Chopped Salad with Colorful Squashes in a Honey Garlic Vinaigrette

We’ve had more than our share of fun these past few months. Fun that included more than our share of food.

That being said, it’s time to skinny up our diet before the holidays hit. My plan is to add extra salads back into our daily meal plans, starting with this chopped salad with crunchy squash, spicy red onion and sunflower seeds.

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of leafy green salads. That’s why I’m such a fan of chopped salads. They take the same amount of time to toss in a bowl, and I love the texture and endless combination of vegetables I can use to keep boredom at bay.

The chopped salad above was a terrific use for leftover pork chops. High protein salads like this with meat, white beans and a spicy Mexican lime dressing keep me satisfied for hours. For the grazer I am, adding protein keeps me away from the office candy jar.

And on days when I really need to watch what I’m putting in my mouth, the calories in cauliflower are almost non-existent. This means a crumble of bacon, and sprinkle of croutons can be added to this cauliflower salad to give it a more indulgent appeal.

On this particular day, I had a few zucchini and yellow squash in the crisper, along with a peppery red onion, so I dropped them into my bowl.

Then dressed my salad with a sweet and garlicky vinaigrette with a chopping of fresh thyme.

Don’t misunderstand me, a leafy green salad often makes my meal plans, but I have to say, this is my kind of salad. It feels like there’s more substance to my meal, and with all that satisfying chomping, I leave the table feeling happy and satisfied.

Before I let you go, I need to announce the winner of last week’s NestFresh giveaway. Congratulations to Lorraine F! You should be hearing from NestFresh soon.

Enjoy and have a terrific week everyone!

~Kristi

Garlicky Summer Squash Salad with Parmesan Cheese   Print Prep time 0 min Cook time 0 min Total time 0 min   Shake It Up! If you have calories to spare, you can swap the sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for low fat feta cheese to add a creamy tartness to this chopped salad. Ingredients

• 3 cups zucchini and yellow squash seeded and cubed
• ½ cup red onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon thyme, minced
• 1 teaspoon honey
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds, roasted

Instructions

1. Combine ingredients in a bowl and toss well. Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Chill for 15 minutes prior to serving.

Notes Food energy: 140kcal
Weight Watchers PointsPlus 4
Saturated fatty acids: 1.91g
Monounsaturated fatty acids: 3.82g
Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 3.62g
Total fat: 9.35g
Calories from fat: 84
Cholesterol: 3mg
Carbohydrate, by difference: 10.14g
Total dietary fiber: 2.34g
Protein: 4.95g
Total lipid (fat): 9.84g
Water: 135.95g
Ash: 1.42g
Total sugars: 5.92g
Calcium: 95mg
Iron: 1.20mg
Magnesium: 34mg
Phosphorus: 183mg
Potassium: 350mg
Sodium: 96mg Nutrition Information Serving size: 4 Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe 3.2.2807

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and get Ten Tips to Skinny Up Your Meals ebook free!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

“If you decide to make a purchase through my link, Amazon will pay me a commission for it. This doesn’t cost you anything additional. These commissions help to keep the rest of my content free, so thank you!”

Last updated by Kristi Rimkus at November 11, 2014.