Monday, July 12, 2010

Quick and Easy Mexican Salad for Dinner


Sometimes I am not really in the mood to cook. That was my mood yesterday. While I love to cook I am not always in the mood to spend a lot of time in the kitchen every day. However I still wanted to feed us something nutritious. I had a few ideas for dinner but in the end I decided on salad. This meal came together in under 10 minutes from things I had in the refrigerator. Here is what we had for dinner last night:

Mexican Inspired Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 head of romaine
1 cup red cabbage, finely shredded
1 cup salsa
1 avocado
2 ounces broccoli sprouts
1 tomato
2 tablespoons cashew crème fraiche

Directions:

Nothing much to say here, LOL. Use the romaine as a base and build from there. I think we all know how to make salad. ;-)

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 277.46
Calories From Fat (50%) - 139.3

Total Fat - 16.62g
Saturated Fat - 2.38g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 830.67mg
Potassium - 1714.37mg
Total Carbohydrates - 30.2g
Fiber - 16.49g
Sugar - 8.23g
Protein - 9.83g

Comments:

This is a variation of a salad that I make when I run out of inspiration. I really enjoy salads dressed with salsa. I find that salsa is a great alternative to standard salad dressing. If you haven’t tried salsa on salad I highly recommend it. Adding a dollop of cashew crème fraiche really helps this to feel more like a taco salad only without chips. ;-) Cabbage was added to this salad since I used to use it on tacos. Of course I like nutrition cabbage adds to the salad.

Each serving of this salad contains approximately 18,700IU of vitamin A, 100mg of vitamin C, 170mg of calcium, 4.7mg of iron, 3.7mg of vitamin E, 0.7mg of B6, 530mcg of folate, 345mcg of vitamin K, 215mg of phosphorus, and 105mg of magnesium. Stats like this are the reason we eat so many salads. Consuming a lot of salad makes getting your vitamins from food much easier.

Breast Cancer and Fish Oil:

While catching up on my nutrition and health reading I came across this interesting article about women that regularly take fish oil. According to the VITAL study women who take fish oil supplements have a 32% risk reduction of breast cancer. The authors do caution that this was one study and fish oil should not be promoted as reducing breast cancer.

I think this is another example of omega 3 fatty acids reducing inflammation and that having an impact on overall cancer risk reduction. I will continue to focus on consuming healthy food containing omega 3 fatty acids like: flaxseeds, hempseeds, chia seeds and walnuts and reducing our consumption of omega 6 fatty acids. For me there is no down side to these dietary practices.

Unrelated note:

Guess who claimed he hadn’t enough calories yesterday and “needed” strawberry, banana and goji soft serve? Yes it was Dan, of course. He would live on that if I would let him. ;-) 

I need to run for now. I will be back later with an update.  With today being Monday I have a few more things on my to-do list.  Talk to you later.

14 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more about salsa on a salad. That's what will be on my salad today as a matter of fact. Love how Dan justified the "need" for the dessert.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heather,

    If I didn't have to feed Dan too I would eat salsa on salad almost every day. It really is my favorite dressing especially with a little hummus.

    Dan has a million reasons why he needs dessert. He is very funny about sweets. No doubt about it my hubby is a boy at heart, LOL.

    Ali

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the idea of salsa on salad. I've never done it, but will now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Losing Weight,

    I really enjoy salsa on salad. I also like to make hummus without oil and add that to the salad. When I do either (or both) of those I don't need anything else to dress my salad. It took my hubby longer to get to used to salad without oil (in the form of dressing), but now he finds salads out greasy too. I hope you enjoy it too. :-)

    Ali

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yum! I love to add cabbage to my salads too, it's great. I eat a lot of meals like this in summer, it makes meal prep fast and makes my taste buds happy too;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Janet,

    Salads like this are usually something I make just for me. Dan isn't as crazy about them as I am. But adding the cashew creme fraiche seemed to help round out the flavor for him.

    I love adding cabbage to salad. Not only does it add nutrition, but I really like the crunch. ;-)

    hope you are having a good Monday,
    Ali

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks simple and hearty.
    -RV (www.foodfor7stagesoflife.com)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am all over this! With the abundance of avocado. Perfect! I love salsa on salad too. Last month, my husband and I were making salsa batch after batch, so I am giving it a rest right now.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Carissa,

    We tend to go through food phases like that too. LOL

    Ali

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nothing like a big pile of salad with Mexican-inspired fixins' I could go for that any day.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rose,

    Variations of this happen at my place quite often. ;-)

    hope you had a good weekend,
    Ali

    ReplyDelete
  12. This salad was delicious! Thank you.

    Love your site and especially loving the cashew "creme fraiche".

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gringogidget,

    Glad you liked the salad. I make things like this quite often when I need a fast meal. We like the cashew creme fraiche quite a bit too. I seem to make a batch of it once a week or so now.

    thanks so much for your kind words about the blog,
    Ali

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails