As soon asI see the word salad,three words instantly spring to mind - diet food, boringand tasteless. However, as these recipes from Salad Light show, that's not always the case. Some salads can actually be high calorie, usually because of the dressing. Sometimes because of the ingredients though - our local Italian restaurant does a "pizza salad" which is basically a plate full of lettuce topped with three huge slices of pizza ! I like the sound of these recipes, which are far from boring and tasteless, and Iwill also be testing Salad Light 1-calorie-per-spray salad dressing shortly.
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Salads can be deceptively high in calories when drenched in oil-laden dressings. But, by substituting traditional and even light salad dressings with a few sprays of Salad Light you can dramatically reduce the number of calories in your salad. From the makers of FryLight, Salad Light is another great 1-Cal-per-spray innovation.
In two varieties, Caesar Dressing and Balsamic Dressing, Salad Light is a quick, convenient and tasty answer to even healthier salads. To whet your appetite, here are four super main meal salad recipes - Mediterranean Bean Salad, Spinach & Chickpea Salad, Chicken & Grape Salad plus Waldorf Salad.
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Mediterranean Bean Salad - Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 3 minutes
115g fine green beans, trimmed
400g can borlotti beans, drained
400g can cannellini beans, drained
Salad Light Balsamic Dressing
100g 50% reduced fat feat cheese, crumbled
1 small red onion, finely sliced
Bring a pan of water to the boil, drop in the green beans and cook for 2 -3 minutes, drain and refresh under cold water. Cut into 3 cms lengths. Put into a bowl and add the drained borlotti and cannellini beans.
Spray the salad with Salad Light about 10 times and toss together
Scatter over the feta cheese and red onions, spray again about four times and serve.
Per serving
215 kcals
3.5g fat, of which 1.5g saturated fat
12g protein
31g carbohydrate
7g sugar
10.5g fibre
1.5g salt
Low GI
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Spinach & Chickpea Salad - Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
400g can chickpeas, drained
1 red onion, fine chopped or thinly sliced
150g cooked baby beetroot, quartered
Salad Light Balsamic Dressing
4 good handfuls baby spinach, approx. 100g.
Put the chickpeas, red onion, baby beetroot into a bowl and spray about 10 times with Salad Light.
Add the spinach leaves, toss together and divide between four plates, spray each about 3 times and serve.
Per serving
131 kcals
3g fat, of which 0.5g saturated fat
7.5g protein
19g carbohydrate
5g sugar
5g fibre
0.6g salt
Low GI
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Chicken & Grape Salad - Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
300g chicken breasts, skins removed
FryLight Sunflower or Olive Oil spray
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
Salad Light Caesar Dressing
Mixed salad leaves or rocket
200g red or green grapes
Cut chicken into thin strips, put into a bowl and spray about 10 times with FryLight. Add the herbs and toss together.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan, toss in the chicken and stir-fry for about 6 - 8 minutes until golden and cooked. Turn the chicken into a large bowl to cool a little.
Meanwhile add a good handful of salad leaves or rocket to each serving dish and spray each with Salad Light three times.
Halve the grapes and scatter over the salads, then add the chicken and spray each again four times.
Per serving
123 kcals
1.5g fat, of which 0.5g saturated fat
18.5 protein
7.7g sugar
0.5g fibre
0.1g salt
Low GI
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Waldorf Salad - Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
3 crisp medium eating apples, red or green skin varieties
Juice of half a lemon
4 sticks celery
50g walnuts or pecan nuts
Salad Light Caesar Dressing
2 Little Gem lettuce
Quarter, core and cut the apples into smallish chunks. Toss them in the lemon juice as you go, to prevent discolouring. Wash and slice the celery slight on the diagonal.
Put the walnuts or pecan nuts in a frying pan and dry fry for 5 - 10 minutes until lightly browned. This will make them crunchier and more digestible.
Put the drained apple and celery into a bowl, spray 10 times with Salad Light and toss together.
Divide between individual bowls or plates. Quarter the lettuce and arrange at the side of the salad. Spray each salad 3 more times then scatter over the nuts.
Per serving
131 kcals
9.5g fat, of which 1g saturated fat
2.5g protein
10g carbohydrate
9g sugar
2g fibre
Trace salt
Low GI
Salad Light is available from most larger branches of Sainsburys and Tesco.
Other reviews you may be interested in :
Cookery book review : Great British Food Revival
Flipping Healthy Pancakes !
Parma Chameleon ! - recipes using Parma ham
