100 lb. Club - My new favorite salad

I saw a commercial for this great looking strawberry poppy seed salad at a restaurant and seeing as how I live no where near one, decided to make my own.
I used romaine lettuce, 2 strawberries, 1/2 can. mandarin oranges, 1/2 c. each blueberries and grapes, about 7-10 croutons, 1/2 c. slivered almonds, and a bit of poppy seed dressing. The one I had today was just under 600 calories (I put too much dressing on it) Without the dressing, it would've been just under 400 calories. Very feeling and yummy. Next time I'm going to add some chicken breast for more protein. (Of course on their site is shows their salad is 100 calories for a 1/2 salad and 200 for a whole so I'm not sure what all I'm doing different with mine.):?:
Here's a pic. :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/barbygirl43/3fc/100_2969.jpg

Ohhhh that does look good! Where's mine?
:drool:

It DOES look yummy.

I make a similar salad using romaine lettuce, sliced strawberries, diced mango, chopped red onions, slivered almonds (optional). I use Fiber One cereal instead of croutons in my salad. Waaay more nutrients - FIBER - and waaaay less calories. I dress it with a bit of balsamic vinegar which is virtually no calories.

I've had that salad at Panera. It's yummy! Yours looks good too!

I also like a salad with spinach, strawberries, a little feta and sunflower seeds and a REALLY good balsamic vinegar.

Thanks Wyllenn for reminding me - dopey me that is. Yes, I always put baby spinach in my salad.

It's a delicious, healthy, fairly low cal salad that my whole family enjoys.

Looks delecious! It's something that would be perfect for a summer meal if yu added a little protein, like the chicken breast you mentioned. I'll have to break the calories down. What added so many calories in yours? Do you use low calorie dressing?

Mmm!! That looks good. Do you have a recipe for the poppy seed dressing?

That does look good.. and healthy too.

very pretty!

Robin—Thanks for the FiberONE tip. I'll have to look into that.
Wyllenn—That's the commercial I kept seeing and it just looked so yummy.
Jolly Molly—The recipe I had wasn't that great for it. The local bistro across the street from where I work makes a really good one. I'm just going to see if they have one with Splenda instead of sugar.
theslimme—One of the reasons mine was higher is because I put too much dressing on it. I'm guessing their's didn't have much pecans on it where mine had 1/4 c. of almonds and I don't know if mine had more fruit on it than what they put on theirs.

Also this salad would probably be good without any dressing. The juices from the blueberries and oranges will mix with everything and moisten the lettuce. (I can't stand dry lettuce. :D)

oh yes, it is good without the dressing!

That looks yummy! Wish I wasn't allergic to poppy seeds...

The extra cals probably also came from the 1/4 cup of almonds. Maybe drop it down to 2 tbs instead and see how that works.

My fave is a spring mix salad with mushrooms, green onion, 1/2 oz of chive goat cheese (lower in fat than cow's milk cheese), baby shrimp, and then whatever other veggies are lying around the house. I'm a fan of Newman's light raspberry vinagrette. Since I'm not a huge dressing fan, I can get away with about 1 tablespoon of dressing on this salad. Come to think of it, mandarin oranges would be a really great addition...Thanks for the idea!

lynn

Wow that does look really good!! The presentation alone is enough to make me drool. I bet it smelled fantastic with all the different fruits on it.

Now that's a salad even I might eat!

maybe thier salad is teen tiny? :carrot:

Now that's a salad even I might eat!This I got to see. :rofl:

Dawnyal, you guys don't have Panera down there???!?!?! :cry:

Dawnyal, you guys don't have Panera down there???!?!?! :cry:


We do but they are in OKC or Tulsa. There may be some in some of the smaller cities but that would be a 1-2 hour drive for me to visit one and I don't go into the "big city" that often. ;)