Mixed Berry Chicken Salad with a Yummy, Skinny Raspberry Ranch Dressing

This dazzling salad is not only bursting with color, it’s loaded with great flavors and extremely healthy ingredients.  It starts with a bed of spring mix, topped with berries, beets, chicken, and finally crumbled feta cheese and walnuts if desired. It’s really one of my all-time favorite summer salads.  It’s dressed with my homemade Skinny Raspberry Ranch Dressing. The skinny for 1 main-course salad, including dressing, 325 calories, 6 grams of fat, and 2 Blue WW Freestyle SmartPoints, and 3 Green.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 recipe for Nancy’s Skinny Raspberry Ranch Dressing, recipe follows or see substitution tip for store-bought options

1 bag (9oz) Spring Mix lettuce, about 8 cups

1 (12oz) package of grilled chicken breasts, (about 3 cups chopped), see shopping tips below

2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup steamed beets, sliced

6 ounces (6 tablespoons) fat-free feta cheese

¼ cup chopped walnuts, optional

Instructions

1. Prepare Nancy’s Skinny Raspberry Ranch Dressing (recipe below, after Skinny Facts) and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Line each dinner plate with 2 cups spring mix.  Divide and sprinkle each salad with about ¾ cup chicken.  Place ½ cup of strawberries over each and ¼ cup of blueberries.

3. Lay ¼ cup of sliced beets around the salad along with a small number of chopped onions.

4. Top each salad with 1½ tablespoons crumbled feta cheese and 1 tablespoon walnuts, if desired.  At this point, the salad can be covered and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

5. Before serving, drizzle 2 tablespoons of dressing over each salad.

Makes 4 main course salads

Healthy Benefits
Raspberries are an excellent source of folate, B vitamins, vitamin C, and iron.  They’re also a terrific source of fiber.

Strawberries are super low in calories, sodium and are loaded with vitamin C and fiber.

Blueberries are loaded with antioxidants and rank among the highest on a per servings basis. They’re an excellent source of vitamins C, K, fiber, and manganese.

Walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids.  They’re an excellent plant source of protein and are rich in fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, and antioxidants like vitamin E. They do add extra fat and calories to this salad but are super healthy for you!

Substitution Tips
If you don’t want to make my raspberry ranch dressing, you can use a store-bought dressing.  One of my favorites is Ken’s Steak House Lite Raspberry and Walnut Vinaigrette. It’s really good. Wishbone’s Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette is also tasty. In addition, if you’re not a fan of a raspberry dressing, try a dressing such as Girard’s Light Champagne Dressing. It tastes delicious on this salad too!

Shopping Tips
I used a (12 oz) package of Grilled Balsamic Vinegar & Rosemary Chicken sold at Trader Joe’s. It’s really lean and great tasting.  They also sell packages of just grilled chicken or use any cooked chicken breast. Be sure to remove the skin.

Trader Joe’s and most large supermarkets sell packages of Steamed and Peeled Baby Beets in the produce section. Take them out of the package, rinse in water, then slice.  You’ll use 3 beets for this recipe.  If you can’t find them, use a can of peeled and sliced beets. Rinse them before adding to the salad. This will cut down the sodium and the juices won’t run in the salad.

WW Freestyle SmartPoints Blue-2
WW SmartPoints 3-Green
WW POINTS PLUS 8

SKINNY FACTS: for 1 salad including Nancy’s Skinny Raspberry Ranch dressing (not including walnuts) 325 calories, 5.5g fat, 49g protein, 24g carbs, 5g fiber, 672mg sodium, 14g sugar

FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints 89 calories, 0g sat fat, 3g sugar, 16g protein

 

Nancy’s Skinny Raspberry Ranch Dressing

Raspberry puree adds a fruity flavor, a slight seedy crunch, and an attractive rosy color to this wonderful, sweet, and tart ranch dressing.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

½ cup Skinny Ranch Dressing

2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

1. Wash and drain berries, if fresh, or thaw if frozen.

2. In a small bowl add the raspberries and smash with a fork until pureed. Whisk together raspberries, Nancy’s Skinny Ranch Dressing, vinegar, and sugar

3. This dressing will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. You’ll only use ½ cup for this salad so you’ll have ½ cup leftover. This dressing will taste great on a simple green salad, spinach salad, or as a dip for veggies.

Makes 1 cup

Skinny Facts: for 2 tablespoons
36 calories, 2g fat, 5g protein, 5g carbs, 1g fiber, 77mg sodium, 3g sugar