Once on a camping trip with some girlfriends, I assumed my alternate identity as an English expatriate (don’t ask) and gallivanted around while throwing around the terms “crisps,” “chips,” “crumpets” and “veg” to showcase my vast (hah) knowledge of English jargon (actually, at the time I was obsessed with BBC’s “You Are What You Eat,” and I simply regurgitated all terms used on it! ). Fast forward some 20 or so minutes later and I encountered an actual English fellow! What are the chances?! He saw right through my accent (duh) and, when his bout of laughter ended, informed my friends and me of an awesome English phrase that I still use to this day – a “fit bird” – which is a term used to describe an attractive woman. So, fit birds, let’s move on with this recipe, shall we? I love this salad because you only have to use a few chips (American chips, not English chips, which are French fries!) to infuse the entire salad with that “taco salad” crunch – without all the added nonsense of run-of-the-mill taco salads!

Fit Bird Southwest Salad

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

• 2 cups salad mix (I use an “herb salad mix” or mix romaine and arugula), rinsed and dried
• ½ cup black beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup fresh or canned corn, drained and rinsed
• ½ of a small cucumber, chopped
• ½ cup salsa
• 2 slices avocado
• 2-4 tortilla chips/crisps made from stone ground corn, whole-wheat and/or brown rice, crumbled
• optional: slices of green onion, balsamic vinegar (not vinaigrette) for dressing

Directions

• Throw all ingredients together and munch! Now that was easy, right?
• Nutritional information for entire salad: 310 calories, 7g fat, 624 mg sodium, 16g fiber, 15g protein

What are you go-to salad staples? Ever been caught with a false accent?!

<3,

The Cranky One