My sister and I are taking my mother lunch on Sunday. She will be caring for my house-ridden grandmother so can't leave. My sister is in the first week of Phase I of South Beach. I would LOVE a great salad recipe (that includes meat) that I could throw together. I'm thinking maybe something with grilled chicken on top?

My sis said she could even bring her own dressing if that was the only hurdle.

I am a Weight Watchers girl so I have no clue where to start.

Thanks SO much for any help.

Hi Jill

There's a great section for Phase 1 recipes that you should have a look through on this site, the link is up at the top of the page. There's also an allowed foods list there too, just reading through that I find often gives me some good pointers.

I'd love to hear what you end up making and how it goes!

Salads are easy on South beach. We can do any non starchy veggies, lean proteins, beans and legumes, low fat cheeses. We look at ingrediants on salad dressings and we look for products with less than 3 grams of sugar.

Here is a great website with lots of salad ideas.

http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2005/04/salads.html

The best salad I have ever had is the 1905 salad from Columbia restaurant in Florida. It is iceberg lettuce with julienne of baked ham, Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese and served with a garlic dressing.

Here's the recipe:

http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/re...aturedItemID=2

If you wind up needing Easy - Chicken Caeser is really easy to do if you get low sugar dressing and skip the croutons.

We do a southwest chopped salad in our house that could work -
Romaine
Red Onion
Red Pepper
Olives
Cucumber
Black Beans

The dressing is the key - I use a little cuisinart mini chop - I blend peanuts, cilantro, Lime Juice and some of the peel, olive oil and garlic to make a pesto type dressing. Sorry - I never measure! If you're interested, I could probably figure out the proportions.

Top with grilled chicken (optional for vegs), avocado, and Low Fat shredded cheese.

I used to put corn in it too, but not now!

Jill - I have nothing to add about salads, but I did want to commend you. I love that you are thoughtful enough to do this for your sister. She is so lucky to have you

How nice of you to plan around your sister's diet! That is awesome.

One of our very favorite lunches is the following Spinach Salad... For a side salad, one slice of turkey bacon is good, but we usually use 2 if it's going to be our entire meal.

Spinach Salad with Bacon and Feta

Two large handfuls fresh spinach (approx 2 cups), washed and dried
1-2 strips turkey bacon, cooked and crumbed
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp. garlic puree or crushed fresh garlic
1 T crumbled Non-Fat or Low-Fat Feta cheese

Put spinach into large bowl, big enough to toss salad in. Combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic puree in small bowl and whisk together.

Heat small 8-inch frying pan; add bacon and cook, until bacon crisps and bacon fat bubbles up on top of bacon. Remove pan from heat and blot bacon with paper towel to remove fat.

Put pan back on heat; add oil-vinegar-garlic combination and heat until just starting to bubble, then pour immediately over spinach and toss.

Arrange salad on serving plate, crumble feta over, and serve.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/sala...blt-salad.html
One of my favs, although I just use my favorite SBD friendly ranch dressing.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/sala...ato-salad.html
I love this and always use RF feta. Diced chicken could certainly be substituted.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/sala...hai-salad.html
This has rave reviews although I've never tried it.

My all time favorite is just chopped veggies(small pieces) over mixed lettuce, topped with diced chix and rinsed white beans served w/everyone's choice of dressing. My veggie mix usually consists of cauliflower, broccoli, radishes, thinly sliced cabbage, cucumber, zucchini, green onion, red/green peppers. Yum!

Have a nice lunch!

You guys are the best! Thanks so much. Now I just have to decide which one to make.