A healthy salad loaded with veggies, beans, and shrimp all dressed with a honey lemon dressing!
Love salads but looking for a non leafy green version, well this one is for you. A healthy, flavorful and colorful salad, works perfectly as a complete meal or a great side salad. Grilled shrimp or Chicken, roasted charred corn, black beans, protein packed chick peas along with creamy avocado, fresh herbs and a bight dressing is a perfect feel good meal. Colorful and attractive to eye, filling and guilt free!
If you like your leafy greens, you can use this as a topping to a bed of any lettuce. If you are vegetarian you can easily leave off the meat. If you prefer chicken instead of shrimp, it is just as great! This is an easy customizable dish that you can adjust to your preferences.
Make salads exciting again with this healthy option.
Time: 20 minutes
Level of difficulty: Easy
Servings: 2 full salads or 4 side salads
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of black beans
- 1/2 cup whole corn
- 1/2 cup garbanzo beans/Chick Peas (Chana)
- 1/2 cup diced red onion or green onion if you like it milder
- 1/2 cup sliced celery
- 1/8 cup of chopped fresh cilantro, or parsley, or mint, or dill or a combination
- 1/2-1 cup avocado diced
- Optional: 1/8 cup chopped nuts (almonds or walnuts)
For the Meat (Completely optional, you can omit and make this vegetarian):
- 8 large shrimps (cleaned, deveined, no tail) or 2 chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp EVOO
- 2 tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- 2 tbsp of honey
- 2 tbsp of lemon or lime juice
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cracked Black Pepper
- Optional: if you like a creamy dressing add 2 tbsp of Greek Yogurt
Method:
- If using meat, mix together all oil, salt, Old Bay with the shrimp or chicken. Let it sit for 10 mins.
- In a pan, ideally cast iron if you have it. Heat it well on medium high. Once hot add the meat, toss and cook till done. Shrimp cooks very fast, as soon as it turns pink it is cooked about 5 mins.
Chicken will take longer, approx 20 mins. Turn to color both sides. Cover and cook till fully cooked and no pink in the middle. Slice into strips or dice into 1″ pieces, your choice.
- In the same hot pan, add the corn and cook till lightly charred and colored about 81-0 mins. This is optional, it adds great grilled flavor especially if not using any meat. Otherwise you can add it straight without cooking.
- In a small bowl mix together all the dressing ingredients.
- In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients, toss lightly with the dressing.
- Enjoy!
Tips:
- Be sure to cut the avocado just when you are ready to eat so it retains color.
- To make ahead you can prepare the whole thing a day before. Keep the dressing separate and add the avocado fresh when ready to eat.
- Other additions that would be great: olives, nuts, cranberries, mandarin oranges…..make it your own!
- If you like a creamy dressings, you can add 2 tbsp of plain yogurt ideally Greek yogurt to the dressing. No time to make dressing, use store bought Italian dressing.
- See more options in the Salad section