A 15 Minute Mexican-Greek Salad

First off, a very Happy Birthday to my nephew, Nixie who turns 6 today.  Now a message for him... "I hope you had a wonderful day at your party and I wish I could have seen you today!  Sending you lots of love... xoxoxo!!!!!!!  Love, HM."

Moving along, my friend, Anu, called me from London today.  We chatted for a while and we were both hysterical on the phone reminiscing about our hangout at Starbucks near Rutgers University 10 years ago.  Here's the story... Anu and I were each having a Latte with Whipped Cream, but once you get past the whipped cream, the drink can get boring and a bit strong.  So we went up to the Starbucks Guy and asked him for a whole cup of whipped cream, he charged us like 50 cents for it.  For some reason we were convinced that whipped cream was low fat since it didn't contain any carbohydrates.  We drank the rest of our Lattes adding a little whipped cream, taking a few sips, adding some more whipped cream, taking a few more sips, you get the idea.  Today we were laughing uncontrollably on the phone on how disillusioned we were about whipped cream being low fat.  Between the 2 of us, we finished the entire cup of whipped cream... GROSS!  Ahhhh, those were the good old days.  I guess you had to be there to find the story highly amusing... but you can humor me now, laugh with us, not at us! 🙂 

Anyway, yesterday was pouring in the Tri-State... the rain came down hard!  I absolutely love thunderstorms and the sound of pouring rain.  It makes me nostalgic, gives me comfort and drives me to bake or make hot cocoa.  I think I'll say just about anything for cake and hot cocoa.  In any case, I was working from home and wanted to go for a walk to grab a bite.  That didn't work out too well, so I stayed in and decided to make myself a quick lunch.  Sometimes the best dishes are invented based on the ingredients you have on hand.  I scanned my refrigerator and was pleased to find mixed greens, tomatoes, onions, avocado, and tzatziki sauce.  In addition, I had pita chips and a can of black beans.  I combined all the ingredients and came up with an obvious name, A Mexican-Greek Salad.  🙂  It was great!  I sat on my chair with my feet up by the window watching the rain come down as I indulged in my delicious and healthy salad.  In conclusion to my story, now 10 years later, I think I've learned a thing or two about eating right... whipped cream is fattening and salads are healthy!  This salad took me less than 15 minutes to put together.  Enjoy!

NUTRITION: Mixed Greens are an excellent source of Vitamins A and C.  Avocados are a good source of Vitamin K, Fiber, Folic Acid, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin C.  They are also an excellent source of Antioxidants.

INGREDIENTS:

• Mixed Greens - 2 cups (loosely measured)
• Goya Black Beans - ⅓ cup
• Plum Tomato - ½ (diced cubes)
• Red Onion - ¼ (sliced)
• Avocado - ½ (small cubes)
• Stacy's Pita Chips, Simply Naked - 5-6 chips (crushed)
• Hannah's Tzatziki Sauce - 1 dollup
• Water - 1 tbsp... added to Tzatziki Sauce to thin it out
• Salt - to taste
• Black Pepper - to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place mixed greens on a plate.

2. Add black beans.

3. Add avocado.

4. Add tomatoes.

5. Add red onions.

6. Take 5-6 Stacy's Pita Chips, crush them, and add them to the salad.

7. Add a dollup of Tzatziki sauce to a small bowl.  

8. Add a little water to dilute it to form a dressing-like consistency.

9. Top off salad with Tzatziki sauce.

10. Top with salt.

11. Top with black pepper.

13. Now indulge!  It doesn't even feel like you are eating a salad.