What's for lunch Wednesdays: Lean Cuisine Salad Additions - Cranberry and Chicken

Grilled white meat chicken, dried cranberries, broccoli, red onions, yellow carrots and a blend of whole grains with raspberry cabernet vinaigrette and crunchy sesame stick.

I saw this at the grocery store and decided to give it a chance. I'm trying to meet my weight loss and fitness goal, but lunch is always difficult for me. It's definitely my hurdle. It is so tempting to grab a burger, or heat up a burrito- I find that's where most of my wasted calories are. So, I have to make over my lunch routine. Here's what's for lunch:

This caught my eye because I love cranberry, and I love sesame! It was $2.50 a box at my grocery store, which I felt was quite a bit- BUT I found some coupons right here from Lean Cuisine! The ingredients are listed right on the front: raspberry cabernet vinaigrette, grilled white meat chicken, dried cranberries, broccoli, red onions, yellow carrots, whole grains, and crunchy sesame sticks.  

The cooking instructions were very clear and easy to follow. The first thing I did when I opened the package was put the frozen raspberry vinaigrette into a glass of room temperature water. Definitely skeptical on whether it would thaw out by the time everything was done cooking. I plated my salad (spinach!) and set aside the sesame sticks.

The next step was to steam the chicken and vegetables in the microwave. The bag is clearly labeled with which side to keep up. The chicken and veggies have to cook for 2 1/2 minutes, and then rest for one minute. I have to admit, it doesn't look very appetizing frozen.

At this point the raspberry vinaigrette was thawed! I emptied the package of chicken, cranberries, and mixed vegetables onto my spinach, then dressed with with the vinaigrette and topped it off with the crunchy sesame sticks.

This was the perfect portion size! The savory, crunchy sesame sticks balanced out the soft, sweet cranberries and vinaigrette perfectly. The steamed vegetables are a good way to sneak in some extra fiber, and the whole grains added a great texture to the salad. The only downside I could find was the lackluster chicken! It was squishy and a little bland.

Overall, I would probably buy this again. Especially with the coupons. If you're the type to keep salad in the house, this is a great way to change things up- especially at just 280 calories! I paired this with a couple of multigrain crackers and a wedge of light Laughing Cow Swiss.