Shortcuts to Healthy Meals

Busy, busy, busy. The next five to six weeks are going to be full of marathon training workouts, new work, blogging and social events, and travel. Keeping on an eating budget and making healthy meals is still a priority, so on our most recent Market Basket trip, we kept an eye out for some affordable shortcuts. The Market Basket in Woburn was in-freakin-sane on Sunday, I have to tell you. I witnessed one fight and got yelled at by an elderly man because apparently my cart was at an angle he didn’t like.

Don’t mess with me when I am picking out bananas.

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As always, my paltry patience somehow prevailed, and we got some great stuff, including a rotisserie chicken that was on super sale. The smell of the chicken was pretty enticing, so it was easy to add one to our overflowing cart.

I already had a giant pot of kale and three bean chili set up to cook for Sunday dinner, so I decided on a Monday night chicken salad for the rotisserie chicken.

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Chunky Chicken and Fruit Salad

The ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and chopped into chunks

2 medium apples, chopped

1 /2 cup each dried cranberries and dried cherries

1/4 medium red onion, chopped

3/4 cup Fage Greek yogurt (I used 0% because it was on sale, but I prefer 2%.)

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Assembling this salad was, of course, very simple. I made it during my lunch break, added some salt and pepper, and let it chill until dinner time when I served it on a whole wheat ciabatta, also on sale at Market Basket. I also made a giant batch of simple roasted broccoli, mostly because I wanted to stand next to a 420 degree oven. And also because we needed greens, of course.

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Everything about this salad said summer, so it was a nice treat. Lots of crunch and chew from the fruit, and it had a nice zing from the onion. I love Greek yogurt for recipes like this; I planned on adding a few spoons of mayo, but it just didn’t need it.

Healthy, simple, make-ahead, it was just what we needed. I have a dinner out tonight and another tomorrow, so luckily there are chili and chicken salad leftovers for the husband.

What are you eating this week? Do you have any shortcuts to quick, healthy meals?

Tags: chicken, dinner, Food, healthy, recipe, sandwiches

  1. Emily @ A Cambridge Story’s avatar

    Mmm I adore chicken salad with fruit! I also made a kale and bean chili this week. And my new plan to is make 4 or 5 meals on Sunday morning for the week, using the food processor and dirtying the kitchen just once to make the week go smoother!

    Reply

  2. Michelle’s avatar

    After a late night at work last week ending with a grocery shopping trip (our fridge seemed bare!), I did the same thing and picked up a rotisserie chicken for a nice shortcut. We ate ours with a side of veggies and greens!

    Reply

  3. Elizabeth’s avatar

    I used to love waldorf salad when I ate meat. Prepping on the weekends for me is key.

    Reply

  4. Daisy’s avatar

    market basket sounds like a hell of a time. that sandwich shot is gorgeous and totally has me craving one!

    Reply

  5. melissanibbles’s avatar

    I love your love/hate relationship with Market Basket. I have a similar thing going on with Trucchi’s. The place is worse than Walmart sometimes.

    The chicken salad looks tasty. I’ve never had a combination like that before, but I’m definitely going to try it!

    Reply

  6. Alaina’s avatar

    Yum, that chicken salad looks great!

    I rarely shop at Market Basket. The savings are tempting but the crowds seem so insane!

    Reply

  7. Renee {Eat.Live.Blog}’s avatar

    You should have waited until after the Pats kick off, Market Basket was a pleasure! PS- I love making chicken salad w/ rotisserie chicken. So yummy!

    Reply

    1. traveleatlove’s avatar

      We went about 30 minutes before kickoff; we thought people would have been home by then!

      Reply

    2. Megan’s avatar

      I love the idea of using Greek yogurt instead of mayo.

      My strategy is just making big meals on the weekends and eating leftovers all week.

      Reply

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