Lime Taco Salad

Making your own salad dressing is kind of a pain, gets a lot of things messy, but man! Is it worth it!

Source: myrecipes.com via craftyashley on Pinterest

I did not bother with the chicken, and did not miss it. So it's great as a vegetarian lunch salad.

• Vinaigrette:
• 1/4 cup chopped seeded tomato
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon grated lime rind
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, peeled

Salad:

• 8 cups thinly sliced iceberg lettuce
• 1 1/2 cups chopped ready-to-eat roasted skinned, boned chicken breast- about 2 breasts (optional)
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 cups fat-free baked tortilla chips (about 4 ounces)

1. To prepare vinaigrette, combine first 11 ingredients in a blender or food processor; process until smooth.
2. To prepare salad, combine lettuce and remaining ingredients except chips in a large bowl. Add vinaigrette; toss well to coat. Serve with chips.

Spinach & Mandarin Salad

An easy 5 minute salad. Use pre-washed bagged spinach and canned mandarins. Easy!

2 bags (5-6 oz. each) Spinach salad
1/3 c. bottled sesame seed dressing
1/2 lemon
1 can (11 oz) light mandarin oranges
1/2 c. honey roasted almonds

Place spinach in large salad bowl. Drizzle dressing on top; squeeze juice from lemon half over salad. Just before serving, toss to combine and top with orange sections and almonds.

Pomegranate Salad

Seeds of one pomegranate
4 apples, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a bowl, combine fruit and nuts. In separate bowl, combine sugar, vanilla. Start with 1 cup of yogurt and slowly add additional spoonfuls, until the fruit and nuts are lightly coated

Note: Pomegranate season is short- around Oct/Nov. for the rest of the year, substitute raspberries.

Autumn Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

2 red delicious apples
1 sliced banana
1 Granny Smith apple
2 Bartlett pears
1/2 pound red grapes
1/2 cup almond slivers -- toasted
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon apple cider

Directions:

1. Wash and core apples and pears, peeling if desired. Cut into one inch chunks.

2. Slice bananas 1/2" thick. Wash grapes and cut in half.

3. Combine fruits and almonds in salad bowl.

4. Mix yogurt with spices and cider. Pour over fruit salad and stir to coat fruits evenly. Chill.

Note: You could add raisins, or any number of nuts to this as well! Yum!

Southwestern Wraps

OMG- I have missed these so much! There was a tiny little place at UNLV that used to sell these. I still crave them, so I re-created it to the best of my ability. Laura and I really liked the finished product!

Burrito or larger sized flour tortillas
1/2 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
3/4 c. black beans- rinsed
1/2 c. kernel corn- rinsed
1 tomato- diced
1 small can sliced black olives
shredded cheese
jalapenos (optional)
cooked chicken- plain- diced (optional)
chipotle ranch salad dressing (or just regular ranch)
salsa

Mix up above ingredients like a salad. Pour on the dressing and salsa to taste. Pile onto the middle of the tortilla, tuck in the ends and roll tightly like a burrito. Slice down the center for your wrap. Mmmm!

Makes about 4 medium-sized wraps