Recipe Rehab: Chicken Salad

Summertime salads make for a cool meal that requires minimal cooking -- especially perfect for a midday lunch in the heat of the day. Whether full of greens, pasta or potato variety or in a sandwich, salads often grace my own table in the summer.

Most salads have a pretty healthy base, but not all dressings are created equal. Mayonnaise-based dressings can add a couple hundred calories to each serving, so a typical chicken salad sandwich could have up to 500 calories.

In this lightened-up version of chicken salad, I have swapped half of the mayonnaise for non-fat Greek yogurt, which reduces fat calories and adds more protein and calcium to the sandwich. Additionally, I will chop up some vegetables to replace some of the higher-calorie ingredients, thus bulking up the volume of the salad while reducing total calories. Feel free to try this dressing substitution in all of your favorite summer salad mixes.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill (or 1 teaspoon fresh)
• 2 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped

Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice and spices.
2. Toss with chicken, celery, peppers and onion. Add additional seasoning to taste.

Serves: 4

Nutrition Content (per serving):
182 calories, 7 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 7 g carbohydrates, 4 g sugars, 1 g fiber, 22 g protein, 169 mg sodium

Check out my Recipe Rehab: Potato Salad for more summer salad ideas!

Readers, I would love to hear from you! Please send me your favorite fattening recipes that need a RECIPE REAHB! Everything from your mom's meatloaf to your kid's favorite dessert -- let me lighten it up.

Celebrity dietitian and motivational life coach Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of www.ffactordiet.com and founder of www.skinnyandthecity.com and www.theskinnyondietitians.com, has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off with her program. Her philosophy? Tanya believes you should never sacrifice taste, even when you're eating healthy foods. Have a recipe in need of rehab? Send us your recipe!