Strawberry "Chicken" Avocado Spinach Salad
This week’s guest blogger Arielle runs Eatreal.inspirehealth, a healthy eats & fitness Instagram account where she shares her daily healthy meal and recipe ideas in real time. She is passionate about health and hopes to educate others about how to achieve an overall healthy, happy, and balanced lifestyle through simple meals, tips, and inspiration–as well as her personal journey.
If you’re in need of a super refreshing and nutrient-packed lunch idea for your Bentgo Salad lunch box this week, you have come to the right place! I’ve put together all the ingredients for a delicious Strawberry "Chicken" Avocado Spinach Salad. Plus, I’ve thrown in ideas for snacks to keep you satisfied until dinner time.
I put a twist on this summer favorite by adding pecans and Beyond Meat’s meatless grilled “chicken” strips. Although I primarily promote a whole foods diet and lifestyle, I often like to switch it up a bit with some equally delicious and equally nutritious plant-based meals.
This salad is one of my go-to lunches, and although I decided to make this one plant-based, you can always substitute regular grilled chicken as well, as long as you make it antibiotic and hormone-free, and free-range when possible. Thanks to all the healthy fats involved, the flavors of this salad will have you making it once week! See below for the recipe!
Salad Ingredients:
Organic baby spinach
1/2 cup shredded carrots
About 10 medium strawberries cut in half lengthwise
10-12 pecans
1/4 ripe avocado, sliced
2 tbsp Salba chia seeds (for added fiber + Omega 3’s and more)
Directions:
Start with a base layer of the baby spinach. Next pour on the shredded carrots, then the meatless chicken, and then the strawberries. Toss on the pecans and place the avocado. Mix the dressing (recipe below), drizzle on lightly, and then sprinkle the top with chia seeds. You can always add more dressing on later if necessary!
For the dressing:
Mix together ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil and 1-2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar (you can really never have too much, not health wise anyways). Then add in the juice of ¼ of a lemon and spices of your choice for some added flavor. Lately I have been obsessed with a basil and garlic Italian herb dressing, which gave this dressing the little extra pizzazz it needed! I love using the Bentgo sauce containers to keep all the dressing ingredients separate until I'm ready to mix and eat.
Due to my daily fitness regimen, I usually need a bit more to fill me up and keep me going throughout the day. So, for this meal I packed some quinoa on the side, some mini sweet bell peppers, light Babybel cheese, and a blueberry RX bar for a snack later.
Lately, I’ve been cooking a large batch of quinoa on Sunday nights to keep in my fridge ready to go for busy days/weeks ahead. Because, “if you keep good food in your fridge, you will eat good food.” So true!
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