I love a delicious summer salad. The crisp greens and sweet fruit call to me throughout the season. When produce is fresh and sun-kissed, it’s actually very easy to eat healthfully. My body craves the love it gets when I sit and meditate over a tasty salad. Although my absolute favorite salad is a strawberry salad with blue cheese and pecans, my oh-so-close second runner up is this salad: Tart Granny Smiths, blue cheese, lightly toasted pecans and perfectly seasoned grilled chicken (which I like to add to this salad – it’s just as tasty without) are the stars of this rodeo. This salad is lightly dressed in a sweet balsamic vinaigrette from Eat What You Love by Marlene Koch. It’s a Southern Girl’s must-have book in her quest to look good nekked (naked for y’all non-southerners)!
Balsamic Vinegette
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- Pinch of salt
- Pepper to taste
Salad
- 4 cups packed mixed greens, rinsed well*
- 6 tablespoons blue cheese crumbles
- 1/2 chopped pecans ( toasted in a pan until nutty, or not, it’s good either way!)
- 1 large Granny Smith apple, cold, cored and cut into think slices
1. To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, chicken broth, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper. After this step, I like to soak my salad greens in a 1/4 vinegar in a large bowl of water for ten minutes. It helps to kill the nasties and keeps my greens so fresh and so clean, clean.
2. Prepare your pan-seared or grilled chicken to your liking. If pressed for time, rotisserie chicken breast will work just as well. Cut or tear chicken into bite sized pieces.
3. For the salad, place your rinsed and dried salad greens in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the greens and toss lightly. If you want to get really fancy, whisk the dressing in a stainless steel bowl over low heat on the stovetop then add the salad greens until they slightly wilt. Watch them cuz’ they will wilt quickly!
4. Split the lightly dressed salad greens onto four plates. Divide the blue cheese, pecans, and Granny Smith apple slices (and grilled chicken if you like) on top of the greens.
Nutrition Information:
Without chicken: Weight Watchers PPV: 5PPV/serving | Calories: 210 | Carbs: 12g | Total Fat: 16g | Protein: 7g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 260mg
With 3 ounces of grilled chicken: WWPPV: 8ppv/serving
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