Holy moly! It's been a busy weekend over here. I'm ready for the monotony of a Monday. For sure. It's still pretty warm here in Texas, so while the weather is working on slowly cooling off, I'm working on salads still over here.
Of course, I still need to get my fix of Fall inspired veggies. So... I decided to load this salad up with plenty of Fall-friendly veg. I started this salad off with a base of baby spinach. It's one of my most favorite salad starters, and I think that's because it's such a versatile and nutritional green.
From there I went with some leftover grilled chicken. Weekends are for using up the leftovers from the week, right? To that, I added on some steamed butternut squash since I had half of a giant butternut squash waiting to be used up in the fridge too!
Somewhere along the line, I tossed in some cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. And to bring it all together, I made some of my homemade pesto into a vinaigrette. Because... I love pesto. It's beautiful, bright, green, and full of flavor. So why not turn it into a fabulous salad dressing?
All in all, this was an amazing last minute toss together salad that filled me up and let me use all the leftover goodies that I had on hand. Yes, I'm one of those. I can't stand to let things go to waste; so it's quiche, soup, or salad on the weekends.
I wasn't the only one that loved this salad either. Nope! Even with all the pickiness going on in my house, this salad was gobbled up and even complimented on.
Fall Harvest Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette
TheSkinnyFork.com
The Skinny:
Servings: 4 • Size: 1 Prepared Salad • Calories: 478 • Fat: 28 g • Saturated Fat: 8 g • Carb: 11 g • Fiber: 3 g • Protein: 46 g • Sugar: 4 g • Sodium: 480 mg
Ingredients:
Pesto Vinaigrette:
1/2 C. Skinny Spinach & Basil Pesto (Or Light Store-bought.)
1 Tbsp. White Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
Salad:
8 C. Baby Spinach
1 C. Butternut Squash, Cubed & Cooked (Mine was steamed.)
16 Oz. Grilled Chicken Breast, Sliced
16 Cherry/Grape Tomatoes, Halved
1/4 C. Reduced Fat Feta
Directions:
Stir and combine the 1/2 C. Skinny Spinach & Basil Pesto, 1 Tbsp. White Wine Vinegar, and 1 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice together until well blended; set aside.
Divide the 8 C. Baby Spinach evenly among the plates.
Top each salad with about 1/4 C. Butternut Squash, 4 Oz. Grilled Chicken Breast, 4 Cherry/Grape Tomatoes, and 1 Tbsp. Reduced Fat Feta crumbles.
Drizzle each evenly with the prepared Pesto Vinaigrette.
Enjoy right away!
Nutritional Claims: Low Carb, Sugar Conscious, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Egg Free, Peanut Free, Soy Free, Fish Free, Shellfish Free, Pork Free, Red Meat Free, Crustacean Free, Celery Free, Mustard Free, Sesame Free, Lupine Free, Mollusk Free, Alcohol Free, No Sugar Added
