Saturday night my Mom and I met some neighbors from home, home as is where I grew up. Funny that I used to babysit their daughter and now she is a freshman at the local university. (No I don't feel old at all.) Earlier in the day Mom and had Five Guys for lunch when we went shopping. We opted to split fries and have a little hamburger. It actually didn't completely blow my calories for the day, but I knew I needed to eat really light for dinner. I had in my mind that I want a salad from Chili's and I really like the Quesadilla Explosion Salad, until I looked at the calorie count. 1,300 calories in a SALAD. Yeah I thought it was crazy too. Sometimes salads are not the best option at restaurants because of what they put in or on the salad. This salad comes with cheese quesadillas which increases calorie count by quite a bit.
Thankfully they have a Lighter Options menu, which is GREAT for everyone, not just those that are looking to lose weight. I stumbled upon a salad that is VERY similar to the Quesadilla Explosion; the Grilled Chicken Salad. It's topped with corn, green peppers, black beans, and tomatoes and a grilled chicken breast. The salad dressing was so light you couldn't see it on the salad; I think it was called Honey lime vinaigrette.
So tonight when I knew there would snack foods for the Super Bowl I decided I wanted to make another one of those salads. So we made the dressing, adding topping we wanted, and served it up before the party started.
Instead of the green pepper, which neither my Mom or I really care for in salads, we opted for cucumber and added spinach to our greens. And we found really good looking heirloom tomatoes at Trader Joes today, so we had to put those in. I'm not sold yet. I'm still learning to like tomatoes.
Then the fun part of making the salad dressing! Mom found this fancy thing that mixes salad dressing and gives you recipes. But we knew the basic ingredients in this one. Lime, honey, plain olive oil and white balsamic vinegar.
Start with a quarter of a cup of white balsamic and olive oil each, add 2-3 tablespoons of honey (don't quote me on this, add until it tastes good, Mom just squeezed honey in) and the juice of one lime. She thinks it could have used less lime, I thought it was mighty good with the whole lime.
It's ok if the dressing starts separating like it is in this picture. Thats normal. just shake or stir it up before serving.
It's just that easy and such a good different salad to mix up the normal salad routine.
Leave a comment and let me know if you've ever tried to make your own dressing. And leave the recipe!
Until next time! xo
Thankfully they have a Lighter Options menu, which is GREAT for everyone, not just those that are looking to lose weight. I stumbled upon a salad that is VERY similar to the Quesadilla Explosion; the Grilled Chicken Salad. It's topped with corn, green peppers, black beans, and tomatoes and a grilled chicken breast. The salad dressing was so light you couldn't see it on the salad; I think it was called Honey lime vinaigrette.
So tonight when I knew there would snack foods for the Super Bowl I decided I wanted to make another one of those salads. So we made the dressing, adding topping we wanted, and served it up before the party started.Instead of the green pepper, which neither my Mom or I really care for in salads, we opted for cucumber and added spinach to our greens. And we found really good looking heirloom tomatoes at Trader Joes today, so we had to put those in. I'm not sold yet. I'm still learning to like tomatoes.
Then the fun part of making the salad dressing! Mom found this fancy thing that mixes salad dressing and gives you recipes. But we knew the basic ingredients in this one. Lime, honey, plain olive oil and white balsamic vinegar.Start with a quarter of a cup of white balsamic and olive oil each, add 2-3 tablespoons of honey (don't quote me on this, add until it tastes good, Mom just squeezed honey in) and the juice of one lime. She thinks it could have used less lime, I thought it was mighty good with the whole lime.
It's ok if the dressing starts separating like it is in this picture. Thats normal. just shake or stir it up before serving.
It's just that easy and such a good different salad to mix up the normal salad routine.
Leave a comment and let me know if you've ever tried to make your own dressing. And leave the recipe!
Until next time! xo
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