Cobb Salad

I kind of feel like I'm cheating a little bit by posting this since there really wasn't a whole lot of cooking involved in making this, but it's a quick, easy, and nutritious meal that I thought was worth sharing. I also didn't make my own salad dressing, but it was Monday night- I needed a breather.

Ingredients:
1 handful baby spinach
1 carrot finely julienned
1/4 cup shredded cabbage
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 green onion stalk, sliced in rounds
2 tbsp. home-made croutons (recipe follows)
1/2 an avocado sliced
3 pieces breaded chicken strips, cubed ( I just used the target brand and baked them)
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1/4 shredded cheddar cheese
Top with 1000 Island dressing or whatever dressing tickles your fancy.

Wash all of your veggies well. Next put the eggs to boil in a pot. In a foil-lined cookie sheet, place the pieces of chicken and bake according to package directions. Peel your carrot and finely julienne the pieces. Slice the green onion in rounds. Next, cut the cherry tomatoes. You can skip this step if you like. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan and cut into chunks. When the eggs are done boiling, put them in an ice bath to cool them off and peel after several minutes of soaking in the cold water. Slice your avocado, and remove the croutons from the oven when ready. Begin to assemble your salad. First pile the spinach leaves, then set the cabbage, avocado, carrots, and tomatoes in little piles on top of the spinach. To this add the cheddar cheese, chicken chunks, egg, and green onions. Next add the croutons and salad dressing and voila.

If you want to add a little extra healthy crunch, try adding pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.

For the Croutons:
2 slices regular whole wheat sliced bread
cooking spray
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
garlic powder and salt to taste

Cut the bread into small cubes and spray with cooking spray. Season the bread with the salt, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese and bake in a 400 degree oven until the pieces are nice and crunchy. You should take the pan out and toss the bread to ensure even baking throughout the cooking process.