Recipe Tuesday :: Red, White and Blue (cheese) Salad

I'll admit that this salad is not my invention but a knock-off of a very delicious salad made by Red Robin, also called a Red, White and Blue Salad.  It just had all the possibilities of being a balanced meal and it comes together quickly and is quite summer ready.  Salads for dinner never seem delicious in the middle of winter, but when the weather warms up, who wants to eat hot and filling food?

Red, White and Blue Cheese Salad

2 heads of romaine
6 oz chicken breast, grilled and cut
1 medium apple, diced
4 Tbsp Craisins
3 Tbsp glazed walnuts pieces
2 Tbsp blue cheese crumbles
4 Tbsp honey mustard vinaigrette dressing (I recommend Annie's Naturals Lite)
2 slices bread, toasted (I recommend Dave's Killer Bread Thin Sliced)

Makes 2 salads.  Grill and cut up the chicken breast and split between two bowls.  Chop the romaine and split between the bowls.  Core and dice the apple (peel if you wish), half to each bowl.  Split in half again the Craisins, walnuts, blue cheese and dressing to each bowl.  Toast the bread and serve on the side.

(519 calories for each salad, 49 grams carbs, 37 grams protein, 19 grams fat, balanced 38-29-33)

If you don't like blue cheese you can substitute feta or some other crumbly cheese or even omit it all together.  With a salad you can tweak it to your own personal tastes!  Switch up the apples for oranges, walnuts for almonds, Craisins for golden raisins, the possibilities are endless!  If you come up with a delicious combo I'd love it if you shared it!