Ever shy away from prepping ALL of your food for the week because you want something FRESH -- instead of endless containers of "left overs?"
While I don't personally relate to that.. gimme ALL the PREPPED food & left overs.. I DO love adding in some fresh salads to our weekly menus!!
What's sneaky about this recipe though is that some of it IS prepped ahead & the rest can be thrown together in a snap.
You're going to LOVE this!!
Spinach Salad
with Sweet Potato, Grilled Chicken & Goat Cheese
You can keep this super simple OR dress it up.
You can always make tweaks to YOUR taste & depending on the foods you have on hand!
This recipe was actually inspired by a couple of salads I ordered on our most recent trip to New Orleans last month. We has LOADS of yummy treats while we were there, so once a day I tried to squeeze in a load of greens to keep my tummy happy.
I made a couple of adjustments to make it simpler to throw together and healthier - stuff like less dressing, a lighter dressing & fewer "extra" toppings. You could certainly make this more rich though by dressing it up for a special occasion.
Okay here it is!
& I'm T E L L I N G you.. it's just too easy!
Ingredients:
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes
Chicken
Goat Cheese
Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette
(or a vinaigrette of your choice)
Coconut Oil Spray
Dried Spices of your choice + Salt & Pepper
Prep/Assembly:
Start by grilling your chicken.
This is where part of our prep ahead came into play. We grilled enough chicken for the two of us plus our 11 month old daughter to eat for dinners all week! All we had to do each day was dice our servings, heat & top our salads!
We seasoned with himalayan salt, pepper, garlic & dried rosemary. Then grilled to perfection.
I think some other DELICIOUS protein alternatives would be grilled shrimp or salmon, depending on what you have or have the taste for! We'll be trying these soon for SURE.
While the chicken was grilling, I prepped a week's worth of sweet potatoes. I washed each potato very well & the cubed them into small, bite-sized pieces. I decided to leave the skin on for added texture, but you could certainly peel them (I only peel them for my daughter, Raegan). I sprayed our potatoes lightly with coconut oil & seasoned them with himalayan salt, pepper & dried garlic.
BEWARE: roasted sweet potato bites are like CANDY & you WILL want to snack on them while they're cooling.
When it came to the day OF & it was dinner time, assembly was easy peasy.
Make yourself a pretty little bed of spinach.
Layer a warm serving of grilled chicken & diced sweet potatoes.
Crumble goat cheese ALL over.
Drizzle with vinaigrette!
I personally LOVE this Skinny Girl Raspberry Vinaigrette
Some other tasty topping ideas?!
Toss on some chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts!
You could even sprinkle a few dried cranberries over the top.
OR a fresh alternative.. dice up some strawberries!
Not a huge fan of sweet potatoes?
Go for butternut squash.. also DELICIOUS!
Lastly, switch up your dressings & try another vinaigrette.
Anyone else hungry yet??
Alrighty, friends. That's all!
I TOLD you it was too easy.
If you try something different, be sure to share it with me.
I'm always on the hunt for anything quick, healthy & easy to prep a little ahead!
I hope you enjoy this prep ahead but fresh SALAD!
PS: For any of my followers who are on the "fixate" meal plan, this recipe as I have shared it before substitution suggestions is: 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green, 1 blue & 1 orange if you measure out each ingredient before plating!
This looks so incredibly yummy and I can't wait to make it. Thanks for sharing, Lindsey!
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