Grilled Chicken Taco Salad; ahead of my time

As any of you who read my blog or use my recipes know I rarely use prepared ingredients.

I stopped using them when we moved to this side of the pond, primarily because they weren’t available.

The supermarket aisles weren’t lined with Hamburger Helper or Rice-a-Roni or red and white cans of ‘cream’ soups or salad dressings.

Okay, I never really used the first two but I was guilty of using the last two. Not having access taught me how to make my own salad dressing and cream of mushroom soup.

One of the few prepared foods that I buy is taco sauce. Old El Paso to be specific It’s the only one available…. All the supermarkets have a small Old El Paso section.

I know I could make it. I have made it…. But, hey, everyone’s allowed one dirty little secret, right?

Print Recipe

Warning: Shameful bragging ahead.

I get emails from Cooking Light magazine promoting their recipes and articles.

I actually look at one or two things every few months.

The other day there was an article listing 8 or 10 or so things that ‘you thought were healthy but really aren’t’.

I’m always intrigued by these teasers….. I usually read them because I like to find out how right I am. It’s a great ego boast to be able to say ‘I told you so’ and ‘It’s about time you figured that out’ to Cooking Light.

Once again I was ahead of the game.

They are, finally, saying that non-fat dairy is not the best choice. One is better off eating regular yogurt than the Light or Non-Fat versions. The same is true of milk and cheese. There are more nutrients and less sugar in the regular stuff. We stopped using anything labeled ‘light’, ‘lo-‘, ‘non-‘ or ;reduced’ about 10 years ago.

There were some things I didn’t know – like pretzels aren’t all that much better than potato chips as a snack. But we only have either one in the house 2 or 3 times a year so it really doesn’t matter. I keep a basket of nuts in the shell on the counter for snacks. Having to crack them makes consuming them by the handful a bit more difficult. (The mouse had an almond with him in the toaster…)

There were also some pretty basic common sense suggestions – eat an apple rather than a granola bar. Might I just say Duh!

All in all it was an ‘okay’ list…. But I was really pleased to see them stop promoting non-fat and lo-fat dairy. I was a subscriber for years but really was fed-up with recipes calling for non-fat sour cream and lo-fat ketchup and reduced sugar peanut butter. I always thought that as a proponent of healthy eating they should have had recipes that used healthy, natural ingredients rather than highly-processed diet versions.

Oops. just fell off my soapbox…..