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Hi, my name is Megan McCallister, and I'm a
dietetic graduate student here at Eastern Illinois University.
Today I'm going to make southwestern chicken salad,
and this is a great recipe for those who have suffered from a
heart attack or stroke or have coronary heart disease
because unfortunately a leading cause of death here
in the United States is heart disease.
About 12 million people in the United States do suffer
from coronary heart disease, and about another 7 million
suffer from a heart attack each year.
So this is a great way to help reduce your risk of
heart disease, and those who already do have heart disease,
this is a great way, this recipe is a great way to
help lower your risk of a heart attack.
So what this southwestern chicken salad consists of is
chicken, and the way to cook the chicken is to defrost
about 1 pound of chicken, which is two to three
skinless, boneless chicken ***.
And before you cook it, after you defrost it, you want to
make sure that you cut all the fat off because this will lower
the fat content in the chicken.
Chicken is already a great lean meat and great source of
protein, but to cut the fat even more trim the fat off, and then
you want to put it in a sauce pan and put about 3/4 cup of
water over the chicken and then cover it and simmer it until
the chicken is completely cooked.
After the chicken is cooked then you want to try to see if
there's any more fat left on it and trim some more of the
fat off, and it reduces even more of the fat.
So once that's completely cooked, you want to let it cool
and then chop it up just like I have it here today.
Now while that is cooking, you can go ahead and make
the dressing for the southwestern chicken salad.
What you do with that is you take the juice from a lime,
and limes usually have about 2 to 3 tablespoons of juice
in it that you can get.
But a little tip for you, if you put the lime in the microwave,
a lime or a lemon in the microwave for about 30 seconds
before cutting it in half, you'll warm the lime up and
you'll be able to get more juice from it.
So there's just a little tidbit for you.
Then you'll also want 4 1/2 tablespoons of
extra *** olive oil.
Extra *** olive oil is great because it's high in mono and
saturated fats, which are healthy fats for you.
It also has a lot of antioxidants and is the
best of the olive oils.
So the more fat, good fat you have, the better.
And it also helps to raise your HGL, which is your good
cholesterol, and lower your LDL, which is your bad cholesterol.
So you'll want to combine that with a little bit of salt and
pepper, just a taste, and then mix it in together...alright,
just like that.
Alright, so, then once you have that mixed and your
chicken is done and chopped, then you'll want to add
about 1/2 cup of corn.
You can use your canned corn, your frozen corn, or your fresh
corn, whichever you prefer, it does not make a difference.
People often ask, well, is there a difference between them.
No, not really, it's just whatever fits best
in your budget.
Today I used canned corn, but if you do use frozen or fresh corn,
make sure you do cook it beforehand.
Alright, then also, the next thing is you want to
add an avocado.
An avocado, to tell if it is ripe is to gently press on it
and it should yield back and you'll know that it's ripe.
Avocados are really great because they are also high in
mono and saturated fats, and you have antioxidants in it that
help lower your LDL cholesterol and your HDL cholesterol.
So this is a great way to lower that cholesterol, and great for
those who have heart disease.
Alright, then the last thing that you'll want to add is some
red onion...and usually about 1 tablespoon of red onion.
Now red onion is a lot stronger than a regular onion, so you
might want to use a little bit less if you prefer because
it will add a strong taste.
Okay, once you have that all mixed up, then you'll want to
add your dressing which is the lime juice, the olive oil, and
the salt and pepper, and you'll want to mix it up.
Now what's great about this recipe is you can make it
the night before, so if you're having an event and you want to
serve chicken salad or you are quite busy the next day and
you don't have time to prepare something, you can
prepare this the night before.
And it actually is better when it's cold and when
it's made the day before.
So then, you mix it all up and you put it in the refridgerator
for tomorrow, and this right here is actually what it
does look like once it has set up overnight,
and it looks wonderful.
You can consume it with reduced fat crackers right there that
I have for you or whatever, you know, you can just
eat it just like it is.
And so this is the southwestern chicken salad.
Enjoy.