As promised, I am providing fun MyPLate recipes for National Nutrition Month! This yummy salad has all five food groups: fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy, whole grains, and lean protein.
Here’s the Breakdown:
Fruit: Blackberries
-Full of Vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants
-Perfectly bittersweet
Vegetable: Kale
-Vitamin A, C, K; fiber, and even protein
-When massaged (I’ll get to this later) it takes away the harsh texture
Bonus Veggie: Butternut Squash
–A great source of fiber and beta-carotene!
Grain: Barley
-Loaded with fiber, which improves digestion and controls blood sugar levels
-Adds a chewy and nutty element
Protein: Rotisserie Chicken Breast
- Perfectly lean and loaded with protein
Bonus Protein: Walnuts and Pumpkin seeds
- Not only rich in protein, but full of healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals
Dairy: Feta Cheese
-Easier to digest than a lot of dairy, full of calcium, -salty, crumbly, cheesy goodness
As you can tell by the ingredients, this isn’t your boring house salad with cucumbers and tomatoes. It’s so much better. Try it out to get your full MyPlate meal- you won’t be disappointed!
MyPlate Power-Up Salad
Barley
- ⅓ cup pearled barley
- 1 cup water
- Bring water and barley to a boil in a pot then cover and reduce to a simmer until tender (about 25 minutes)
Butternut Squash
- ½ butternut squash peeled and cubed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch cinnamon
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Mix squash, olive oil, salt, and pepper, in a bowl.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Pour squash onto sheet and spread evenly.
- Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until squash is tender
Homemade Maple Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- Mix ingredients together in a bowl and set aside ½ mixture
Rotisserie Chicken Breast
- Discard skin off one Rotisserie chicken
- Pull off as much of the breast meat in shreds
Kale
- 10 oz deboned and chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch of salt
- Cut the leaf off of the stem and chop the leafy part, throwing away the stem
- Add chopped kale and olive oil and salt to a bowl
- Massage the kale- just how it sounds. Rub the oil into each piece. It will go from a dull green to a bright and shiny green right before your eyes!
The rest
- 2 6 oz packages of Blackberries
- ¼ cup feta cheese
- ¼ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- Take your massaged Kale and add it to a big big mixing bowl.
- Add in the barley, squash, chicken, blackberries, feta, pecans, pumpkin seeds, and reserved vinaigrette mixture.
- Toss that salad and serve it up!
*Recipe makes about 6-8 servings
