Mac Daddy Salad

Bic Mac (TM) Photo:  www.mcdonalds.com   

Without making a huge deal about it and announcing it to all my facebook friends and the world (just you), I have recently re-joined Weight Watchers on-line.  WW and I have a long, off-again-on-again relationship, and as long as I am committed, all goes well.  Typically, I start off with a boat-load of motivation and enthusiasm, and after a week or two, old habits creep their way back in and it's a down-hill slide from there.  However, THIS time is different.  This time, I am looking at WW strictly as a budgetary tool.  I get "X" number of points per day, and I can spend them any way I choose.  Do I want a cupcake when it takes up almost a third of a day's points?  I don't think so.   A banana (no points) and a yogurt (2 points) at the ready were all that were needed (this week!) to keep that co-workers red velvet birthday cupcake at bay!

An odd thing  happens to me when a diet commences -- a sudden and irrepressible need to read cookbooks.  I think about food all the time, and what I might do to make a "less expensive" (points-wise) version of a favorite food.  With that in mind, as I was driving home from work today, the craving for a Big Mac came over me.  Now, do I want to use half a day's points on a Big Mac?  No, I won't do it.  Then I thought about reincarnating that old favorite into something I can enjoy, where I can have the beef, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions and sesame seeds without the bun.  Why not?  I've been at restaurants (Olde Bryan Inn) where a friend ordered a salad with a grilled burger on top rather than have the burger on a bun.  It wasn't on the menu but she asked for it and got it.  Love that idea!  With that in mind, I offer up to you the very salad we'll be enjoying for dinner tomorrow night.  Without infringing on corporate TMs or copyrighted  material, I'm calling my salad the Mac Daddy Salad.  Photos of the process will be posted tomorrow, but in the meantime, the salad's inspiration is pictured above, and here's how it's going to come together:

MAC DADDY SALAD

serves 4 very generously at 9 WW points-plus per portion.

Get a large salad bowl ready

Ingredients:

1 lb. 90% lean ground beef or ground turkey breast
1/4 cup sweet white onion (like vidalia), diced into small 1/4 inch dice

One head iceberg lettuce, shredded

4 ounces (4 slices) yellow american cheese, shredded (or cut into shreds)

1/2 cup light mayonnaise
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons French dressing (the orangey one; not Catalina-style)

1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon dill pickle juice

1/4 cup dill hamburger chips/slices, chopped

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Brown and crumble meat in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray.  For the last few minutes of cooking, add the chopped onion and let it soften but not brown.  Season with salt and pepper.  When meat is thoroughly cooked, drain well and set aside to cool a little bit.  You still want it warm.

Shred lettuce and place in large salad bowl.  

Add shredded cheese.

Add chopped dill pickles.
Add beef/onion mixture.

Make "special sauce" by mixing together mayonnaise, ketchup, French dressing, sweet pickle relish, and dill pickle juice.  Pour over ingredients in bowl and toss well, or serve on the side.  

Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  

Serve while it's still warm.

Weight Watchers Points Plus:  1/4th of this entire salad is 9 points.  A little expensive, points-wise, but well worth fitting in to your weekly budget! Want fewer points?  Divide it up into smaller portions.

Photo Credit:  http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/product_nutrition.sandwiches.255.Big-Mac.html