Salad with Fried Chicken--ONLY 315 CALORIES

First let me start by saying that I am ONLY counting calories.  I do understand that grilled chicken would be healthier on a salad.  Save the lecture.  I gotta get the calories down, as do millions of other people, and I want people to realize you can do this and still enjoy the messed up yummy stuff.  You just can't go to BingeTown on it.  (Easier said than done, I know. We're in this together.) Also, if anyone is aware of a frozen or refrigerated GRILLED chicken that doesn't taste, well, AWFUL, please let me know.

Alright, the first thing to discuss here is dressing.  I am a light dressing expert.  So let me save you the frustrations and letdowns and let you know that there are some excellent light dressings out there that are (gasp) creamy and fantabulous.  On this particular salad, I chose to go with my favorite light Honey Mustard dressing, Ken's Steakhouse Light Options Honey Dijon.

Other dressings you MUST know and you WILL thank me for if you are a fan of any of these types include:
1.  RANCH - Naturally Fresh Light Ranch Dressing (in the refrigerated section) (90 cals-2tbs)
2.  BLUE CHEESE - T. Marzetti Light Chunky blue cheese (in the refrigerated section) (90 cals-2tbs)
3. 1000 ISLAND- Ken's Steakhouse light 1000 Island Dressing (70 cals-2tbs)

Do NOT buy any sort of Kraft light dressing, unless you enjoy the taste of mayo mixed with pee and broken dreams.

So now we come to the fried chicken.  Heck yeah.  Get the Tyson Southern Style Breast Tenderloins.  They are the best.  And they are 180 calories per serving.  I do weigh out my serving, and it usually is exactly one big, fat, juicy, delicious piece.  Cook it in the oven.  Or just throw it in the microwave for 75 seconds if you're about to eat your arm off.  It's still awesome.

The cheese I used on this salad was what I had on hand: A slice of reduced fat Sargento's provolone cheese, which has 50 calories. I just sliced it up.  It was great.  I recommend using sliced cheese because the cheese is great to have around for sandwiches (and other recipes I will be posting) or it's a great already portion-controlled serving of cheese.  I buy all kinds of reduced fat cheeses,  Pepper Jack, Colby, Swiss.  They usually have 50-60 calories per slice and are an absolute staple to have on hand.

Then throw a veggie party.  I keep a bag of mixed veggies (you know, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower) around b/c I like Veggies and dip as a snack, OR I like to shred them up and toss them in my salad for adding CRUNCH and BULK, but not many calories. And of course I throw in some of my famous Romaine lettuce that I always have on hand as well.  :)

You can throw on a TBS of bacon bits for 25 calories if you'd like.

RECIPE
Mixed Veggies - 15 calories
2 TBS Ken's Steakhouse Light Options Honey Dijon - 70 calories
Shredded Sargento's Sliced Reduced Fat Provolone -50 calories
Tyson Southern Style Breast Tenderloins Chicken - 180 calories
TOTAL CALORIES - 315

Don't think you have to eat bland, boring crap to lose weight or go to extremes.  Portion control.  We can do this.  We got this.