Cranberry Cucumber Blue Cheese Salad

I hate to break it to you, but the hoards of holiday masses have already taken over the city. I just ran into a store to get some gloves for my cold paws, and was horrified at the hundreds of people already fervently  shopping. Being my introverted self and just finishing up a long week of  not feeling awesome, I wanted to run away. But alas, my 20$ free coupon forced me to persevere. As I waited in line for half an hour, I started to lose my Christmas cheer already. Especially when the lady in front of me babbled on to her friend " OH MY GOD! I thought I gained like 20 pounds, I felt so huge and disgusting! Until I realized I grabbed a size 3 instead of a 4, whew! " and on and on and on and on it went for 30 minutes straight.

While promising myself  I would do the rest of my Christmas shopping online, I dreamed of some healthy things to make for side dishes this holiday season. Not because I want to be a size 4, because my bones are a size 4. Because I wanted to carryover the progress I've made with eating well to the holidays. Of course, there will be cakes and bread and green bean casserole galore, but some of the other meals in between could always use a few more veggies and less mini- marshmallows.

Cranberry Cucumber Blue Cheese Salad

-1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into fourths

-1 cup dried cranberries

-1/4 cup blue cheese

-1/4 chopped red onions

- 1 T. honey

-1 T. red wine vinegar

-2 t olive oil

-salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Combine all ingredients except blue cheese in a bowl and mix to combine. Let sit at least one hour before serving. Sprinkle on blue cheese before serving.

I'm telling you, the fresh crisp cucumber with sweet cranberries and the creamy blue cheese, it's to die for. And perfection for  a light side dish to go with your Thanksgiving feast, or anything in between. 

This is a nice healthy addition to my holiday menu. I will  never go so far as to  neglect the all time favorites though, just round them out with some extra attention to delicious veggie rich sides.