Do Away with Sneaky Salads

Tasty Mayo-Free Chicken Salad

Just calling something a 'salad' doesn't necessarily make it healthy. Traditional chicken 'salad' touts full-fat mayonnaise and half a day's worth of sodium. By making small changes, like substituting smaller amounts of olive oil for mayo and adding fresh tomatoes and dark leafy greens, you can significantly reduce the fat and calories and even add some cancer protection into your meal. Plus making small changes can help you maintain a healthy weight, which in and of itself can help prevent cancer at several different sites.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 240 calories, 12 g total fat (2 g saturated fat), 6 g carbohydrate, 27 g protein, 2 g dietary fiber, 280 mg sodium.

Ingredients

3/4 lb. baked or grilled chicken breasts

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. dried oregano

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 (2.2-oz.) can (1/2 cup) black olives, pitted and roughly chopped

1 Tbsp. tiny capers, well-rinsed and drained

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup thin green beans, cooked, drained, and cooled

Salt and pepper to taste

Romaine lettuce leaves, for serving bed (whole wheat pita bread for sandwiches optional)

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Directions

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Place in a bowl and combine with oil, oregano and lemon juice. Let stand for about 1 hour.

Toss chicken mix with olives, capers, tomatoes and green beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange salad on romaine leaves. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. This recipe would also work on whole-wheat pita bread.

from AICR.org