MY VERSION OF THE EVER POPULAR NICOISE SALAD (FOR A NICE LUNCH)

The beauty about the summer season is the fact that you can plant and harvest a great number of vegetables. Here is my Nicoise salad using some of what I was able to harvest so far. BONUS: At $2.81 per bow is simply a steal!
 
Approximate Prep and Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Approximate Cost: $5.62 or $2.81 per salad bowl
Difficulty Level:   X      Easy ____ Intermediate ____ Advanced
Servings: 2 plus
 
Ingredients
4 cups organic baby spinach ($3.00)
4 home grown tomatoes (0)
2 home grown cucumbers (0)
½ a sliced onion (.20)
2 tbsp. salad olives (.30)
2 large hard-boiled pickled eggs** (.32)
1/3 c. Angie’s vinaigrette salad dressing ($1.50) (see the link below)
Banana peppers to taste (.30)
 
Directions

• Get 2 med-size to large bowls and place 2 cups of baby spinach on each bowl.
• Clean and cut the tomatoes cucumbers and sliced onion and divide among the 2 bowls with the spinach in equal parts.
• Top with salad olives, hard-boiled pickled eggs, banana peppers and vinaigrette salad dressing to taste. Serve cold with your choice of crostini’s or chips.

 
** After I used all the banana peppers, I kept the pickled water. Then, I hard boiled the eggs, cool them down and placed them inside the pickled water jar and refrigerated them for 3 days. The flavor was amazing.
 
Link: Angie’s Vinaigrette: http://www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/angies-basic-salad-dressing-homemade-vinaigrette-for-few-dollars