Tag: healthy lunch

Lunches, On My Plate, Salads

Southwest Turkey Taco Salad

Ingredients

(Servings: 3 large lunch salads)

small head of leafy lettuce (I used red Cherokee lettuce from our CSA)

1 lb. ground turkey

I package taco seasoning

black beans, about 3/4 of a 15.5 oz. can, drained and rinsed

8.5 oz. can of Niblets corn (or the equivalent in frozen corn)

1 Roma tomato, chopped

3/4 avocado or 3/4 of 7.5 oz. package of chunky guacamole

about a cup of shredded Mexican blend cheese

a handful of tortilla chips, crunched in pieces, per salad

bottled chipotle ranch dressing (I used Marie’s brand)

First, cook the ground turkey with the taco seasoning until the turkey is browned and no longer pink. I happened to use taco seasoning this time that was made for pork, but it still worked well.

Lately, I like to assemble salads into individual bowls instead of one large bowl. It’s easier to see that each person gets equal portions of the different salad components. After washing and spinning the lettuce, tear it into individual bowls.

Drain the corn. Drain and rinse the black beans in a collander. Rinse and dice the Roma tomato.

Lately, I can not find ripe avocadoes that are ready on the day that I shop, if I’m doing last minute shopping. So, on this day, I chose a chunky guacamole instead which worked well. You can use either.

Now, assemble the salad, spooning the toppings in rows over top of the lettuce beds: the turkey, black beans, corn, guacamole (or avocado chunks,) diced tomato and shredded cheese.

Crunch a few tortilla chips on top of each salad. I ran out of room for stripes, so I did a stripe of crunchy chip pieces in the opposite direction. Spoon the dressing in stripes, going the opposite direction.

Assembling the ingredients in rows is nice for presentation. Additionally, although it might not be absolutely necessary, this type of assembly does help to visualize equal portions in each salad, and spooning on the dressing in rows does make it a little easier to mix in evenly later when you stir everything up.

Lunches, On My Plate, Salads

Red, White and Blue (And Green) Salad

5 oz. baby spinach

half pint blueberries

1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/8 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)

Makes about three big salads. Serve with a raspberry vinaigrette. I used bottled Marie’s brand raspberry vinaigrette.

This is one of my favorite combinations in a salad. It happens to have all the right colors for the Fourth of July (with the addition of a lot of green) and would also work well as a side dish for a Fourth of July picnic or barbecue.

This salad is full of nutrition. Spinach is a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K1, folic acid, iron and calcium. Blueberries are a great source of Vitamin K1, Vitamin C and manganese and these antioxidants: anthocyanins, quercetin and myricetin.

Lunches, On My Plate

Three Healthy Lunch Ideas

Here are three of my recent healthy lunches that might inspire you to do your own version. Two salads listed here are almost “recipes,” but I won’t call them recipes, because the measurements are more to taste than precise, and I used store bought bottled dressings. You can certainly use any of these as inspiration for a healthy and tasty lunch.

I often like to assemble salads on individual plates/bowls rather than in a big bowl. It makes for a nice presentation, but it also helps to make sure everyone gets an adequate amount of the good stuff and the right amount of dressing, neither skimping nor drowning it too much.

1.) Berry, Fig and Clementine Mesclun Salad

Berry, Fig and Clementine Mesclun Salad

Ingredients:

  • mesclun, rinsed and spun
  • blueberries
  • raspberries
  • Black Mission figs, quartered
  • clementine sections
  • pecan halves
  • blue cheese crumbles
  • bottled poppy seed dressing (I used Brianna’s Home Style brand.)

This next salad was made with a “spicy greens mix” from our CSA. I don’t think I can tell you what was in the mix other than arugula.

2.) Berry, Feta, Arugula Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts

Berry, Feta, Arugula Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts

Ingredients:

  • arugula, rinsed and spun
  • raspberries
  • blueberries
  • cubed feta cheese
  • toasted pine nuts
  • bottled raspberry vinaigrette (I used Ken’s Light Options raspberry walnut vinaigrette.)

Hint: It’s easy to burn pine nuts or any nuts. I’ve done it. Now, I turn the heat off after two minutes, and it comes out well.

3.) Strawberry, Kiwi Cottage Cheese Plate

Ingredients:

  • Low fat cottage cheese, about a third of container per plate.
  • Strawberry slices from four or five strawberries
  • One sliced kiwi

Simple. You can arrange the fruit on top or stir them in. I liked to take a spoonful of fruit and then get a little scoop of cottage cheese on my spoon.

I hope this inspires you that healthy eating can be delicious too.