Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Recipe Wednesday: Fresh Southwest Salad

THE STATS: 6’6” (72 inches), 278.4 lbs (Goal: 240 lbs), BMI 32.2, Current month’s weight loss (February 2011): 1.2 lbs, 2011 weight loss: 11.2 lbs, total weight loss: 105.4 lbs.

Responding to requests from my readers, I'm going to serve up the inaugural Recipe Wednesday post: my evening meal staple, a home-concoction that Laurelin and I have discovered which I'll call the Fresh Southwest Salad.  This is a great quick one to pack up and take with you to school or work, and I'll get into some tips for that at the end of the post.  And I promise, it'll satisfy and fill you up!

FRESH SOUTHWEST SALAD

(Recipe serves one)

1 large handful of fresh lettuce (I prefer romaine) or fresh leaf spinach
1/2 cup cooked black beans*
1/2 cup thawed frozen corn
1 large Roma tomato, diced
1/4 cup shredded deli turkey breast
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon flaxseed

Dijon-Balsamic Dressing: equal parts Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar and Dijon Mustard

Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a large salad bowl, and if you're taking it with you on the go, pack it into a large tupperware.  You can make several servings of the dressing at once for convenience, pack as much as you'll be putting on your salad in a small container to take with you, and refrigerate the rest.  Adding the dressing just before you eat the salad instead of while mixing the rest of the ingredients helps keep the salad from getting soggy.

* - We use dry black beans which we soak overnight and cook in bulk.  Try to avoid using canned black beans, as there is added sodium in the "juice" from the can.  If you have no choice but to use canned beans, make sure you drain the beans completely, and rinse them to remove as much excess salt as possible.

That's it!  Max prep time: 10 mins.  It's an incredible, fresh-tasting mix of ingredients, and I'm sure you'll enjoy!

As always, questions, comments, and advice are welcomed!

- Dan -

EDIT: Thanks to reader Matt-O for suggesting something I forgot to include...salsa is a great alternative to the Dijon-Balsamic dressing if you're looking for a more Mexican flavor!  Try it once with the Dijon dressing, however, you'll love it.

3 comments:

  1. Sounds great...going to try it tonight. I read the book to help Uncle B with his sugar issues and got soooo much out of it. We are really trying to eat healthy and it gave us a great start! More recipes please!!!!
    Auntie D

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  2. Hey man, great recipe! We had it for dinner tonight and made some salsa verde dressing with about a teaspoon of olive oil, a dash of orange juice and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

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  3. R Lenny, glad you enjoyed it!

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