Chow Mein crunchy noodles, pecans and Catheren's chicken orzo soup - YUMMY!!

Amy and I were hard at work while enjoying Salad Bar Tuesday - Google docs had our attention for a minute, but it was hard to work staring over my beautiful salad creation.


Catheren gets an A+ for her salad bar deliciousness

today - a great variety of flavors. Pam had a great showing as well with a beautiful array of fresh strawberries for dessert - or to add to your salad depending on your personal preference. I also have to give a shout out to Judy - she is relentless when it comes to Salad Bar Tuesday contributions - always bringing 5-6 things, including one of the groups personal favorites - PEAS!!

Thanks Ladies for making Tuesday the best day of the week - Spreading happiness, one salad at a time.

Introducing the Seacoast Salad Semi-Pros!

I'm not much of a fruits-and-veggies guy. I like a large, medium rare steak. In fact, that's what I had for breakfast. But I like the idea of a cheap and healthy lunch, which is why I brought the Salad Bar Tuesday franchise to Seacoast Media Group.

Even though the email invitations to participate in SBT were emailed late Monday afternoon at SMG, the response was still great! Admittedly, it was too late of a notice for some, but when they saw how great SBT was, they got excited to participate. Next week should be the best Seacoast SBT ever!

Let's look at what we had:
-Grilled chicken
-Onions
-Celery
-Santa Fe tortilla strips
-Croutons
-Spinach
-Raspberries
-Blackberries
-All manner of fancy dressings
-Broccoli
-Bread
-Mushrooms
-Carrots
-Cottage cheese
-Red peppers

The Seacoast Salad Semi-Pros' first SBT was a hit, and I know participation will be up significantly next week!

As our Membership Grows

The news of another chapter forming in Portsmouth, NH is very exciting and we here at SBT headquarters wish them all the best.

Anyone can form an SBT club wherever they work on Tuesdays. There is no minimum to the # of participants or contributions. And we are always open to suggestions and followers of our group.

To become an official chapter of SaladBarTuesday.com your group must have an original chapter name (i.e The Merry Men of Middletown) and elect one member to write the blog posts each week that you meet. If more than one person wants to be the blogger, than each person must submit a photo of his/her salad to saladbartuesday@gmail.com for the co-founders to vote on.

Once you have your chapter set up, the following week you will participate in the SBT induction challenge with the Cape Cod Originals chapter.

We had a slight change from last weeks challenge rules; the logo contest was vetoed, and the bowls were not ordered, but we will be working on them and hope to have them available before the next challenge. More details on that to come.

Here you will see the bowl spec, without our logo obviously. But it will be the logo featured at the top of this blog. Convenient for bringing in your toppings to share in a seperate tray and the bottom bowl for your personal creation.

Like? Dislike?

Our movement is spreading north

I'm so excited for the growth of our salad revolution, I can hardly finish eating! The Merry Men of Middletown chapter has led to other locations creating yet another group. With short notice to their fellow colleagues, it was wisely decided for this week to not be a challenge week. However, I was very impressed by their first time spread. It is a fun way to spend a rainy tuesday lunch, and not a bad way to make mondays fly by too.

I look forward to the upcoming weeks and despite one of our crucial members significantly absent today, we still enjoyed our healthy salads and my fabulous homemade brazilian black bean soup! The best (and yet original) contribution today was by far the crunchy chow meins noodles.

Salad Bar Tuesday begins at Seacoast Media Group Offices

As news spreads about the success of Salad Bar Tuesday in Middletown - took the silver, but had a valiant effort - others seem to want in on the action too.

Subject: SALAD BAR TUESDAY STARTS TOMORROW

Good afternoon.

This is late, I know. I am sorry. In the interest of eating healthy and enjoying good food, the Cape Cod-inspired Salad Bar Tuesday is starting tomorrow.

What is it? http://saladbartuesday.blogspot.com/

Salad Bar Tuesday: Bring in a salad topping/condiment of your choice. Bring in a couple if you’d like. Others will do the same, and with our ingredients combined, we can build some killer salads.

Salad Bar Tuesday is all about bringing what you already have and making a great salad with it? You have lettuce but no toppings? Bring that! You have leftover chicken from grilling on Saturday? Bring that!

You also have to bring your own bowl/plate and utensil. You probably already knew that, though.

Any questions? Think we can pull this off tomorrow?

Thanks,

Mike

Some ideas for toppings:

-Feta cheese
-Hard boiled eggs
-Basil
-Bourbon chicken
-Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
-Ham
-Peas
-Olives
-Dried cranberries
-Strawberries
-Raisins
-Dill mini gherkins
-Pepperoncini
-Whole grain croutons
-Cheese and garlic croutons
-Wheat Baguette
-Home made french bread
-Home made roasted garlic olive oil
-Home made Tabbouli

Smart move by Mike Siebach - suggest ideas from the winners list!!

Good luck tomorrow Seacoast!

Cape Cod Originals take the Gold!

What an exciting day. The birth of our first SBT Chapter. We have started on our quest to rule the world with at least one healthy day a week of fresh foods, homemade goods and fun creative lunch breaks. Who said you can't have fun and eat healthy at the same time? I believe Jamie Oliver is on a similar quest http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

I will admit this excitement did consume most of my lunch break and after work hours yesterday, and some might label that behavior as insane. However, when my competitive juices are flowing, there is no stopping me! The health kick is just an added bonus. Fun, friends and a reason to get up in the morning are all key elements in this phenomenom we lovingly refer to as SBT.

I welcome all new locations to gather together and start your own chapter. Its easy. Its fun. And best of all its good for you too.

Congratulations to all participants, pat the winners on the back (oooh wait....thats me...insert pat here) and a word of advice to the newcomers...the planning of next meeting's menu should start right about.....NOW!

And the Winner is...

Sorry for the delay folks, I know you have been "patiently" waiting. :)

Being asked to vote for or against your bosses would seem like it presents a bit of a dilemma. Do we want to get paid tomorrow? Or can we live off SBT leftovers for the next two weeks???

All of the judges admitted this was a close match, especially since the Merry Men of Middletown brought the thunder and noise. Thunder and noise seems like it should be an essential element in every SBT. A salad bowl is also on the line here, so the stakes are high.

In the end though, the judges decided.... (drum roll here).... that the SBT Cape Cod Originals are the winners this time.

Though Merry Men of Middletown you gave them an excellent run for their salad, and with a few weeks of SBT training, you might be able to win that salad bowl yet!

Salad Bar Tuesday heads West

The gauntlet was thrown. The challenge was on. Could we replicate the Salad Bar Tuesday experience on Cape Cod at the corporate office in Middletown, NY?

We think we've made a good run at it. Here's the list of participants and their contributions:

Patrick Mullen:

• Fruit salad
• Hummus
• Crackers
• Fresh mozzarella

Richard Hoover

• Sliced cantaloupe
• Fruit salad
• The thunder and the noise

Kurt Lozier

• Baby spinach
• Peas
• Chickpeas
• Dried cranberries
• Tortilla strips for croutons
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Mushrooms
• Cutting board and Rachel Ray knife
• Feta cheese
• Shredded carrots
• Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar

Sean Polay

• Spring mix
• Chopped celery
• Chopped green onions
• Mini pepperoni
• Smoked salmon
• Goat cheese crumbles
• Dried cranberry, raisin and strawberry mix 
• Spicy sprouts
• Snow peas
• Newman's Own Light Roasted Garlic Balsamic
• Riceworks Sweet Chili chips
• Snickerdoodles

The photographic evidence:



We have such an obscene amount of food, Salad Bar Tuesday is definitely extending into dinner for me. And I thought eating healthy on the road would be a challenge.

It's the healthiest Tuesday meeting we've ever had, and we liked it. We're already plotting our strategy for the next one. We're ready for our chapter assignment, too, though we think adding Merry to our title -- making it Merry Men of Middletown -- has a nice Robin-Hood-like ring to it.

Cape Cod Originals Smack Down Contributions

Selections offered at today's gathering for the 1st SBT Smack Down, enjoy!

Feta cheese

Hard boiled eggs

Basil

Bourbon chicken

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Ham

Peas

Olives

Dried cranberries

Strawberries

Raisins

Dill mini gherkins

Pepperoncini

Whole grain croutons

Cheese and garlic croutons

Wheat Baguette

Home made french bread

Home made roasted garlic olive oil

Home made Tabbouli

Home made ginger carrot soup

Selection of salad dressings - including Catalina, Caesar, Red Wine Vinaigrette and more

Butter Cream Cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting and chocolate shavings
(Happy Birthday Linda!)

The day we've all been waiting for!

It is on...The Official SBT Challenge is upon us in less than 52 minutes (but who's counting?) The rules have been distributed to all involved and the items for today's feast have been made lovingly or shopped for. It is time to announce today's guest judges.

Kari Richards- Technology Services (head judge)
Jeff Raper- Distributed Media team
Hakim Younsi- Interactive Media Services
Bryan Swallow-Technology Services
Dana Carrion-Technology Services

The requirements are that all food is either homemade or bought in a food/grocery store, i.e. Not from a restaurant or a restaurant brand.

The judges will each read both teams blog post list of ingredients and vote for which location they would prefer to eat at. The votes will be given to the head judge and she will post the winner on the blog no later than 1:30pm EST.

Good Luck to both Teams: Cape Cod Originals vs. The Men of Middletown

SBT Smackdown

At presstime, the date is now pending for the official gauntlet.....

However, as the official co-host of this healthy phenomenon, I am pleased to announce the opening of a new chapter of Salad Bar Tuesday. The Men of Middletown (name to be formalized at the induction ceremony...may change...don't personalize anything just yet) have been inspired to add a healthy day to their work week.

The rules of SBT state that in order to become an official member of the SBT family, your group must join the blog and your first entry must include all the elements of your feast. Our unbiased panel of non-participating judges (names withheld to protect their anonymity) will then vote on whose feast they would prefer to participate in. If the newest chapter wins for that week, their entire group will win a commerative personalized salad bowl.

Check back for the date of the vote for the official design. We are also holding a contest for the official logo. Details to follow.

Yet another plentiful bounty

NEED I SAY MORE????

..............................................................................

With twice as many people as usual, there was...you guessed it....TWICE AS MUCH FOOD!! Not that i'm complaining in the least..i'm just sayin'

So much yummy goodness i had to go back for seconds, I even brought a second plate for the baked goods section. We may need to continue that portion in weeks to come.

*home made rosemary + parmasan focaccia

*chicken

* ham

* avacado

*basil

*celery, carrots, tomatoes

*an assortment of jarred items (pickles, olives etc)

*feta cheese, olives, red peppers

*tiramisu cupcakes

*and of course one ginormous chocolate chip cookie

But this SBT certainly exceeded our expected level of caliber brought by our guests from a faraway land. With the appearance of superhero DM man, and the one and only person to ever bring only chocolate to a SALAD BAR, and of course the Lovely Linda, our afternoon of health and merriment was enhanced byt the multi-media creations of Sean Polay. We do hope our friends will return, and next time Jeff will heed the invitation to bring a salad item in addition to his dessert option (which were truly yummy! not as yummy as the cookie, but still good) :)

And you thought salad and polka were mutually exclusive

The Distributed Media team did drop into Salad Bar Tuesday, as threatened. For Linda, Jeff and I, our SBT virginity is nevermore.

We decided to add a little music to the festivities. We'll spare you the full song, but we will give you a sample:

The spread was fantastic. Overwhelming. I'm pondering thirds myself, but then there is my belated birthday cookie, courtesy of Distributed Media Bake Shop (Motto: Making dreams come true, one cookie at a time). It is hard to miss in this picture. Focus on the baked good bigger than my head in the lower left corner. It taunts. Beckons. Begs for indulgence.

So do the cupcakes. Gourmet jellybeans -- my kryptonite -- top each one. I've never seen such a healthy meal with so many additional temptations.

As I threatened aloud, there are likely to be more impromptu Distributed Media team meetings that just happen to coincide with SBT. As Jamie would say, just sayin'....

Be Our Guest

SBT is in full force today! Everyone has been preparing for our guests from the Distributed Media team, Sean, Jeff and Linda! Late last week Sean and I made the executive decision to move our monthly meeting to Cape Cod, on Tuesday, for SBT!! All guests were asked to bring a contribution as well as their own bowl and silverware and in return we would show them the best day of the week, free of charge. Little did they know that they are about to embark on an unbelievable culinary journey and will probably end up working their schedules around SBT. Be careful, it will get'cha.

So today, we invite the DM team to Be Our Guest - next time it could be you!

A Salad Bowl is...A Beautiful Medley

Creating the perfect salad bowl can be compared to composing a symphony and then hearing it come alive with a full orchestra.  That's how I felt today creating and eating my salad bowl of deliciousness.

Since everyone was participating the toppings were endless, but since about 3pm yesterday I knew exactly the direction I was headed....a taco salad delight.

I had made some veggie chili to share with the group along with assorted grated cheeses.  All of the participants had brought other bountiful treasures and my taco salad was in full swing.

I filled my bowl with lettuce on one half and chili on the other.  I topped the lettuce with one of the most scrumptious food items I have ever tasted, Jamie's Pilgrim salad.  I also included some sliced tomatoes and tortilla chips on the lettuce side.  On the chili side of my bowl I added some grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese and sour cream, that Catheren had so kindly contributed saving me a trip to the store.  And viola, my salad was complete.  I could say something like this salad was comparable to Beethoven's 5th, but it was really a Dave Mathews song today, courtesy of Jamie's iTouch and our Dave Mathews Salad Bar Tuesday.

The Masterpiece of Salad

You could feel that spring was in the air today with the golds, oranges, and reds that made up our edible pallette of options today. Everyone was participating today, birds were chirping it was a good day....you could say Sald Bar Tuesday made us JUMP for joy!

Despite the regrettable mistake of not bringing cupcakes to even the scales, today was a good day...so good in fact that we have convinced Amy to make her vacation travel plans for next week to accomodate one last appearance at SBT!