This is an awesome salad we adapted from the July Cooking Light. You can pretty much put whatever you want in the salad, but the dressing is the amazing part. I used turkey bacon thinking it would be "healthier". Subsequently, I read an article discussing that there isn't much difference in nutrition between turkey and pork bacon. In a nutshell, one ounce of turkey bacon has 107 calories per serving, 8 grams of fat, and a 640 mg of sodium. In contrast, pork bacon has 149 calories, 11 g of fat, and 680 mg of sodium. (Granted this will all differ by the actual product you buy). Now knowing that the difference isn't that substantial, I probably would have splurged on the real bacon...it just tastes and crumbles better! (and this recipe doesn't use all that much). We had the leftovers for lunch the next day and they were just as delicious as the dinner. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Ingredients:
Dressing-
3 T white balsamic vinegar
1 t honey
3/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t ground red pepper
2 T canola oil
Salad-
3 slices center cut bacon
cooking spray
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, coated in cooking spray, S&P and grilled 8 min per side
8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 c pico de gallo- we just used chopped farmers market tomato
1/2 c diced avocado
1/2 c crumbled queso fresco
1/4 c chopped green onions
1 can low sodium organic black beans
2 eggs hard boiled and finely chopped
Directions:
To prepare the vinaigrette, combine the first six ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add the oil, stirring constantly with a whisk, set aside.
Cook bacon in a non stick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove from pan and crumble.
Arrange 2 cups lettuce on each of 4 plates. Top each serving with about 2 t bacon, 5 T chopped chicken breast, 2 T pico de gallo, 2 T queso fresco, 1 T onions, 2 T chopped egg and 1/3 c beans. Drizzle dressing evenly over salads.
