any salad guru's out there? HELP.

ok, so for dinner i want a salad with grilled chicken mixed in. but i have noo idea what would go good with grilled chicken. does anybody have any good salad recipie or ideas that could help me out?

oh, and i don't eat any kind of dressing or cheese.

Hmm, this one's tough because for me, the dressing almost always makes the salad!!  Otherwise it's too dry or too bland for me..

 But if you insist on no dressing...how bout marinating the chicken in teriyaki sauce before grilling...perhaps on a bed of mixed greens or baby spinach..throw in a few mandarin orange slices and maybe some sauteed green beans in sesame oil and a touch of soy sauce...and a few almond slivers to top it...mmm sounds good to me.

 Hmmm, and I've seen people do sliced strawberries and walnuts on mixed greens.  Again with the mandarin oranges.  I can't stand the idea of a dry salad...haha, but you like what you like, right?

 Good luck and happy eating.

Jen, great suggestions! I, too, am a dressing lover. Other items I throw on a chicken salad are toasted walnuts, small apple or pears slices, green onion...or fresh corn and tomato is also good. And, while they are in season, a sprinkling of pomogranate seeds with toasted almonds or walnuts, adds a nice tangy flavor.  

I had the same issue as you, people came up with some great ideas to help me out, I'm working my way through them.  here's the link;

http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/558 68.html

 

I just had this salad at a restaurant this weekend:

grilled chicken, avocado, red onion, tomato, bacon, cheese, romaine... with a BBQ-flavored dressing (I dipped my fork - it was rich!). You could easily skip the cheese though... and you could also skip the bacon.

This salad had very little bacon in it, maybe only 1/2 a slice, max. It was the avocado and the tomato that really made it. And if you really don't like dressing, try basting the chicken in BBQ sauce, for added flavor.

Or how about doing a mexican-inspired theme? Grilled chicken, canned (rinsed) black beans, corn, salsa? (I would use the kind of salsa you can buy in the refrigerated area of the produce section - not the bottled kind). Might try spicing it up with a shake of cumin, and some fresh cilantro. I don't usually make salads with iceburg lettuce, but crisp, fresh iceburg would be particularly good with this.

Or you could do a "chicken-soup" theme: bed of spinach with grilled chicken, peas, sliced carrots, a little onion. Everything but the noodles. Maybe use a little cold, cooked rice or better, barley. Add tons of fresh parsley.  

Or a "chicken salad" theme: mix the chicken in a little non-fat yogurt or mayo (if your diet allows). Top lettuce with sliced apples and walnuts.

Just think of your favorite chicken dish, then do a salad take on it.

You could try tarragon vinegar (fresh tarragon in white wine vinegar) on your salad.  The tarragon flavour is excellent with chicken and the vinegar isn't really a dressing....is it??!!

If you use marinated veggies in jars (watch the sodium) you almost don't need dressing: banana peppers, cocktail onions, marinated mushrooms, etc. Also, canned mandarin oranges and/or craisins are a good add on. Try to go without dressing, it'll make you appreciate the flavor of the veggies all on their own!

I hate dressing too but I'm also a vegetarian; try throwing some avocado in there and apple slices are always great.

try this site:
www.whfoods.com

they have awesomesalad recipes!

I love a basic salad.  Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mushrooms, black olives, and a sprinkle of cheese.  To mix it up I will throw in some different things like corn, black beans, kidney beans, garbonzo beans, different types of marinated chicken breast.  You could also throw on things like shirmp or tuna.  If I have extra calories I might chop up half of a hard boiled egg

i love romaine lettuce, shredded lettuce, mushrooms, cherry tomatos, baby carrots, the chicken, cut up apple and then i cut up half of a zucchini into slices and "grill" them on my george foreman. toss those into the salad. then i just use low cal zesty italian dressing.

i ended up using 1 grilled chicken breast, romaine lettuce, orange slices and some almonds. |:

weird combo, but pretty tasty. i'd do it again.

Sliced red tomatoes, garlic salt, & fresh (or even dry) basil.  Let them sit just a bit for the juices to come out.

Here's a combination I had the other night that was very good--of course, I had some dressing with it and marinated the chicken in it.  But I think the juices from the mango would be good.  This is for 2 servings.

1 whole skinless boneless chicken breast (3/4 pound), halved
1 bunch spinach (about 3/4 pound), coarse stems discarded and leaves washed well and spun dry
1 firm-ripe mango, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 plum tomatoes, sliced thin
2/3 cup raspberries, picked over
4 scallions, chopped fine
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse

I did something similar to this, with mango, avocado, scallions, and red peppers.  Also a nice combination.

There are 400 calories in an avocado tho!  I have stopped eating them since I found this out!

think of avocados as a fat.  They are rich in the very best kind of fat you can eat.  Instead of eating a whole avocado, measure out a portion, just as you would any other fat, such as olive oil.

According to The World's Healthiest Foods website, a whole cup of avocado (146 grams), is 235 calories.  You could have 1/4 cup at under 60 calories!

"Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. In one study of people with moderately high cholesterol levels, individuals who ate a diet high in avocados showed clear health improvements. After seven days on the diet that included avocados, they had significant decreases in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, along with an 11% increase in health promoting HDL cholesterol."

 

It is sometimes easy to forget that even though something is high in fat that it can still be good for us.  Olive oil and avocados are just a couple of examples. 

I was once told that for you to release bile in the correct quantities for your food (fat etc) to be digested you have to consume a minimum of 10g of fat in a meal.  If not the fat is not digested correctly.

Enjoy the avacodos....!!