Rainbow Salad

If you think salads are boring, then you've been making them wrong! Salads are my go-to almost everyday and they always contain healthy fats, lean proteins, and loads of colorful vegetables. I always choose a base of dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach, or arugula. My main source of carbohydrates comes from roasted sweet potato or roasted butternut squash. One of my favorite vegetables to add are brussel sprouts. Roasting them brings out their rich, nutty flavor. Mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus, and bell peppers are some of my other favorite vegetables to roast or grill and add to salads. I always pick a lean protein such as chicken, fish, shrimp, tofu, or Beyond Meat Chicken Strips. My absoulte favorite dressing is so easy. Plus, it packs a ton of flavor with very little calories. There are so many ways to make salads delicious, filling and satisfying. Because let's face it, lettuce and grilled chicken is NOT going to cut it. The more colors you can add to your bowl the better!

Paprika shrimp, roasted sweet potato, tomatoes, blueberries, avocado, spinach, roasted brussel spouts and my Honey Mustard Dressing 

Easiest Honey Mustard Dressing Ever

This recipe could not be any easier. I've been making this for years and I'm not sure why I never shared it. I use this dressing almost every single day. It's packed with flavor without the fat and added sugars of a store bought honey mustard dressing. Less fat in the dressing means more avocado in my salad :)

Honey Mustard Dressing

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 packet stevia
Water to desired consistency (I use about 2-3 tablespoons)

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. I like to put my salad ingredients in the same bowl and mix it all up. It's a fool proof way to get all your dressing on the salad!

You can also make a balsamic version by using balsamic vinegar in place of the water!

Nutrition Information: 12 calories, 0 grams Fat, 3 grams CHO, 0 g Protein

Tahini Yogurt Sauce

This sauce is creamy, satisfying, and perfect on noodles, vegetables- anything really! I made this sauce to toss with shirataki noodles (see my previous post for a description of the noodles). I had some sauce leftover and tossed it with my Beyond Meat Chicken Strips, roasted butternut squash, and roasted brussel sprouts for an awesome salad. Holy YUM!! This sauce is going on everything. And now, I share : )

Tahini Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon PB2 or peanut flour
3 tablespoons plain Greek yourt
1/2 tablespoon Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
1 tablespoon water
Stevia to taste

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients in a food processor or whisk well in a bowl.

Yea, that's it. Top stuff!

This could easily serve 2, 3, or 4, depending on what you use it for.

For the whole recipe: 94 Calories, 5 g Fat, 6.2 g CHO, 9.2 g Protein

Creamy Miso Dressing

I wasn't too excited about the last miso dressing I made for my kale salad, so I came up with a really delicious one the other day. I adapted it from www.eatingwell.com: 

1/2 cup Light Silken Tofu (Any silken tofu works)
2 T Rice Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Miso paste
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 t ground ginger
1 1/2 t flaxseed oil (any neutral oil will work)
1 garlic clove, crushed

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Done :)

For about 2 Tablespoons: 40 calories, 5 g carbs, 1 g fat, 1 g protein

Served this with fresh organic arugula, miso-baked sweet potato, asian baked tofu, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and avocado. Absolutely delicious!

The Most Perfect Fall Salad EVER: Roasted Butternut Squash and Arugula with Tahini Dressing

I think this might be the BEST salad I have EVER made. I made it an hour ago and made every person in my family try a bite. I still can't stop thinking about it. These ingredients are MEANT to be together. I made extra dressing so I can make the salad again for lunch tomorrow. It's a hearty salad with super healthy ingredients so you feel nutritionalized (I just made that word up), satiated, and all warm and delicious inside. Not sure if that made sense, but I really cannot describe how incredible this salad is...

The original recipe is from Redbook Magazine, but I tweaked it a bit to make it lower in fat/calories and sugar. I also added Roasted Sausage-Less Sausage to add more protein :)

Salad:

1 Butternut Squash, peeled, halved, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks (Mine came out to about 3 1/2 to 4 cups)
1 1/2 t olive oil
1/4-1/2 t paprika
1/2 t salt
Less than 1/4 t black pepper
3 T pumpkin seeds
8 cups baby arugula
1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley
1/4 cup raisins
4 oz fat free feta crumbles
Trader Joe's Sausage-less Sausage (optional)

Dressing:

2 T plain Greek Yogurt
2 T Tahini
1 T lemon Juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 t salt

1. Heat oven to 375 F.
2. Salad: In a large bowel, toss squash, oil, paprika, salt, pepper. Spread out evenly on a sprayed baking dish. Roast about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through under squash is tender. Sprinkle squash with the pumpkin seeds for the last 5 minutes of roasting. If using the sausage-less sausage, roast in the oven during the last 10-12 minutes of the squash cooking.
3. Dressing: Whisk together all of the ingredients. Whisk in 2 T boiling water.
4. In a bowl, gently toss squash, arugula, parsley, raisins, feta and sausage-less sausage (if using). Drizzle dressing over salad and EAT!!

I made enough of the squash and salad for 4 servings, but only mixed 1 serving worth of salad with the dressing since it was only me eating. I will make the salad again and toss with the dressing when I'm ready to eat it so its not soggy. SO DELISH :)