Too Hot to Trot

In this heat wave, it is too hot to do pretty much anything. Except eating ice cream, of course. And on days like this, I often wish ice cream was dinner.

I planned ahead so I knew what to eat to beat the heat. When it was cool earlier this week, I cooked some chicken cutlets and prepared chicken salad. I loved that it was waiting for me when I got home. All I had to do was take some buns out of the freezer and toast them to make sandwiches for dinner and today’s lunch. To go alongside the sammies, I made a light and refreshing salad. No boring lettuce required (I think I overdid it on the romaine a couple weeks ago.) Since I wound up loving my recipe so much, I decided to calculate the nutritional information and enter in the Low Calorie, High Taste Recipe Contest by everydayhealth.com. The contest is open to everyone, and runs through June 20th – so click on over to check out the details and other entries!

Sweet Cucumber Tomato Salad approximately 50 calories per serving (serves 4)

• 2 cups chopped cucumber
• 1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup diced tomato
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs agave nectar
• salt and pepper, to taste

Three veggies for this salad, all acquired on my trip to Haymarket this weekend. Total price of this produce= 65 cents. Wow! Not only is the salad light on the digestive system, but on the wallet too! I always peel my cucumbers the same way, because I just think they look prettier this way and I don’t mind eating some skin. You can see here how I chopped everything pretty finely, especially the tomatoes since someone doesn’t love big chunks. The dressing for this salad is the real winner: olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, agave nectar, and lime juice. It’s sweet and light, and also cost effective! (Cheaper than any bottled dressing.) What a perfect meal for a perfectly unbearable humid evening! And yes, we had ice cream for dessert, photos to come!