I have to cut back on the sheer amount of calories I’ve been consuming since the serious training ended. Those tasty little fruit/nut bars can really add up to a lot of extra calories if you’re not burning them off! So, it’s back to summer fare: vegetables, fruits and lots of lean protein. One of my favorite summer salads is from Giada De Laurentiis and I encourage you to give it a try:
Summer Chopped Salad
Ingredients:
- EVOO for drizzling (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- 1 head of romaine, cut lengthwise into quarters
- 1 ear of corn, shucked
- 2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
- 12 extra large shrimp or 2 chicken breasts
- ½ head of butter lettuce, torn
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 avocado, diced
Dressing:
- 3 Tbls fresh lemon juice
- 3 Tbls EVOO
- 1 T honey
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Steps:
- Drizzle olive oil over romaine, corn, zucchini and shrimp or chicken
- Season with salt and pepper
- Grill the romaine, turning occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes
- Coarsely chop the grilled lettuce and place in salad bowl
- Grill the corn and zucchini for 2 minutes on all sides until tender
- Remove kernels from the corn and add to bowl
- Chop zucchini into ½ inch pieces and add to bowl
- Grill shrimp for about 2-3 minutes each side until cooked through
- Cool slightly and cut into ½ inch pieces
- Add chopped shrimp, butter lettuce, tomatoes and avocado to the bowl Whisk dressing and drizzle over salad.
- Season with salt and pepper