Have you ever craved a good, crisp salad on a summer night!? I do ALL the time! It seems like an easy choice when you’re watching your figure but I like all the goods, as in I want a salad piled high with all of the toppings and a nice creaming dressing none of that vinegar and oil. Salads can be a great healthy option but those toppings add up real fast and once you start adding the healthy fats then the calories start to skyrocket!
I also am known for liking quick, easy meals that I can prepare and eat in under ten minutes because newborn life. Well, he’s actually considered an infant these days but until he’s a year I’m using the excuse that I have a newborn at home. Most salads that are prepared at home require so much chopping and cutting and since I weigh and measure out all of my food, it’s just so much work to make myself a salad.
Another thing I despise is when I am out and about with family and they want to eat out. In the past, I would have just not eaten, but I am trying to make this a new normal so I will have a salad. I’ll be browsing the salad options and notice that there’s a nice little number listed after the ingredients.. 1000 calories!?! Compare it to a grilled chicken sandwich and it’s almost double the calories. I for one do not want to know what I am about to consume if I have made the decision to eat out. And those little numbers have me convinced I might as well just get the cheeseburger and fries and finish with a bit of ice cream.
Back to my Southwest Salad. I decided to just give it a whirl and make my own that could be prepared quickly and have all the best toppings. My meals are right around 4-500 calories each so I knew what I had to work with.
For the salad, I’ll put the amounts I used if you want to keep it around the 400 calories mark like I did:
•100g of Organic Romaine Lettuce (about one stalk)
•2oz Roma Tomato (about half a tomato)
•45g Corn ( I used organic frozen so I could quickly microwave it)
•65g Organic black beans (rinse and cleaned. I also purchased low sodium because the first time I made this I used regular and I blew up. I add enough salt elsewhere)
•30g Avocado
•28g Shredded Cheese
•3 oz of chicken
Like I have mentioned in a previous post, I precook all of my chicken so that it can be easily thrown on a meal and eaten in under ten minutes. I just bake 1-2 packages of Kates Best Organic Chicken. I slice it in half, season with paprika only and bake for 23 minutes at 400 degrees.
The only thing I had to cut was the tomatoes so it was much faster and less work.
I was craving a creamy dressing so I threw together some seasonings and came up with a ranch replica! It hit the spot perfectly.
Dressing:
•1oz Plain Greek Yogurt (I use full fat)
•salt
•pepper
•onion powder
•garlic powder
•parsley
•rice vinegar
•water to your preferred consistency
Just mix all of the ingredients in a separate cup and pour! I did just a few dashes of each and very light on the vinegar!
That’s it! Enjoy! 😉
