Chicken, spinach and feta salad

Chicken, baby spinach, feta and cherry tomatoes: this salad, ready in twenty minutes, provides 33 g of protein for 316 kcal. It is an effective, tasty cutting lunch — chicken for protein, raw spinach for volume and micronutrients, feta for the touch of flavour. Simple, fast and filling.

The 17 g of fat come mostly from the feta and oil. For strict cutting, reduce the feta (30 g is enough thanks to its strong flavour) and lighten the dressing. Raw spinach and cherry tomatoes bring volume and freshness for almost nothing. For a fuller meal, add quinoa, chickpeas or whole-grain bread.

Grill the chicken, slice it warm, and plate it on a bed of baby spinach with the cut tomatoes and crumbled feta. Dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar just before serving. The grilled chicken preps ahead: keep the dressing separate for a crunchy, not soggy, packed lunch.

Feta has a valuable strength when cutting: its salty, pronounced taste lets you use a little for a lot of effect. Thirty grams is enough to flavour the whole salad, where a mild cheese would go unnoticed. It is the principle to remember with all characterful cheeses (feta, parmesan, blue, aged goat's): their intensity means a small amount, well spread, delights without weighing down the calories.

Rather than cutting cheese out of a diet — which makes meals sad and hard to sustain — learn to portion it. Crumble the feta finely so it spreads everywhere, keep it raw to preserve its taste, and pair it with fresh contrasting ingredients (tomato, cucumber, herbs). A little well-placed cheese beats a big portion of bland cheese.

This base adapts easily without changing the macros much. Swap the grilled chicken for diced turkey, sautéed shrimp or canned tuna in water if you want a different protein source. For the cheese, the feta can give way to a little fresh goat's cheese or light mozzarella, keeping the same logic of a small, well-spread portion. Cherry tomatoes can be replaced by cucumber, radishes or raw peppers for a different crunch. Note also that feta is already salty: taste before adding more salt, especially if you watch your sodium intake.

To twist the dressing, replace the balsamic with lemon juice and fresh herbs (mint, dill, parsley) for a more Mediterranean version, or add a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt mixed with garlic and lemon as a sauce. A few pumpkin seeds or a handful of walnuts bring crunch and good fats, as long as you weigh them since they are very calorie-dense. A squeeze of lemon juice at the end also wakes up the salad without adding a single calorie.

A salad is only light if you build it methodically. The first mistake is pouring the oil by eye: a single tablespoon already means 14 g of fat and about 125 kcal, and two quickly double it. Measure it, use an oil spray, or dilute the dressing with a little water and mustard so it coats better with less fat. These changes follow whatever you have in the fridge, with nothing special to buy.

The second mistake is stacking extras: croutons, too much cheese, dried fruit, ready-made sauce. Each seems harmless, but together they can add 200 to 300 kcal. Pick one or two extras at most and keep the chicken as the star. The third mistake is under- or overcooking the chicken: cooking it too long makes it dry and tempts you to add more dressing to compensate. Remember to log these variations in your tracking so you can easily find your favourite combinations.