I grew up with my mom always and every night making salad with our dinner.
Big salads.
We had the assorted bottles of Kraft Dressings in the fridge, just like every family. Salad was to us, a staple, not overly welcomed, but still provided and consumed at each meal.
As the years went by I finally found my love of “the salad” I found my own twist on it, a way to make it a meal, not just a side. A way to make it tasty and healthy.
My trick – well, the trick (I am sure other people do this as well!)
Don’t use just veggies.
Add fruit. Add nuts. Add cheese, protein and cooked veggies. Be creative with it.
Imagine if you did your chicken the same way every night? Boring.
My fave way to add a little zing?
Spicy, Candied Pecans!
Take a tbs of icing sugar and add in a tsp of cayenne pepper. Dribble some water on top until it is a sweet & spicy paste.
Mix in 1/2 c of pecans (or walnuts! Either way yum!)
coat the nuts with the sugar paste and then slow bake them at 250′ oven for 35 minutes (on a cookie sheet, or baking pan)
Cool and then pop them on top of a Crisp, green salad, made with strawberries and avocado topped with a little light Feta cheese and then dressed with a Kraft Pourables dressing! They kick the calories on your regular dressing (only 25-30 per serving) and come in a variety of flavors. The berry balsamic brought me to my knees!
Made with Fruits & Veggies these dressings are calorie friendly and come in enough varieties to appeal to the whole family!
Try the Roasted Yellow Pepper, Garlic and Lime with butter lettuce, avocado & pine nuts (and sprinkle some goat cheese on top for extra deliciousness)
Or the Fire Roasted Tomato with Basil adds lift to a salad with spicy chunks of radicchio sun-dried tomatoes (finely diced) and feta.
The Garlic Parmesan with Roasted Cauliflower was the topper for a crunchy romaine with croutons and roasted chicken. Thinly slice mushrooms to this and pop in some corn niblets to extend the flavors!
Summer salad season is approaching, so click the link and check out the great ideas that Kraft has to add some flavor and excitement to your salads!
*disclaimer: Please note that I was provided with sample products and payment for this post. The content created is based on my views and opinions of how to incorporate the use of the product.