Off to a Healthy Start: Soups and Salads

It's a New Year and I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store!  Many of us have resolutions to eat healthier at the start of a new year.  I've been doing that for several years now and think I've done a pretty good job of making changes, but it's always a work in progress.  Those pesky chocolate bars seems to just always be around when I get a chocolate craving!  How does that happen?!

Since eating healthy is on our minds, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite soups and salads that I've posted throughout the years.  Now, some of them may not be considered "diet" salads, but hey they're salads, and everything in moderation right?  The soups, well they are all just wonderful.  So if you don't go eating a whole bunch of crusty bread with them, which being a professed carboholic, I have done, these will all help you along with your healthy eating.

I hope you find a wonderful salad or soup to make today.
Happy New Year!

Winter Slaw - A new favorite of mine, and a great salad by Ina Garten.

Caribbean Chicken Salad - Oh actually, I think this is my favorite from this list!  I love all the fruit and chicken. You will too!

Artichoke and White Bean Salad - A very popular salad made with easy ingredients.

Asparagus Tabbouleh with Prosciutto - A more complex salad, but don't you just love tabbouleh?

Edamame and Orange Salad - oh this one is just perfect using ripe winter oranges. Love it!

Now for the soups....

Easy Minestrone - This soup warms my heart.  I love the Italian flavors.

Italian Chicken and Bean Soup - Another Italian flavored soup with hearty chicken and beans. Yum?




Turkey and Wild Rice Soup - This is perfect with leftover turkey, but you can substitute chicken as well.

Chicken Enchiladas Soup - Love this soup!  This is a great slow cooker soup and the flavors really pop.  This is one of the easiest soups to make.

Chicken Ditalini Soup - Last but not least a perfect chicken soup with pasta.  Comfort food to say the least!

Harvest Cobb Salad

Overindulgent during Thanksgiving?

Get back on track with this wonderful Harvest Salad.  Not long ago I had pinned this recipe on Pinterest (yeah baby!) which comes from the blog A Spicy Perspective by Sommer Collier.  She has an excellent blog! Stop by and say Hi!

So I quickly made this salad substituting a homemade ranch dressing instead of the one she made. Using some help from leftovers is a great way to put together a salad.  If you don't have leftovers you can always grab some of the ingredients from your grocery store's salad bar.

What makes this salad unique are the roasted butternut squash, and spiced pecans.  These are in place of blue cheese and tomatoes which are typically in a Cobb Salad.  I had leftover roasted butternut squash from dinner the other night, and leftover roasted chicken as well.  

MGG loves hard boiled eggs so we had a couple on hand as well.  Really all there was to do was to cook some bacon, and spice up the pecans.  

Simple to put together and tasty to eat!  This salad is a deconstructed salad, each ingredient laying side by side over a bed of romaine lettuce.  You can put this together mixed together if you want.  It's all good!

MGG loved, loved, loved, this salad.  He promptly requested that I make it again this weekend.  

Guess I need to roast more chicken, and butternut squash!

Enjoy!

Harvest Cobb Salad

Ingredients:

makes 2 large servings

1 romaine heart, roughly chopped
1 cup cooked chicken, torn in to pieces
1 1/2 cups roasted butternut squash cubes
3 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1 small avocado, sliced
1/2 cup pecans halves
1 Tb. butter
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. paprika
¼ tsp. onion powder

Heat a skillet on medium-low heat. Add butter to the skillet, add the pecans. Sprinkle the pecans with the  garlic powder, paprika and onion powder.  Saute for about 4 minutes tossing to coat. Set pecans aside.

Place the romaine on a platter. Arrange the chopped chicken, roasted butternut squash, bacon, pecans, eggs and avocados in rows on top of the romaine.  Serve with your favorite creamy dressing. 

Nectarine-Blueberry Parfaits

 

It's summer time and the feeling is easy...

Sitting outside on these mild summer nights we've been having is just Heaven! Taking time out to relax with family after a meal helps to wind down the day and slow down the pace. 

We just love long summer evenings. To top of a scrumptious dinner I like to serve a light dessert with some kind of fresh summer fruit. Perfect for summer, and lighter and healthier than our standard ice cream cone! MGG is a fanatic for having a little something sweet, which is usually ice cream. Can't blame him, I'm right there with him too! 

These parfaits are the perfect solution to a light dessert. The creamy yogurt, crunchy granola, and flavors of nectarine and blueberries go so well together. It's a definite winner in my book! These would be wonderful for breakfast, or served at brunch. Kids love them too. You can also vary the fruit used. Peaches would be excellent and are so juicy right now.

What combinations would you choose?

Enjoy!

Nectarine-Blueberry Parfaits

serves: 2

2 6 oz cartons lite vanilla yogurt
1 cup granola
1 ripe nectarine, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Place 1/2 carton of yogurt into each of two dessert glasses or bowls; top with half of the granola Top with half of the nectarines, half of the blueberries. Repeat layers with the remaining yogurt, granola, nectarines, and blueberries.

Crunchy Baja Salad

Sorry, but I'm on a bit of a salad kick lately...

This dish was inspired by one we had in Baja, California.  Laying out on a balmy day at the beach, and then wandering the streets of town left us hungry and craving something cool to eat.  The heat of the day was taking it's toll and a refreshing lunch was in order.  We stopped at an outdoor cafe for something fruity to drink along with a light lunch and ended up with a terrific salad so huge it was made to serve two.  A wonderful light salad, perfect for lunch.  It had layers of lettuce, beans, cheese, and lots of avocados.  Topped with a Mexican flavored dressing this salad was just what the doctor ordered.  So I made my own Crunchy Baja Salad.

It reminds me of summertime.  Guess I'm wishing for those long summer days already however, with Avocados in abundance right now this dish is perfect for a nice spring lunch or brunch as well.  

While there isn't any meat in this salad it does pack a good punch of protein with the addition of beans.  Bean's are great in a salad!  They aren't just for use as a side dish, or in a soup.  They are so versatile.  Great cold or hot, try them in this Latin flavored salad and you'll experience the wonders of beans!

I've kept everything pretty simple, semi-homemade of sort.  The salad dressing is made using a lite ranch purchased dressing and mixing it with salsa to obtain that tasty Latin flavor.  It really is a great boost to the salad so don't skip the dressing!  Add a little crunch with some tortilla chips, and make sure to use a good pinto bean.  Canned is fine, but get a good hearty bean.  Good ingredients will make your salad taste fabulous!

Try my Crunchy Baja Salad when you want something healthy and light for lunch.  It's easy to make and tastes great!


Crunchy Baja Salad

Serves 2

4 c mixed baby greens

¼ c tortilla chips, crumbled
1/4 c 2% cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 c pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 small avocado, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lime, quartered
1/4 c lite ranch dressing

1 T salsa
2 T cilantro, roughly chopped

Divide lettuce among two plates.   Top evenly with cheese, avocado, and beans.  Squeeze a lime quarter over each salad.  Mix dressing and salsa together in a small bowl. Top salad with crumbled tortilla chips.  Drizzle dressing over each salad.  Garnish with cilantro if desired.  

Chicken Saltimbocca

 

I've been trying to eat healthier.  More veggies, less carbs.  Which I've been good at for the most part.  But also I've started paying attention to overall calories.

With the help of a great app called MyFitnessPal, counting all of this is much easier.  Cause honestly, who wants to count anyway.  Since the app does it all for you it really opens your eyes to your daily intake, and helps you make better choices.

Some days I'm good and some days I'm not so good.

Today was a good day! 

I started searching through my library of cookbooks and hit a goldmine I had forgotten I had.  A wonderful special publication called "Eatinglight, 400 calories or less".  Perfecto!  So I opened that puppy up and started to search for the perfect dinner to make. 

This is what I came up with.  Chicken Saltimbocca, served along some mixed greens dressed with a wine and lemon warm sauce.  A delishhh Italian dish, that was varied to make it lighter.  295 calories per serving good!  And only 10 grams of fat and 3 grams of carbs!  Can you say WOOHOO!

So off to the kitchen MGG and I went and whipped up this dish super quick.  It was done in about 30 minutes. We added a couple of sliced cucumbers and tomatoes to our greens for good measure.  Can't have too many veggies!  So what did we think?  Easy, quick, delicious , and best of all tasty!  

Try this version.  I know you will enjoy every bite.

Chicken Saltimbocca

Adapted from Good Housekeeping, Eatinglight 400 calories or less

Serves 4

4 slices thinly sliced prosciutto

2 oz Blue Cheese, crumbled

4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 t olive oil

½ c dry white wine

1 T fresh lemon juice

1 bag of mixed baby greens

On large work surface or cutting board lay prosciutto slices in a row.  Evenly divide Blue Cheese and place in center of prosciutto slices.  Place 1 chicken breast across the mound of Blue Cheese.   Wrap the chicken breast with the prosciutto.  Make sure to press firmly to enclose the cheese, ensuring the cheese does not leak out during cooking. 

In a large skillet over medium high heat add oil and heat.   Add the chicken, cheese side down, and cook 6 to 7 minutes.  Turn the chicken over an cook an additional 6 to 7 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.  Transfer to a plate covering with foil to keep warm. 

To the skillet, add the wine and lemon juice off the flame.  Place back on the burner and boil over medium high heat 2 minutes until reduced by half.  Stir to loosen any browned bits in the bottom of the skillet. 

Place greens in large bowl and toss with wine mixture.  Arrange the greens on 4 dinner plates and top with chicken.  Serve and enjoy!


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