Healthy Spring Salads - Friday's Edition 2 -28 -2008

A lot of people think ...if it's a salad it's good for you. Not true. With everything we put in and on top of our salads, they can be loaded with a lot of fat and calories. In this Friday's health edition I am going to make some salad favorites healthier.

Mandrid Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked chicken (turkey also works well)
¼ cup of finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 cup of seedless red grapes
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of mandrid oranges
1 ¼ cups of light or fat free miracle whip
½ cup of chopped walnuts

Dice chicken and put in a medium size bowl. Add lemon juice and onions, mix well. Refrigerate for several hours. Combined the remaining ingredients with the chicken mixture, mix well and serve.

Veggie Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 pound of pasta (can use whole wheat pasta)
2 carrots sliced thinly
1 bunch of cauliflower florets
1 bunch of broccoli florets
1 red pepper sliced in strips
1 green pepper sliced in strips
1 small onion chopped
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
12 ounce bag of mixed greens

Dressing:

¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
¼ cup of fresh basil chopped
¼ cup of fresh cilantro

Cook the pasta according to its package.
Cut and chop vegetables in to small pieces.
In a small bowl mix the dressing mixture together.
In a large bowl combined cooked and drained pasta, the chopped and diced vegetables and the dressing mixture, and mix well.

Put salad greens on plate and add vegetable mixture on top.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

¼ cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon paprika
½ cup sugar
½ small onion diced
Pint of strawberries
12 ounce bag of spinach

In a blender mix vinegars, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and sugar, to make the dressing. Dice onions and cut strawberries in half. In a large bowl combined spinach, onion and dressing and mix gently. Strawberries can be mixed in salad or just set on top.

Crab Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

8 ounces of rice pasta
10 ounces of crab meat; flaked
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
½ cup low fat miracle whip
½ cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon dill weed

Cook and drain pasta well. Put in to a large bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients and stir well. Chill and serve.