Main Course Salads

[Mitra]

Index of Main Course Salads


Capreses Chicken Salad (from Wakefield Wendy) -- 47g protein, 4g ECC
Classic Chef's Salad (from Wakefield Wendy) -- 50g protein, 4g ECC
Giada's (Low-Carb Friendly) Bachelor Salad (LC modifications by Gaelen) -- 19g protein, 8gECC with dressing
Goat's Cheese and Walnut Salad (Vegetarian)
Greek Chicken Salad (from Wakefield Wendy) -- 33g protein, 8g ECC
Greek Spinach Salad -- 12g protein, 7g ECC
Grilled Five Spice Sea Bass with Jicama Salad (from cmcole) -- 22g protein, ECC variable
Italian Chicken (or Grilled Salmon) Salad
Shrimp Cauliflower Salad -- 15g protein, 9g ECC
Summer Peach Chicken Salad (from Wakefield Wendy) -- 27g protein, 8g ECC
Taco Salad (from Wakefield Wendy) -- 33g protein, 3g ECC
Warm Beef Tips Salad (from Wakefield Wendy) -- 46g protein, 4g ECC


For additional salad dressing ideas, take a look at the Appetizers, small bites and side dishes forum index, Savory Sauces and Salad Dressings (http://www.proteinpower.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27) thread.

[Mitra]

Goat's Cheese & Walnut Salad (Vegetarian)

Serves 4

Ingredients

300g (12 oz) log fresh goat cheese
600g (1 1/2 lb) fine green beans
100g (4 oz) walnut halves
Sea salt and pepper

Marinade

100ml (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil
1Tbsp walnut oil
2 shallots, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and flattened
1tsp thyme leaves
1tsp cracked coriander seeds
1tsp fennel seeds

Method
Cut the cheese into thick slices and arrange on a platter in a single
layer. Combine olive oil, walnut oil, shallots, garlic, thyme, coriander and fennel seeds. Pour over the cheese. Cover and leave
until serving. Top but don't tail the beans (ie cut the stalks off), and cook in simmering salted water for 5 minutes until tender, then drain. Toast the walnut halves in a hot dry pan until fragrant. Heat the grill. Drain off a little marinade, toss the beans in it, adding salt and pepper.

Arrange the beans on four plates. Gently lift the cheese on to a sheet of foil and place under the grill until just melted. Arrange on top of the beans, and spoon over the remaining marinade. Scatter with the walnuts and serve.

[Mitra]

originally posted to eatprotein.com PPBBS by Stevie; file saved at yahoo!groups PPBBS by Laura/Tortoise

SHRIMP CAULIFLOWER SALAD -- 15g protein, 9g ECC

Recipe By : Stevie from PPBBSServing Size : 1 cup Preparation Time : 4-5 hours to marinate
Categories : seafood, salads

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound jumbo shrimp -- frozen and thawed
3 cups cauliflower floweret
1 cup red pepper -- sliced
3/4 cup green onions -- chopped
1 cup pitted black olives
2 1/2 cups artichoke hearts -- 2 cans
1 cup italian salad dressing -- bottled or homemade

You can take the tails off the shrimp, or leave them on, whatever your
preference. The shrimp should be precooked and cooled, or you can use frozen shrimp without thawing. You can also double the shrimp to increase the protein count.

Break the cauliflower into florets and lightly steam until crisp-tender. Cool under cold running water.

Put the cauliflower and the rest of the ingredients into a big Zip Loc
bag, seal tightly and refrigerate for several hours, turning over occasionally to allow ingredients to marinate nicely.

Drain before serving and arrange artfully on a platter.

Per Serving : 260 Calories; 17g Fat (57.2% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 86mg Cholesterol; 526mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 3 Fat.

[Gaelen]

The first time this recipe came through Epicurious's 'Recipe of the Day' feature, I adapted it to reduce carbs and suit the ingredients I had on hand. The original recipe used half of the chicken from a store-bought rotissiere chicken, 8 oz. of roasted red peppers and had instructions for making homemade croutons. I eliminated the croutons and cut the amount of roasted red peppers in half for personal taste and to reduce carbs and sodium, and used some leftover grilled salmon instead of chicken. I also slightly wilted the greens in a splash of the extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar, and it was terrific! If you don't like romaine, you could also use baby spinach. Today it was the www.epicurious.com 'Recipe of the Day', so I dug out my adaptation to post here.

No counts, but in the zen-low-carbing tradition, since all of the ingredients are on plan, the meal is as well. Enjoy!

ITALIAN CHICKEN (or GRILLED SALMON) SALAD

For vinaigrette:
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For salad:
2 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken (1/2 lb; from a rotisserie chicken) or 2 cups coarsely flaked cooked grilled salmon
1 cup bocconcini (small fresh mozzarella balls; 6 oz)
2 hearts of romaine (3/4 lb total), torn into bite-size pieces
1 (4-oz) jar roasted red peppers, rinsed, drained, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 cup assorted marinated brine-cured olives (5 oz)

Make vinaigrette:
Whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients except oil in a small bowl until combined. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.

Toss chicken and bocconcini together with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in a bowl and let stand 10 minutes to allow flavors to develop.

Make salad:
Toss together romaine, red peppers, olives, chicken and bocconcini mixture and remaining vinaigrette in a large bowl until combined.

Makes 4 main-course servings.

(Original recipe appeared in Gourmet, "Quick Kitchen", April 2006)

[cmcole]

Greek Spinach Salad

Servings: 4 Prep time: 15 minutes

Chunks of feta cheese nestle in iron-rich spinach with a garlicky vinaigrette. If you can't find tender baby spinach, coarsely chop the regular kind.

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, pushed through a press
¼ cup olive oil
1 package (10 ounces) fresh baby spinach, stemmed, washed and dried
½ red onion, thinly sliced
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
½ jar (4 ounces) roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry and cut into strips
¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

In a large salad bowl, combine vinegar and garlic. Add oil in a thin, steady stream, whisking constantly until smooth. Add spinach and onion to dressing and toss to coat. Gently mix in feta and pepper strips. Divide salad on plates; sprinkle with walnuts.

Nutrition per serving: Carbohydrates: 10 g Net Carbs: 7 g Fiber: 3 g Protein: 12 grams; Fat: 30 grams Calories: 351 - http://low-carb.com/greekspinsal.html

[cmcole]

This sounds good, but the carb count seems a little high. I put it through Nutrition Data (except seaweed), and came up with the totals. I'm not sure how to make it better, except perhaps to adjust the salsa to something different.

Source: www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=3658 (http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=3658)


Grilled Five Spice Sea Bass with Jicama Salad


Serves 1

Pineapple Plum Ginger Salsa


2 oz pineapple
1 small plum
¼ oz ginger
¼ oz jalapeno peppers
juice of one lime
3 sprigs cilantro
¼ red onion, diced

Dice and chop all ingredients. Marinate in bowl for one hour.

For entire recipe (209 g): 88 Calories, 0 g fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 6 mg sodium; 23 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 2 g protein


Julienne Jicama Salad


¼ jicama, peeled, julienne
¼ red pepper, julienne
¼ yellow pepper, julienne
¼ green pepper, julienne
¼ red onion, julienne
¼ oz rice wine
1 sprig thai basil, chopped

Toss all ingredients together.

For entire recipe (308 g): 111 Calories; 0 g fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 10 mg sodium; 24 g carbohydrates; 10 g fiber; 3 g protein

Roasted Seaweed Shell


1 sheet roasted seaweed (Nori)

Place seaweed sheet in toaster oven or broiler until crispy. This will only take 2 to 3 seconds.

Could not find nutritional information.

Sea Bass


4 oz sea bass fillet, skinned and boned
1 oz Chinese five spice (chili, anise, fennel, orange peel and cassia bark)
1 oz virgin olive oil

Rub sea bass fillets with spice, covering both sides. Dip fillets in oil to coat, letting excess drip off. Cook on grill approximately 2 to 4 minutes each side, until firm to the touch.

For entire recipe (151 g): 386 calories; 32 g fat; 47 mg cholesterol; 105 mg sodium; 4 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 22 g protein

For entire recipe (excluding seaweed): 585 calories; 51 g carb; 15 g fibre; (Net carbs 36g); 27 g protein.

[Gaelen]

This sounds good, but the carb count seems a little high. I put it through Nutrition Data (except seaweed), and came up with the totals. I'm not sure how to make it better, except perhaps to adjust the salsa to something different.

CM. it sounds terrific...and what I'd do is increase the protein to two servings of the sea bass, and divide the salsa into two or more portions split between the two servings of protein. I'm also going to move it to "Main Dish Salads" because it's got more than enough protein to be a main dish.

[cmcole]

That's probably the solution. Half those amounts of salad and salsa would likely be adequate. If not, then add some greenery (spinach, etc.) to the equation.

[WakefieldWendy]

(I'm going to post a bunch of main course salads, since they are a staple of my eating. For each, I will post the counts for each food item, since that way it is easy to know how to increase protein or decrease calories or whatever to fit your own needs. Also, used a blend of bibb, romaine, green leaf and red leaf for the greens for each salad, but it pretty much doesn't matter since none of them are significant for calories, protein or carbs).

Of course, one of the great benefits of salads is that you are throwing things together. There is no chemistry like baking. So if you don't like something, just leave it out! Or if you want to add another veggie or seeds or nuts or meat, or increase something, or decrease something, or change the cheese, or anything else - go right ahead! Happy eating :)


Classic Chef's Salad

3 cups mixed greens (23 cal, 1.65 protein, 3.3 carb, 2.3 fibre)
half medium (62 g) tomato diced (12 cal, .5 protein, 2.4 carb, .8 fibre)
1/4 cup (26 g) cucumber with rind diced (4 cal, .15 protein, 1 carb, .2 fibre)
1 oz (28 g) cheddar cheese, grated (114 calories, 7 protein, .35 carb, 0 fibre)
half cup (70 g) diced chicken breast no skin (115 cal, 22 protein, 0 carb, 0 fibre)
1 oz (25 g) bacon, crumbled or chopped (133 calories, 10 protein, .4carb, 0 fibre)
1 oz ham chopped (57 calories, 5.7 protein, 0 carbs, 0 fibre)
½ hard-boiled egg (39 calories, 3.15 protein, .28 carb, 0 fibre)

totals without dressing - 497 calories, 50.15 protein, 7.73 total carb, 3.3 fibre (4.4 ecc)

If the calories are a problem, look to cheese and bacon.


Warm Beef Tips Salad

Fry the beef tips just before adding to the salad! I can usually get these prepared at my butcher - look for the very lean meat.

3 cups mixed greens (23 cal, 1.65 protein, 3.3 carb, 2.3 fibre)
half medium (62 g) tomato, diced (12 cal, .5 protein, 2.4 carb, .8 fibre)
2 large mushrooms, sliced (10 cal, 1.4 protein, 1.5 carbs, .5 fibre)
1 oz cheddar cheese, grated or cubed (114 calories, 7 protein, .35 carb, 0 fibre)
3 oz (85 g) very lean beef (171 calories, 25.5 protein, 0 carb)
1 oz bacon (133 calories, 10 protein, .4carb, 0 fibre)

totals without dressing - 463 calories, 46 protein, 8 total carb, 3.6 fibre (4.4 ecc)


Greek Chicken Salad

If the chicken is marinated in greek salad dressing before cooking, or some other souvlaki type flavour, that will be excellent! Add more chicken if you want more calories or protein.

3 cups mixed greens (23 cal, 1.65 protein, 3.3 carb, 2.3 fibre)
half medium (62 g) tomato (12 cal, .5 protein, 2.4 carb, .8 fibre)
1/4 cup (37 g) red peppers, raw, chopped (10 cal, .4 protein, 2.25 carb, .8 fibre)
1/4 cup (26 g) cucumber with rind (4 cal, .15 protein, 1 carb, .2 fibre)
half cup diced (70 g) chicken breast no skin (115 cal, 22 protein, 0 carb, 0 fibre)
2 oz feta, crumbled (150 calories, 8 protein, 2.3 carbs)
5 large (22 g) olives (25 calories, .2 protein, 1.38 carb, .7 fibre)

totals without dressing = 339 calories, 32.9 protein, 12.63 carbs, 4.8 fibre (7.8 ecc)


Summer Peach Chicken Salad

There are lots of fruits that work in salads, but this is one of my favourites. This is another one where some of you will want to go to 3/4 cup or even 1 cup of chicken.

3 cups mixed greens (23 cal, 1.65 protein, 3.3 carb, 2.3 fibre)
half (75 g) medium peach, diced (29 cal, .7 protein, 7.15 carb, 1.1 fibre)
half cup (70 g) diced chicken breast no skin (115 cal, 22 protein, 0 carb, 0 fibre)
1 oz pecans, dry roasted (201 cal, 2.7 protein, 3.84 carb, 2.7 fibre)

totals without dressing = 368 cal, 27 prot, 14.3 carb, 6.1 fibre (8.2 ecc)


Taco Salad

I couldn't get a count for taco spice, so be sure to add that from whatever package you are using! Fry the ground beef and add the taco spice according to the package mix, and add that and the cheese right at the end (the cheese will melt a bit). I don't usually even add a dressing to this.

3 cups mixed greens (23 cal, 1.65 protein, 3.3 carb, 2.3 fibre)
3 oz 85% lean ground beef (218 cal, 23.6 protein, 0 carb)
1 oz (28 g) cheddar cheese (114 calories, 7 protein, .35 carb, 0 fibre)
half medium (62 g) tomato, diced (12 cal, .5 protein, 2.4 carb, .8 fibre)
2 tbsp chopped green onions (3 cal, .2 protein, .7 carb, .4 fibre)

totals without dressing or taco spice - 370 cal, 33 protein, 6.8 carb, 3.5 fibre (3.3 ecc)


Caprese Chicken Salad

This is great in the summer with fresh tomatoes and horrible the rest of the year (at least in Canada!)

1 medium tomato (124 g), diced (24 cal, 1 protein, 4.8 carb, 1.6 fibre)
3/4 cup (95 g) diced chicken breast, no skin (173 cal, 33 protein, 0 carb, 0 fibre)
2 oz buffalo mozzerella aka bocconcini, diced or sliced (170 cal, 12.6 protein, 1.24 carbs, 0 fibre)
approximately 10 leaves (10 g) fresh basil, chopped (1 cal, .1 protein, .22 carb, .2 fibre) or to taste
salt to taste (makes the flavour of the tomato jump out)
3 tbsp olive oil (358 cal, 0 protein, 0 carb)

total with dressing - 726 cal, 46.7 protein, 6.2 carbs, 1.8 fibre (4.4 ecc)

[Gaelen]

Giada diLaurentis just made something she called "Bachelor Salad" which sounded absolutely amazing. So I ran the numbers through Mastercook, tweaked the carbs a bit, and came up with a salad that serves four, with 19-20g protein and 8g ECC per serving. It serves four, and the protein quantity depends on the nuts you use.

Giada originally used 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and didn't add in the nuts; I reduced the brown sugar to 1 tablespoon which gives the same effect without as much of a carb load. I also added in 1/4 cup toasted chopped pistachios because I had them on hand; using slivered almonds instead bumps the protein up to 20g per serving. This amount serves four:

Giada's (Low-Carb Friendly) Bachelor Salad (19g protein, 8gECC with dressing)

1 cup fresh fennel bulb, sliced into wedges about 1/4 inch thick
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound pancetta, sliced into strips about the same length as the fennel wedges (not too thin)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
5 cups mixed greens (1 bag of prewashed mixed mesclun greens)
1/4 cup chopped toasted pistachio nuts
1 recipe of Simple Red Wine Viniagrette (6g ECC for the entire recipe)

Toss the fennel, pancetta, garlic, brown sugar, oil, salt and pepper together until the fennel and pancetta are thoroughly coated.

Spread in a single layer on a baking pan, and roast in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the fennel is carmelized and the pancetta is crispy. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool

While the mixture is cooling, toast the pistachios in the hot oven and make Simple Red Wine Viniagrette:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Blend together until the ingredients emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste, and blend again.

Take the pistachios out of the oven.
Divide the greens into four serving bowls (two if you're really hungry!).
Top with a portion of the roasted fennel and pancetta, and garnish with a tablespoon of the toasted pistachios.

Dressing as listed has 6g ECC for the entire recipe; divided between four servings, it's about 1.5g ECC. Roasted fennel mixture, with pistachios and greens, has about 6g ECC and 19g protein in each of four servings. The nuts add a gram of protein and a gram of ECC per 1 tablespoon serving.

Enjoy!

[Mitra]

That sounds delicious, though my husband doesn't like sweet dressings on savoury food, so I'd probably cut the sugar/honey back even more. Or maybe leave it out altogether and mix some orange juice with the lemon in the dressing, or use sherry vinegar to get some richness without too much sweetness. If I find a combination that's good, I'll let you know.