Quick Lunch: Italian Chopped Salad

New Year's Resolution #4 of 1,000,000. Eat out less and make healthier meals! I know this is always everyone's goal, but I am reallllllly going to try to stick to at least this one out of my bagillion resolutions. We can make excuse after excuse about how there is not enough time to make lunch, or I'll just heat up this frozen meal to save some time or to encourage our laziness. But fast food and even frozen foods are just so TERRIBLE for you. Don't get me wrong I love some McDonald's chicken nuggets every now and then, but one happy meal (you know those things for kids) is 17 weight watcher points. 17!!!!!!! That's 2/3 of my daily allotment. Just start doing a little bit of research, and you can see how much garbage goes into these products. Just knowing that will instantly help you make better choices!

We need to stop making excuses for ourselves and really put in the effort. If you plan your meals on sunday, when there is rarely going anything on anyway you can even make a ton of it ahead of time and be ready to go for the whole week.

This was a pintrest recipe I found, and it was a wonderful wonderful salad! It's 11 WW points per serving, but it's all good points! You could substitute meats or cheeses to minimize those points if you really wanted to. Just in general don't be afraid to play with recipes. I'm definitely guilty of looking at a recipe and saying "Yeah. No thanks!" That's silly. You can almost always substitute ingredients or play with the amounts to get a taste that suits you. In this particular recipe I played with the dressing. I wanted to tone down the red wine vinegar flavor. I added a little more garlic, salt, and pepper until it tasted right for me. You could also just pour in less red wine vinegar (but I didn't know that until it was already made).

One more challenge: FRESH IS BEST!!! Don't be afraid to use fresh vegetables because they go bad, or are more expensive. You can plan your menu around similar ingredients for the week. But either way it's worth it to eat fresh. It's better for you and it tastes better too!

This recipe also makes a ton, so just don't toss it in the dressing and you can have it a couple days in a row. Trust me you won't get tired of it. You'll want it all week!

Italian Chopped Salad

4 Romaine Hearts Diced

2 Roma Tomatoes, Seeded and Diced

1 Green Bell Pepper, Seeded and Diced

1/2 Red Onion, Diced

1/3 C. Kalamata Olives, Pitted and Diced

8 Oz. Fresh Mozzarella

4 Oz. Italian Dry Salami, Chopped

1 Tbs. Fresh Basil

1 Tbs. Fresh Parsley

Herbed Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/4 C. + 2 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar

2 Garlic Cloves Pressed

1/4 tsp. Dijon Mustard

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning

Pinch of Ground Pepper

3/4 tsp. Sugar

1/4 C. + 2 Tbs. Olive Oil

Step 1: To make the salad Just combine all the ingredients!

Step 2: In a separate bowl add all ingredients through sugar and whisk to combine. Slowly add the oil whisking constantly, until combined. (Really give this a little bit of time so the flavors bend well) 

Step 3: Adjust the flavors as needed. (I topped the salad with fresh black pepper and it was amazing)

HOW EASY WAS THAT!!!! Enjoy!