1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
2 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 small yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 jicama, peeled and finely diced


Directions:
In a large bowl, combine red onion, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, salt and jalapeño. Add zucchini, bell pepper and jicama; toss well. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Can be made ahead. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Submitted by Marcelle Wyzdyx

Start Date: Aug 6, 2006
Lost to date: 39 lbs.
Still to go: Triple digits

Okay, so I need a place to rant! So I'm back.

Not exactly burning up the scales, but I've been staying on my low-carb plan despite way too many social obligations--I swear I never had any social obligations before starting this way of eating. Tomorrow is a festival out at the Destrehan Plantation, and I'll be waltzing among such local delicacies as crawfish bread, beignets, onion blossoms and alligator sausage on a stick. Hey, wait! I can eat alligator sausage on a stick.

Sunday will be a Thanksgiving banquet at my church--the dreaded pot luck. I should take my standard low-carb broccoli salad so I'd have something to eat besides a lonely slab of turkey on a plate, but my 81-year-old mom, who lives with me, wants to make a CHOCOLATE CAKE, so who am I to tell her no. I hope everyone scarfs it up so it doesn't come back home with us and I have to look at it all week.

But here's my broccoli salad recipe--it's too yummy!

1 bag shredded broccoli, raw
2-ounce bag of slivered almonds
6 thin slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cidar vinegar
1/8-1/4 cup Splenda, to taste