This one's for the lunch crowd. I'm not the kind of person who is going to cut starchy carbs from my diet. If this is going to work long term for me/us, we've got to include the things we love. But I do try to cut back on them where I can and when I want to lighten up my chicken salad, I grab my little gem lettuce or endive and I make these bad boys...
Quick Chicken Salad Cups
2-3 leaves of little gem, endive or bib lettuce
2.5 oz Trader Joe's chicken breast*
2 tbsp Miracle Whip Light
1 oz wedge honeycrisp apple
1 scallion, diced
Grab your lettuce leaves for action
Boil two Trader Joe's chicken tenderloins and shred.
I eat an apple every day. I took one wedge of a honeycrisp apple and diced it down into small chunks and diced one scallion.
Add those to the bowl of chicken along with 2 tbsp of Miracle Whip Light.
Give it all a mix and add any salt free spices like thyme, basil, oregano, etc.
Divide it up and add it to your lettuce cups. I like to put a hit of black pepper on mine just before digging in. Plate it with your lunch and enjoy something quick, easy and healthy!
If you're going to make these the night before for your brown bagger the next day, put the chicken salad in a small container and wrap the lettuce leaves in tin foil to keep them crunchy then assemble when it's time to dig in!
(*- You can use any chicken breast but the nutritional info will be different. You could use anything from hummus to pesto to pureed avocado as the binder here. Keep in mind it will change the nutritional info as well.)
Nutritional info: Calories 151 Total Fat 4g Poly Fat 2g Cholesterol 51mg Sodium 311mg Potassium 123mg Total Carbs 13g Fiber 2g Sugars 8g Protein 17g Vitamin A 21% Vitamin C 8% 2% Iron 5%
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Those do look yummy. I'll have to give them a try sometime. You little gem you!
ReplyDeleteMmmm. These look so good! I love fruit in chicken salad. There's just something awesome about the mix of texture and flavor. I also love that you suggested alternative options like the use of avocados or hummus for the binder. I would have never thought of that! Thanks for the easy, adaptable, delicious looking recipe! :)
ReplyDeleteI like to add a little horseradish to my chicken salad. Not the mayonnaise blend, the real stuff. Raisins work well instead of apple if you're not eating it right away so the apples don't get brown & icky. This is one of my favorites to take for work, but I usually use pita or sandwich thins because lettuce cups at work are just not really workable.
ReplyDeleteYes please! Looks so yummy!
ReplyDeleteThose look DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe! Definitely going to give it a whirl!
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious. I made homemade chicken salad too, using low fat Mayo. I put a 3-lb. package of frozen chicken breasts in my crockpot with a can of low sodium chicken broth and cook them all day. I shred a few breasts for the chicken salad, and have several other breasts left to make pizza or a myriad other things! They are so tender cooked like that.When I mix up my chicken salad, I always add chopped celery and some chopped pickles too. It is great with lettuce leaves or even served on top of shredded lettuce (which I buy for tacos). A few sliced grapes on top are always good too. And sometimes some sliced almonds. Or a few dried cranberries. I LOVE chicken salad--can you tell??? Who needs bread????
ReplyDeleteThat looks tasty! I've never made a chicken salad before, and avoid them when I'm out because of the fat/caloire in the mayo.
ReplyDeleteAlso a good idea keeping the lettuce in some tin foil to keep it crunchy!