Tortellini Arugula Salad with Balsamic-Tomato Vinaigrette

Tortellini Arugula Salad with Balsamic-Tomato Vinaigrette

Recipe adapted from My Kitchen Café
Makes 4 Servings

9 ounce package refrigerated cheese tortellini
8 cups arugula, divided
¼ cup sun dried tomatoes
2 oz. crumbled fat-free feta cheese
¼ cup diced red onion
Dressing:
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp minced garlic, jarred
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/8 tsp salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Cook tortellini in boiling water until al dente. Drain and let cool in colander. In a small bowl that has a lid, toss all the salad ingredients together. Shake until well blended (process in a blend if you prefer). Prepare 4 bowls; each with 2 cups arugula, 1 tbsp sundried tomatoes, 2 tbsp fat-free feta cheese and 1 tbsp red onion. Top each with 1-2 tbsp of dressing.

Nutritional Information: 377 calories, 36 carbs, 20 fat grams and 15 protein grams.

Review: WOW - this tasted like something I would order at a restaurant! I've never had tortellini in a salad but just love it, and the homemade dressing was AWESOME. I just truly believe that the feta, red onion, the tomatoes - it all just blended and went together perfectly. Note: the original recipe called for spinach as opposed to arugula  and a can of artichoke hearts but I went without that. And I think you could TOTALLY had chicken to this for more protein - yum!

Southwest Salad and Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

Southwest Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

Makes 40+ side servings

Adapted from For the Love of Cooking

Dressing:
2 cups of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup canola oil
½ cup fresh lime juice (juice from 2 limes squeezed to death)
¼ cup red wine vinegar
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
2 tsp jarred minced garlic
2 tsp oregano

Add to blender. Blend. Refrigerate until ready to serve. (pulse one more time before adding to salads)

Salad:

4 bags romaine lettuce, divided
2 cans corn, drained, divided
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
2 cups Kraft 2% Mexican cheese, divided
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered (depending on size), divided
1 cup of red onion, diced and divided in half
Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette (recipe above), divided in half

Take out two large bowls. Add 2 bags of lettuce to each bowl. Drain corn and black beans. Add a can of corn and a can of black beans to each. Add 1 cup of cheese to each. Add ¾ cup diced tomatoes to each. Add 1/2 cup of diced red onion to each. Pulse salad dressing to ensure it’s mixed. If you plan to serve both at the same time: Drizzle each with half of the salad dressing. If you plan to serve one first and the other when it runs out: Drizzle half with salad dressing. Put the other salad and ½ dressing in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.

Nutritional Information (for each huge bowl of salad including dressing):2,023 calories, 158 carbs, 136 fat grams and 65 protein grams.

Review: We LOVED it and it seemed to go over really well! I made it the night before, left it in the mini processor and put it in the fridge. Right before I served the salad (both at the same time), I dropped it on top of the mini processor, pulsed it again, then poured half over each salad.

Just so you know, for less salad dressing, simply divide the recipe above by 4. This is what I did (I multiplied Pam's recipe by 4!) - Pam's Recipe:

1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
1/4 cup canola oil
1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano

Healthy Cobb Salad (or wrap!)

Healthy Cobb Salad
Recipe adapted from The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook
Makes 4 Servings

1 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
¼ cup nonfat Greek Yogurt (like Fage)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp water
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
4 slices turkey bacon, diced
1 pound chicken, diced or thinly sliced; cooked in salt and pepper
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced

Romaine or spinach leaves

Blend cheese, yogurt, vinegar, water and pepper until smooth; reserve. Cook turkey bacon until crisp; reserve. Arrange lettuce in 4 bowls. Scatter bacon on top of lettuce followed by chicken, tomatoes, eggs and avocado. Drizzle with dressing.

Nutritional Information: 336 calories, 14 carbs, 16 fat grams and 39 protein grams.

Review: I really liked it. Lots of different flavors. I will say I preferred it with romaine lettuce, and when I ate it the second time, I was STARVING so I put it in a taco-size Mission tortilla. I just spread the sauce on first, then topped with the ingredients and a bit of romaine - it was wonderful this way and, for me, more satisfying. The salad was filling as is, but just not satisfying for me - I guess it was just too healthy rather than being healthified! :) I would definitely make this again, but would probably plan on having it in a flat out wrap or tortilla.

Notes: when dividing, each salad gets 78 grams chicken, 38 grams eggs, 38 grams avocado, 7 grams bacon and 26 grams dressing.

Taco Salad

Taco Salad

Makes 4 Servings

Recipe idea from my co-worker & friend Stacy

1 can fat-free refried beans (400 grams)
16 oz. 96/4 ground beef
2 tbsp onion, diced
1 serano pepper, deseeded and finely diced
1 packet taco seasoning, divided
8 tbsp fat-free sour cream
4 cups lettuce
16 wedges of sliced tomato
¼ cup fat-free cheddar cheese (for garnish)
4 mission low-carb tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Ball up foil loosely and mold “shells” with the tortillas around the ball (picture bowl topside down). Place tortillas on a cookie sheet in oven for 6 - 10 minutes until desired crispiness. While tortillas bake, set pot over medium and spray with cooking spray. Add beans and 1-2 tsp of taco seasoning. Stir until warm. While beans are heating up, set a large pan on medium and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add onions and peppers and stir for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add meat, remaining taco seasoning, and a little bit of water (1-2 tbsp). Stir until meat is no longer red. While stirring, remove tortillas from the oven and set on a plate. Add lettuce layer, 100 grams of beans to each tortilla, 121 grams of meat mixture, lettuce layer, sour cream, tomato and cheese and serve.

Nutritional Information: 415 calories, 45 carbs, 8 fat grams and 38 protein grams.

Review: Yummilicious! So glad that I can make this at home - very exciting. I thought it tasted restaurant quality and loved all of the flavors - especially the sour cream topping with the beans - yum!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Buffalo Chicken Salad
Recipe from Hungry Girl
Makes 4 Servings

16 oz. chicken, diced
2 tsp olive oil
½ tsp cumin
6 tbsp Frank’s cayenne pepper sauce
3 tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese
8 turkey bacon strips, divided
1 large tomato, diced
8 cups romaine lettuce, divided
8 tbsp fat-free ranch, divided

Spray large pan with nonstick spray and add olive oil. Cook chicken with cumin, stirring until no longer pink. While it cooks, combine Frank’s and parmesan, cook bacon in microwave and dice tomatoes. Once the chicken is cooked, add to sauce/parm mixture and stir until the chicken is coated, then cook in microwave for 1 minute. Then put ¼ lettuce in each bowl, and top each with ¼ chicken mix, ¼ bacon, and ¼ tomato mix, then 2 tbsp of fat-free ranch.

Nutritional Information: 275 calories, 18 carbs, 5 fat grams and 33 protein grams.

Review: To beef this up, I added a slice of nature’s own bread with a ½ tsp of light butter – your call! We LOVED it! I also thought it looked so pretty with the toppings organized in thirds. The little things, people.

BLT pasta salad

BLT pasta salad
Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine
Makes 4 Servings

8 oz. pasta
¼ cup milk
½ tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese.
12 slices low-fat turkey bacon
2 medium ripe tomatoes cut into chunks
1 tsp garlic, minced
½ tsp dried thyme
¼ cup fat-free mayonnaise
¼ cup fat-free sour cream
3 tbsp scallions
3 cups chopped romaine hearts
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water. Drain and toss with milk and parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Set aside. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove from pan, and add tomatoes, thyme and garlic to the pan and toss until warmed through; season with salt and pepper. Cut bacon into bite-size pieces; set aside ¼ cup for garnish. Toss remaining bacon and tomato mixture with pasta. Mix mayo, sour cream and 2 tbsp chives with pasta until evenly combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add lettuce; toss again to coat. Garnish with reserved bacon and remaining tbsp chives. Serve at room temperature.

Nutritional Information: 325 calories, 50 carbs, 7 fat grams and 15 protein grams.

Review: We REALLY liked it! I personally would have liked it better if it had cooled and like congealed together more, so I think the two servings we cooled for later this week will be better. But that’s okay – STILL very good.

Cranberry & Blue Cheese Salad

Cranberry & Blue Cheese Salad

Makes 1 Serving

½ cup romaine lettuce
1 cup arugula
14 grams TJ’s Blue Cheese Crumbles
2 tbsp TJ’s Raspberry Vinaigrette
15 grams TJ’s Dried Fruit Cranberries
24 grams avocado, diced

Optional: almond slivers

Nutritional Information (without almond slivers): 184 calories, 26 carbs, 11 fat grams and 4 protein grams.

Review: It was great and filling – I love the mix of these flavors! To make it lower calorie, I would just omit avocado – it was a nice-to-have but not a must-have. I was REALLY happy with the crumbles, dressing and cranberries though – I’m going to eat this salad A LOT.

Hummus Chicken Salad Wraps

Hummus Chicken Salad Wraps
Recipe from Aggie's Kitchen
Makes 2 Servings

4 tbsp sabra hummus (classic flavor)
2 tablespoons finely diced celery
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt + some for cooking
dash of pepper
10 oz. chicken, diced
1 tbsp lemon juice, divided
2 handfuls of romaine lettuce
2 Mission Balance Sundried Tomato Tortillas for wrapping

Set a pan over medium heat. Add chicken, a sprinkle of salt and a ½ tbsp of lemon juice. Cook until no longer pink, then shred with two forks. While the chicken cooks, use a small bowl to combine and stir hummus, celery, green onions, bell pepper, 1/8 tsp of salt and a sprinkling of pepper. Add chicken and the rest of the lemon juice. Divide into two servings (each serving 143 grams). Put each serving on a tortilla with a handful of lettuce. Wrap up and enjoy!

Nutritional Information: 442 calories, 40 carbs, 13 fat grams and 40 protein grams. For you low-carbers (i.e. nutritional information without wrap): 232 calories, 5 carbs, 9 fat grams and 34 protein grams.

Review: We LOVED it. Like WOW. If anything we may add a bit more red pepper and celery for more crunch. Love, love, love. We think it looks super professional. Like something I would order at a deli!! YUMMY, thanks, Aggie!!

Herbed Greek Chicken Salad

Cooking Light.com
Herbed Greek Chicken Salad
Makes 2 Servings

½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp black pepper, divided
¼ tsp salt, divided
Cooking spray
8 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
2.5 tsp fresh lemon juice, divided
½ cup plain fat-free yogurt (Fage 0%)
1 tsp tahini
½ tsp minced garlic
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
8 grape tomatoes, halved
44 grams fat-free feta cheese

Combine oregano, garlic powder, ¼ tsp pepper and 1/8 tsp salt in a bowl. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken and spice mixture; sauté until chicken is done. Drizzle with 1.5 tsp lemon juice; stir. Remove from pan. Combine remaining tsp of lemon juice, remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, yogurt, tahini and garlic in a small bowl; stir well. Combine lettuce and tomatoes. Place mixture on each of 2 plates. Top each serving with chicken mixture and cheese. Drizzle each serving with 3 tablespoons yogurt mixture.

Optional: Serve with toasted pita wedges (like I did above; 1/2 6-inch pita) OR chop down salad with knives, toast 6-inch pita, cut pita in half, and stuff each half with salad making a Greek Chicken Salad Wrap. The salad is super “sticky” if you will (see 3rd picture!), making it easy to stuff in a pita!

Mixed in with a side of pita

Nutritional Information (without pita): 251 calories, 13 carbohydrates, 3 fat grams, 41 protein grams. Nutritional Information (with pita): 371 calories, 37 carbs, 3 fat grams and 44 protein grams.

Review: You guys – it was SUPER good. I ended up eating half the salad with ½ a pita (2 small triangles), then stuffing the other half of the salad in another ½ of pita. YUM. It was so creamy and thick and fabulous – DEFINITELY making again. This would be a good one to bring to work too, could just pack it up and bring a pita, toast the pita in the toaster in the break room and stuff it up! Easy peasy!

That Good Salad

Recipe from my sister Devon

That Good Salad

Dressing:
3/4 Cup EVOO
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup lemon juice

Salad:

2 bunches Romaine Lettuce
2 cups tomatoes, diced
1 cup swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
8 strips bacon, fried & broken into pieces
1 cup caesar salad croutons

Mix ingredients together; cover & refrigerate until ready to serve. Pour dressing over salad just before serving and mix well.

Nutritional Information: TBD

Review: This salad is amazing. Really. The flavors are great, the dressing is a perfect blend and it's a crowd favorite. Devon made it for a house warming shower this past summer and it went quick! People even asked for the recipe!

Pizza Pasta Salad

Pizza Pasta Salad
Adapted from Cooking Light
Makes 2 Servings

2 oz. uncooked rotini pasta
3 oz. artichoke hearts (from jar), drained
1.5 oz. turkey pepperoni
1 oz. fat-free feta cheese
1 oz. fat-free mozzarella cheese
10 grape tomatoes, quartered
4 oz. roasted red peppers (from jar), drained
¼ cup Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (I used newman’s)
2 basil leaves, minced
1/8 tsp pepper
Optional: ½ cup mushrooms; ¼ cup green pepper; ¼ onion diced

Cook pasta; drain, rinse with cold water and place in bowl #1. In bowl #2, combine artichoke hearts, pepperoni, cheese and tomatoes. Stir in salad dressing, basil and pepper. Place roasted red pepper in blender; process until smooth. Add pepper mixture to pasta/bowl #1. Stir. Add pasta mixture to artichoke mixture and toss well. In bowl #3, combine lettuce, mushrooms, onions and green peppers. Toss. Add artichoke/pasta mixture to bowl #3. Toss well! Serve with pita (1 pita smeared with 1 tsp olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary and kosher salt baked for 5 minutes at 450 degrees).

Nutritional Information: 450 calories, 61 carbs, 13 fat grams and 26 protein grams (with pita). For You Low-Carbers: Without pita: 370 calories, 49 carbs, 11 fat grams and 26 protein grams. Without noodles AND pita: 270 calories, 28 carbs, 10 far grams and 22 protein grams.

Review: Great salad! Very flavorful with the pepperoni and balsamic. I also liked having it with the pita to dip in the dressing - yum! Yes, I’m the only person on earth who can make a salad with almost as many carbs as my fried rice recipe!! Haha I knew the noodles would push it over but didn’t realize how all of those veggies would add up – who knew??! Anyway – we loved it! Super filling and fabulous, definitely hit the spot. Can’t wait to make another salad and try more salad dressings. Speaking of – the dressing was GREAT – I’m a fan – I want more ASAP.

Spicy Cilantro Chicken Salad

Spicy Cilantro Chicken Salad

4 Servings

16 oz. chicken
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can rotel
8 cups arugula (1 bag), divided into 4 servings
1 avocado, deseeded without skin, quartered
40 grams corn chips
40 grams Kraft reduced fat swiss cheese
8 tbsp Trader Joe’s Cilantro Salad Dressing
24 cherry tomatoes, quartered

Cook chicken in taco seasoning and rotel until no longer pink. Shred with two forks, divide into 4 servings and spoon it onto arugula topped plates. Add 10 grams corn chips, 10 grams cheese, 6 cherry tomatoes, ¼ of avocado and 2 tbsp of salad dressing to each. Eat up!

Nutritional Information: 397 calories, carbs, 17 fat grams and 36 protein grams.

Review: I loved it! Austin had it for dinner later and thought it was fabulous as well – this will be a summer staple! (to lower fat, just use less avocado). :) And you guys – that salad dressing is THE BOMB. It’s super flavorful – a little goes a very long way which makes me very happy.