Chipotle Chicken and Serrano Ham Salad – 4sp

We’ve just moved offices at work so, where as I used to head to Eat for lunch on the go, the closet place to my desk these days is the lovely Pret-a-Manger. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the salads and soups in Pret. Even better, they pop all of the nutritional information on their website so you can work out the points too.

One of my favourite salads to pick up is the Chefs Chipotle Chicken Salad. At just 8sp it’s a real bargain points wise however not such a bargain on the old purse strings. Not only that, whilst tasty, its lacking all of the zero heroes which on Weight Watchers keep you full for the rest of the day and stop you snacking.

As a result, after analysing the contents of my salad, I decided to give it a go. The results were a real treat. I essentially had a salad for less points which was twice the size. Because I had made it myself, I even managed to sneak a few extras in too!

The best part of this salad for me is the salsa. After tasting Pret’s version I thought it wouldn’t harm to try and replicate it so I literally took a cheap pot of salad (hot salsa from Aldi) and added half a tsp of chipotle paste and voila! It was amazing, a total revelation and a lovely dressing which can be added to all kind of salads and dishes for 0sp!

Ingredients

Serves 2 = 4sp (previously 5pp) each (I buy enough ingredients to make this twice a week for me and the OH).

Large handful of mixed leaves

1/4 red onion, finely sliced

2 or 3 small salad peppers, sliced

Large piece of cucumber (however much you fancy), halved and sliced

Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

100g cooked chicken breast, light meat, shredded

2 x pieces of Serrano ham, shredded (I get mine from Aldi and you get 8 pieces for quite cheap)

1 x avocado (about 75g of flesh)

2 tbsp chipotle salsa (recipe above)

Lime, quartered (keep two pieces for the rest of the week)

Glug of balsamic vinegar

Optional but good….

1 x small tub of Aldi reduced fat lemon and coriander houmous (this is 2sp for half a tub, if you use a different houmous, remember to point it).

Cous Cous (again, point if added)

Method

Pop the salad leaves in the bottom of a large bowl (or lunch box if like me, you want to take it to work). I often take all of my ingredients in on a Monday and make my salads fresh every day but there’s no harm in preparing it in the morning. Leave the stone in the avocado if you do this to keep it fresh.

Add all of the salad vegetables on top of this and add a glug of balsamic vinegar.

Add the chicken, Serrano ham and avocado, mix up a little and then top with the salsa, a squeeze of fresh lime and a good seasoning of salt and pepper.

Add houmous and cous cous if you fancy.

Enjoy!