The BEST Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe – From NOOM!

 

noom's BEST Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe is absolutely AWESOME! It's full of flavor, smells delicious when making it, inexpensive ingredients, and serves 4! How much better can it get? You won't even know you're on a diet!

 

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BEST Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe

295 Calories per Serving / 4 Servings / Prep time = 18 minutes

 

Overview:

Southwestern-style salad of chili-spiced chicken, black beans and corn. Get full on protein, fiber, and flavor!

This happens to be the first recipe I've tried from the Noom food Database and I absolutely love it! Of course, you have to love salad in order to enjoy it as much as I do.

 

The flavor is what got me!

 

• This is too good to be diet food… Oh, but it is according to Noom.
• I thought black beans were fattening… It is suggested that black beans should be eaten in moderation, but great for you.
• Can I really have dressing on my salad and be dieting?? Yelp, that's right!! The homemade dressing is awesome!

 

Homemade Dressing?

Right again, this recipe includes the recipe for a homemade dressing, similar to Chipotle dressing! YUMMY! I just had to lick my fingers when making it. (No worries though, I was only making this recipe for me… 4 meals… 4 prepared dinners!)

• Light Ranch Dressing
• salsa
• Fresh Cilantro

 

It Gets Better – Homemade Seasoning Too!!

 

The seasoning for the grilled chicken is wonderful! Smells delicious, taste delicious… briefly put:

• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Chili Power
• Ground Cumin
• Salt/Pepper

This homemade seasoning was so good that I decided to make extra and put in a spice jar for later use.

 

How Can You Beat That?

 

Have you ever tried looking up the McDonald's Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad recipe?

 

Well, stop right here..

 

This recipe is similar to theirs, but much better! Don't let me be the one to tell you! Try it for yourself and let me know how much you love it in the comment box at the end of this post. I would love to hear about it.

 

But Here's the Kicker…

 

In order for this Southwestern grilled chicken salad recipe to work with your diet, it is important to learn portion control. Noom teaches portion control to a “T”. In fact, they teach you pretty much anything you need to know about dieting and leading a healthy lifestyle.

When I have questions that aren't being taught on the Noom app, I just shoot my goal specialist a message with my question or concern and wallah, I get an answer. It's that easy!

Just remember, when you make this recipe, that it is a “4 Serving Recipe“. Go ahead and set out 4 bowls/plates and prepare for dividing everything evenly as you make it. That's the easiest way. A little further down, I'll give some little tips that will make things simpler for you when dividing things up.

 

Blah Blah Blah…

I know why you came to this site and to this page, so let me stop bragging and move on to the good stuff… well, just a few more bits of information first. Don't worry, the recipe is clearly identified below all of this. 🙂

 

One More Thing Before You Move On…

 

Using the Noom Food Database (some people call it the food library), you search for the foods you are interested in; Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, Snacks, or Favorites (foods you find, tried, loved, and star as a favorite for later).

This can even be done at the grocery store!

 

First, the app will show the food group category for the foods chosen;

• Green, Yellow, or Red food groups.

Second, the app will give you an overview of the foods chosen;

• Calories / Servings / Time Spent
• Brief Summary about the foods chosen;

Example:

[Southwestern-style salad of chili-spiced chicken, black beans and corn. Get full on protein, fiber, and flavor!]

Third, the app will show the instructions, ingredients, and how to prepare the food chosen.

Forth, the app will show the nutrition facts of the foods chosen; the food group and calorie breakdown.

Fifth, if the food chosen is actually what's eaten that day, there's a big blue tab that can be clicked on to “log this recipe”.

 

The Coolest Thing…

 

The coolest thing about logging with Noom is that you learn. Not just how many calories a particular food has (though they show that, too) but also its caloric density.

Foods with low caloric density (like grapes), fill you up quicker with fewer calories than foods high caloric density (like raisins). So as Noom puts it, unless you enjoy an angry stomach, it's a good idea to eat more foods with a low caloric density.

Though we know foods rich in water typically have low caloric density, it's not always obvious which foods those are. That's why Noom classifies all foods as red, yellow, or green.

 

√ Green Foods have the lowest caloric density and/or the highest concentration of healthy nutrients. (Veggies and whole grains)

√ Yellow Foods have a mid-level caloric density and/or a medium amount of healthy nutrients. (Lean meats and starches)

√ Red Foods have the highest caloric density, are the most calorie-dense and/or have the least healthy nutrients. (Red meats and desserts)

Noom recommends that you eat the following breakdown:

• Green: 30%
• Yellow: 45%
• Red: 25%

Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe Fits in the “Noom budget” and equals 12% of the “Green Food” category.

Move on Down the page for EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW for making this great recipe;

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Getting Started – The Ingredients

 

 

Homemade Southwestern Dressing

• 1/4 cup Light Ranch Dressing
• 1/4 cup Mild Green Salsa – I used my Spicy hot Best Salsa from Fresh Tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Homemade Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon Chili Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

Other Ingredients:

• 1 Pound Chicken Breast sliced into then strips or tenders
• 1 Lime, quartered (I used lime juice instead)
• 6 Cups Shredded Romaine Lettuce (For the sake of time – I didn't measure the lettuce)
• 1 Can (15 ounces) Black Beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 Cup corn kernels
• 1 Medium Tomato, chopped
• 1/4 Cup thinly sliced red onion (Optional – I replaced these with Hot Banana Peppers

Preparing Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad

 

step 1

To make the dressing:

In a small bowl, mix the ranch dressing, salsa, and cilantro until blended.

Cover and refrigerate.

STEP 2

To make the salad:

Coat a barbecue grill or ridged grill pan with olive oil spray, and heat to medium-hot.

In a small bowl, mix the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Rub evenly on both sides of the chicken.

[HINT: I put my seasoning into a spice jar using a funnel. It was easier for me to just evenly sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of the chicken tenders.]

STEP 3

Grilling Time:

Grill the chicken, turning once, for 3 or 4 minutes (when it's no longer pink, and juices run clear).

Transfer to a plate.

Squeeze the lime over the cooked chicken.

STEP 4

Serving Time:

In a large bowl, toss the romaine with half the dressing. Divide among 4 bowls/plates.

[HINT: As shown in the image above, I divide my servings out as I cut up the lettuce, equally among 4 salad bowls. The dressing added up to be 4 ounces, so that's 1 ounce per bowl. Mix 1/2 ounce into the lettuce in each bowl and save the other 1/2 ounce for each bowl when it's served.]

Sprinkle the beans (1/3 cup each), corn (1 ounce each), tomato, and red onion equally over each bowl of lettuce and top with the grilled chicken. Serve the remaining dressing on the side.

[HINT: I found it convenient to add the remaining dressing (1/2 ounce per serving), to little plastic shot cups as seen in the pictures. ]

STEP 5

Eat and Enjoy!

Dinner is Ready!

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Where to Find More Recipes Like this One

Check it out for yourself! Sign-up for the Noom 7-Day Trial and discover thousands of recipes, along with diet, health, and fitness tips. It even includes a coach specialist and support groups to help you along the way!

Have you ever looked for a Southwest BBQ Chicken Salad recipe or specifically, that famous Portillo's Southwest BBQ Chicken Salad recipe?

Noom's food database might just have it covered for you. One that comes to mind right now is their “BBQ Chicken with Watermelon Salad”, YELP, that's right! Noom keeps it different and fresh!  🙂

 

What do you have to lose?

 

For only $1, join Noom for their 7-Day trial!

 

Find out for yourself how great it is!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHxHDR0cc4Q[/embedyt]

 

CLICK THE LINK BELOW:

Noom- Making Healthy Living Easy

I don't mind if you watch this little video, but please come back to my site and leave me comments!  I can't wait to hear from you!  🙂

 

 

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Authors Note

I hope you enjoyed discussion about Noom and their #1 Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe. I'm sorry if I rambled on a bit too much. I just get so excited when I start writing about this diet! I love everything about it!

√ It's easy, successful, and doesn't feel like I'm starving all the time!

How's that for being on a diet?  GREAT!

I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions about Noom in the comment box below.

Thanks for visiting my site! I look forward to hearing from you.

CLICK TO TWEET THIS AWESOME RECIPE!