Remember the other day when I shared the Easy Summer Grilling Dinner Menu with you? And I said that we just loved the Brown Rice Salad with Capers, Artichoke Hearts & Greek Feta Vinaigrette? Well, this salad has been served at our dinner table a few times since then. We just adore the Greek flavors, and it is so easy to put together. I have morphed the recipe it a bit to make it a better fit with my Weight Watchers Freestyle lifestyle, and I created the Greek Chicken, Rice, and Spinach Salad Freestyle Recipe. Yes, it’s super similar to the original version, it’s just amped up a bit with nutrients, and at the same time the Freestyle points are toned down a bit.
In a nut shell, I added cooked chicken tenders, increased the amount of spinach, thought about decreasing the rice (but didn’t); I did switch out the brown rice for white because that is what I had in the cabinet. Funny thing tho, I found out that the white rice is slightly lower in points than the brown rice – go figure! And ta-da, this delicious and filling dinner salad is only seven points for a large serving.
Greek Chicken, Rice, and Spinach Salad Freestyle Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken tenders
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups (cooked and cooled) long grain white rice
- 1 cup Signature SELECT™ marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 3 Tbs minced parsley
- 1/4 cup thinly-sliced green onion
- 1/4 cup minced bell pepper (I use what ever color I have, red, yellow, orange or a mix)
- 1/4 cup minced yellow pepper
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1/2 cup Signature SELECT™ Greek Feta vinaigrette
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
Directions
- Season the chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Toss chicken with the olive oil and allow to marinate for 5 minutes. Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium-high heat. Cook chicken tenders in the hot pan until lightly browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Allow tenders to cool and then chop into bite sized pieces.
- In mixing bowl, combine cooked/cooled rice, artichoke hearts, spinach, parsley, green onions, capers, bell peppers.
- Add chicken pieces.
- Season with salt and pepper, dress with Greek feta vinaigrette. Toss to mix and distribute dressing and coat all ingredients evenly. Transfer to serving bowl, garnish with cherry tomatoes, and enjoy.
I had thought about adding some cucumber slices for some crunch, and I might next time. Yes, there will be a next time (soon!), and little bit of crunch would be nice. I also thought about adding some reduced-fat feta cheese crumbles, but opted not to because it would add more points. Really tho, the dressing and capers add so much flavor – you do not need the extra cheese.
I built the recipe in my Weight Watchers app and this is a screen shot of the individual ingredient point values. Remember this is for four large servings!
All together the ingredients add up to 26 points. When you divide it by 4 you actually get 6.5 points per serving, but the app rounds up the point value, so I’m going with that as well. For a seven point dinner salad, you can’t beat the flavor and heartiness of this Greek Chicken, Rice, and Spinach Salad Freestyle Recipe. Enjoy!
Greek Chicken, Rice, and Spinach Salad Freestyle Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken tenders
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups (cooked and cooled) long grain white rice
- 1 cup Signature SELECT™ marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 3 Tbs minced parsley
- 1/4 cup thinly-sliced green onion
- 1/4 cup minced red pepper
- 1/4 cup minced yellow pepper
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1/2 cup Signature SELECT™ Greek Feta vinaigrette
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
Instructions
- Season the chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Toss chicken with the olive oil mixture and allow to marinate for 5 minutes. Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium-high heat. Cook chicken tenders in the hot pan until lightly browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Allow tenders to cool and then chop into bite sized pieces.
- In mixing bowl, combine cooked/cooled rice, artichoke hearts, spinach, parsley, green onions, capers, bell peppers, and chicken pieces.
- Season with salt and pepper, dress with Greek feta vinaigrette. Toss to mix and distribute dressing and coat all ingredients evenly. Transfer to serving bowl, garnish with cherry tomatoes, and enjoy.
