The ultimate make-every-single-day family-sized summer salad. No high- calorie items so it’s perfect to pair with anything! Or add chicken and eat a huge portion as a meal. (What I did every time!)
Total time: 30 minutes
Prep time: 30 minutes
Serves 2-4
INGREDIENTS
- Mixed greens chopped! – 200 g (I like spring mix or a mixture of spring mix and arugula- chopped is key!)
- Diced cucumber- 100 g (a large handful!)
- Corn sliced off the cob- 100 g (see note below)*
- Halved cherry tomatoes -100g
- Diced bell peppers-100 g (I prefer orange, yellow, or red)
- Diced peaches 100 g (when out of season, apples, grapes, strawberries, pears — and just about any fruit could fill in!)
- Diced red onion-60 g
- A handful of fresh basil leaves chopped
- A Small handful of fresh mint leaves chopped (I keep a plant of each in a pot in my kitchen window so I won’t forget to add to all of my salads. Fresh herbs are everything!
- 2 tbs – 30 g of your favorite balsamic VINEGAR.**
- Big pinch of kosher salt and several grinds of fresh cracked pepper
*I usually microwave my corn in the husk for about 4 minutes, the peel it off under cold water to cool it quickly. But raw or however you cook it is great!
** I don’t even use a vinaigrette or any oil. Just my favorite balsamic vinegar! But I do have a couple of specialty white balsamics that I love from a local shop. My favorites are peach, lemon, and pineapple. SO GOOD. I can’t find mine online, but here’s one on amazon that gets good reviews. I just toss the whole salad in a couple of tbs which is like 6-8 carbs, and offer other bottled dressings if anyone in the family wants to add additional dressing to their own bowl. I prefer to save my fats for the avocado, some parmesan… or dessert later! When everything is chopped so small with all of those veggies, fresh herbs, and plenty of salt (releases the juices in the veggies) and pepper… it’s already amazing!
Additional items to have available for everyone to throw on their own salads- but not included in the macros. I prefer not to toss in these higher calorie items so I can control IF/how much I want of each.
- Grilled chicken like this basil lemon honey one
- Avocado
- Shaved parmesan, chopped mozzarella, or blue cheese
- Bacon
- Balsamic glaze drizzle! (key!)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Grab a handful of greens at a time and chop on a large cutting board- transfer to large bowl.
- Add the rest of the veggies, fruits, and herbs- and don’t underestimate the importance of everything being chopped small! It’s the key to NOT needing a rich salad dressing over all of these veggies.
- Top with a good pinch of kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, and quality balsamic vinegar. Toss!
NOTES
- This makes four small side salad portions- I could probably eat 3/4 of it with chicken for my dinner!
- If you don’t track macros and/or use a food scale, just do a big handful of a each 100 g item and a smaller handful of the others. Can’t really go wrong! Just being precise for the sake of tracking.
- If you DO track, you can make as directed and search “Lillie Eats and Tells Rainbow Veggie, Peach, and Basil Chopped Salad” in My Fitness Pal and log as many grams of salad as you take!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 200 g
- Calories: 70
- Fat: 0.7
- Carbohydrates: 15.1
- Protein: 2.6
Keywords: chopped, salad, summer, peach, basil, veggies,
