Low-Calorie Berry Chicken Salad 

This recipe is full of healthy antioxidants and protein! This is a HUGE salad so you will feel nice and full with just 267 calories! The dressing gives it a delightful fresh lime flavor! It will fill you up for hours!

Serves 1

267 calories per serving

Nutrition: 267 calories, 26 carb, 5.3 fat, 28 protein

Ready in 5 minutes

Low Calorie/High Volume so you stay fuller longer on fewer calories!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups romaine lettuce, cut into bite sized pieces (20 cal, 4 carb, .3 fat, 1.6 protein)

1 1/2 cup baby spinach (7 cal, .75 carb, 0 fat, .75 protein)

1-2 basil leaves, loosely chopped

3 oz cooked chicken, cut into bite size pieces, warmed (see how I cook a week's worth of chicken in 15 minutes here) (128 cal, 0 carb, 2.7 fat, 24 protein)

1 cup frozen berries (60 cal, 15 carb, .5 fat, 1 protein)

3 almonds, sliced or chopped (21 cal, .7 carb, 1.8 fat, .7 protein)

2 teaspoons balsamic glaze (27 cal, 6 carb, 0 fat, 0 protein)

1 Tablespoon lime juice (4 cal, 1 carb, 0 fat, 0 protein)

Lime cut into wedges (optional)

Instructions

Microwave the berries in a microwave safe dish for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave for another 3o seconds. Add the romaine, spinach, basil, and chicken to a large bowl. Add the thawed berries to the salad, saving the juice. 

To make the dressing- Using the reserved berry juice, add to it the balsamic glaze and the lime juice. Stir and pour over the top of the salad. 

Optional- top with a lime wedge

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Peanut Free, Noom

If you love berry, chicken, and lime flavors, you will LOVE this salad!

It comes together really quickly and is full of fresh fruity flavors! 

Substitutions

If you don't have or don't like some of the vegetables, substitute them for other ones. The calorie count will need to be adjusted.

Vegetarian or Vegan

To make this recipe vegetarian or vegan, omit the taco meat and replace the yogurt with a plant based yogurt or sour cream. The calorie count will need to be adjusted. 

Dairy Free

To make this recipe dairy free, simply use a dairy free yogurt or sour cream substitute instead of the yogurt. 

Benefits of Using Herbs and Spices

Everyone knows that herbs and spices are a great way to add flavor to your food without adding additional calories, but did you know that they also have many health benefits? 

Basil

Laboratory studies show that basil extract can reduce heart-harming blood fats, including total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Additionally, researchers have found that several compoiunds in basil extract had "anti-stress effects" in stressed laboratory animals. Basil normalized level sof cortisol, lowered blood sugar, decreased creatine kinase, and stopped "adrenal hypertrophy."  

I wrote a very informative blog post about the health benefits of cooking with spices, go here.

For expert level learning about healing spices, I recommend the book "Healing Spices" by Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD. Get it on Amazon here. 

Isn't this such a beautiful and flavorful salad?