The Best Summer Salad (aka my mac or potato salad swap that is low carb, low calorie, gluten free, filling, veggie packed, and delicious!!)

Summer for me is always filled with grilling, parties, picnics, hikes, BBQ’s and other forms of get togethers or outdoor activities.  Potato or macaroni salad is something that I love and is always a popular item as a summer side dish.  This recipe is something I have been making for years to add a different variation on it.  While there are actually no potatoes or macaroni involved this version still has all the great flavors of a traditional macaroni or potato salad but not all those pesky carbs.   I have nothing against carbs btw but I just find it is wayyyy too easy for me to overeat them & my body looks and feels better when I limit my intake of the carbs from potatoes and pasta most of the time 😉  So read on for an excellent accompaniment to grilled meat, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, or grilled fish just to name a few!

Ingredients:

1 large frozen bag (16oz) or 5 cups fresh cauliflower

3 large hard boiled eggs

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (the olive oil one is so yummy!)

1 tablespoon plain fat free Greek yogurt

1/3 cup chopped red onion (or sub in green onion (chives) to make a milder onion flavored version)

salt and pepper (to taste)

1 slice cooked bacon (not pictured & optional but oh sooooo good!!!)

Cover and cook cauliflower in microwave or whatever method you prefer.  Do not overlook it please!!!!   I cooked mine from frozen and only cooked it for 5 1/2 minutes of the listed 10-12 minute cooking time.  You want it to be softened but not mushy.  Mine was actually still a little cold when I pulled it out.

Drain cauliflower on paper towels.

Chop up hard boiled eggs.

Chop up drained cauliflower.  I like it to be pretty small so the dressing coats it better 😉

Add cauliflower, eggs, onion, mayo, and yogurt into a serving bowl.  Stir then add generous amounts of salt and pepper & stir well again.  I used pink salt bc I am super fancy like that haha!  Use whatever kind of salt you want though but you do not want to skimp.  I started with15 grinds of salt and 9 of pepper then tasted and added several more grinds of each if you want a reference point.

As my final ta-da I am topping mine with a slice of chopped & cooked bacon.  You can leave this off but it tastes delicious and looks pretty IMO 🙂

Makes 4 servings

Per serving:

137 calories

9.1 grams fat

6.5 carbs

1.5 grams fiber

5.9 grams protein