Having a delicious salad for dinner on occasion is a great way to lighten up on the carbohydrates a bit during the week. But would just the talk of a salad for dinner make your partner roll their eyes? That would be my hubby. Whenever I’ve made my Quinoa Chicken Cherry Salad or my Quinoa Edamame Feta Salad, I need to make it for friends or just for myself for lunch…..hubby would NEVER eat it. Why? Because he’s a meat and potato man. So I, of course, love a challenge and was determined to help him ENJOY a salad for dinner.

If you too are looking for a hearty salad to serve for dinner to your man—THIS would be the one! Put some steak on this salad and HE will eat it happily for dinner and love it too.

Of course this salad is already perfect on its own! So if you want to skip the steak, its a perfect lunch or even add another protein like my Parmesan Crusted Baked Freezer Friendly Chicken Breasts!

Blue Cheese Fennel Steak Salad

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Ingredients

• 1 fennel bulb, sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 cups romaine lettuce
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1/2 cup blue cheese, reduced fat, crumbled
•  1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 6 ounces cooked Marinated London Broil or steak of choice, sliced or chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Add all ingredients to a bowl except the steak, oil, and vinegar. Toss the salad with the oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. Divide the salad into two serving bowls or plates and then top with 3 ounces of steak for each salad.

 Nutrition info for salad alone:

Servings: 2* Calories per serving: 208* Fat: 12g* Fiber: 6g* Carbs: 16g* Protein: 3g* Points+: 5*

*See this Marinated London Broil recipe for its nutrition info.

The post Blue Cheese Fennel Steak Salad appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Do you crave citrus during the winter months? For some reason I always start craving oranges and grapefruits come February! Of course if you are a follower of my blog you know how much I love fennel as well. I found a way to have both and its the most perfect fresh tasting salad I’ve had in a long time.

The juices from the fruit along with extra virgin olive oil make a terrific dressing. Topping this with scallions, cilantro and walnuts makes an easy, healthy weekday salad.  But pretty and elegant enough to serve to guests as well!

Nutrition Info (without walnuts)

Servings:4* Calories per serving: 118* Fat: 7g* Fiber: 3g* Carbs: 14g* Protein: 1g* Points+: 3* Old Points: 2*

This would be delightful with my Baked Parmesan Tilapia!

And I will ask you again as I always do when I give you a fennel recipe……..Have you tried fennel yet?

Citrus Fennel Salad

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Ingredients

• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (Click here for How-To-Cut -Fennel)
• 1 orange, peeled, sliced in segments
• 1 grapefruit, peeled, sliced in segments
•  2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 scallion, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional toppings: toasted chopped walnuts

Directions

1.  In a small dish, slice the grapefruit and orange segments in a bowl, squeeze as much juice from the membranes of the fruit. Remove the fruit segments to a serving bowl, leaving the juice in the original dish. Mix the olive oil with fruit juices, set aside.
2. Place the sliced fennel into the serving bowl with the fruit. Pour the olive juice dressing over the fennel and fruit. Toss well.
3. Add the chopped scallion and cilantro to the fruit and fennel.
4. Toss again, then season with salt and pepper and top with chopped walnuts if desired.

The post Citrus Fennel Salad appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

If you come from an Italian background, you most likely have seen this vegetable before. If you don’t you are probably wondering what in the world  THAT is?

It is a fresh fennel bulb, sometimes labeled at supermarkets as Anise.

I  grew up seeing this bulb at the dinner table weekly, cut up like celery to eat AFTER a meal.

My dad with his strong Italian accent would say,

“Eat the fennel  (rolling those r’s)  Breeennnnnndddda, it will help you digest.”

And I tried it once and hated the flavor of it. It has an almost licorice type taste, which I was never fond of as a kid anyway.

So years pass and I am a grown, newly married woman wanting to keep my Italian heritage strong after marrying a French man! Fennel and I found each other again and THIS time I was enamored with it! I simply roasted it one evening with some other veggies and fell in love! Hubby loved it as well! I was not too sure about eating it fresh until I was so sick and tired of lettuce being my main ingredient in salad, that I decided to give it another chance.

I was amazed how delicious I thought it was and can’t even remember why as I child I disliked it. I still don’t like licorice, but I love this fennel!

Here are some fennel facts in case you are wondering why I think its so spectacular and to give you a little push to try something you may have never had before.

1. Its been used to treat stomach upset, nausea, feelings of fullness after a meal (adding in digestion just as my daddy told me!)
2. It is a great source of folate.
3. It is very high in fiber and vitamin C.
4. 1 cup provides you 10% of your daily value of potassium, which is helpful in lowering high blood pressure.
5. IT IS SUPER LOW IN CALORIES!
   
6. 1 whole bulb is only about 80 calories!

HERE’S HOW TO MAKE A FRESH FENNEL SALAD.

You should wash it thoroughly and then cut off the long stems. Save some of the fennel weed at the top for sprinkling in your salad. Some people don’t use the outer layers, sometimes they are bruised, but I use it all. The center pieces are more tender than the outside. But I like the harder, crunchy outside pieces myself. Slice by hand or with a mandolin. The bottom stem should be cut off and disposed of.

One Bulb makes about 4-6 cups of salad.

Nutrition Info (based on 4 servings)

Calories: 70 Fat: 5g Fiber: 2 g

Weight Watchers PointsPlus = 1 (Previous Method 1)

Fresh Fennel Salad

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Ingredients

1 fresh fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/2 – 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
Optional: Fennel weed, chopped scallion, 1 oz. chopped salami or prosciutto
salt /pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place the sliced fennel in a bowl toss with oil and seasonings to taste.
Add the optional toppings and serve!

The post Fresh Fennel Salad Recipe appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.