It's a Good Time for Salads

GreenValli

We love salads at our house!

There are many, but one thing I do is look up menus of salads on restaurant websites. I just buy the ingredients and make them myself. Tonight we had a strawberry and berry salad similar to the Strawberry Field salad at Wendy's. Yummy! Besides the typical vegetables I added sliced chicken breast, strawberries, blueberries, dried cranberries, and almonds. My husband really likes this salad with a raspberry vinaigrette. He asked me to include 2 main dish salads to our menu each week.

Here are some other ideas that I posted on a discussion some time ago, with additions of another poster also. Hope this gives you some more good ideas:

Salad ideas? I love mandarin chicken salad: Mixed greens, chopped tomato, about 8-10 sections of canned mandarin oranges, cooked and cubed chicken, all sprinkled with sliced almonds.

Tonight we had a taco salad: Iceberg lettuce, Romaine lettuce, spinach leaves, chopped tomatoes, 2 oz very lean ground beef (cooked and drained of fat then cooked with just a bit of taco seasoning as directed on package), 1 oz of grated cheese, 2 tortilla chips crunched up and sprinkled on top. I used 2T of salsa mixed with 1T of sour cream for dressing. MFP gave me 315 calories for a huge salad.

My new favorite salad, Berry Almond Chicken Salad: mixed greens, 2 oz roasted chicken breast, sliced strawberries, raspberries (or blackberries), dried cranberries, with a little grated cheese and sliced almonds on top. The berries make it so yummy. I do use 1/2 Tablespoon Poppy Seed dressing. but it would be good even without dressing.

Spinach, Strawberry and goat cheese (so flavorful, no dressing is needed)

Grilled Buffalo Chicken (I make my own low calorie blue cheese to use on the side when my mouth needs cooled off-I like the combination of spicy sauce with cool lettuce)

Also from Pinterest and the Food Network:
Adobo grilled chicken, corn, black bean over lettuce
Tzaziki marinated grilled chicken salad
Spicy Tai Asian Grilled Chicken Salad
Philly cheese steak salad (can also do a Steak & Blue salad)

Just make sure you measure and weigh the ingredients. I carefully weight out cheese and chicken when I add it to salad.

BTW My husband and I have done well losing weight with main dish salads!

kosseychick

Those sound yummy. Thanks for the ideas😊

acpgee

This is my favourite salad resource.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html

TeaBea

A local chain serves a "harvest chicken" salad. Grilled chicken, tangy apples, pecans, feta, and craisins. Newman's makes a nice apple cider vinaigrette.

Chicken Caesar is a favorite. Ken's light dressing is yummy. Hard cheeses have relatively fewer calories and parmesan has a strong flavor (a little goes a long way).

Chicken Bruschetta Salad is one I haven't tried yet.

LyndaBSS

I had to laugh reading your initial post. I make that berry salad all the time and never knew I was duplicating a Wendy's meal. It is yummy, though.

GreenValli

acpgee wrote: »

This is my favourite salad resource.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html

ACPGEE: Loved looking over those salads. So colorful, and some of them use ingredients I had not thought of adding to a salad. Thanks for sharing.

HereToLose50

If anyone likes spicy food it can pair well with fruits in salads as well. I often sprinkle a little cayenne when I have strawberries. It works with some Asian flavors too.

Also on taco salad you can use a pizza wheel and slice strips of a corn tortilla and bake them. I use plain fat free Greek yogurt instead of sour cream - more protein. Sometimes I use a serving of drained, rinsed canned beans instead of ground beef on it too.

Love making salads. I throw just about any savory item on top of some greens. Chili is good on salad to make a chili cheese option. I usually add sauteed onions and peppers when I get into flavors like that to bulk up the salad for less calories - also good with chicken or beef on salad.