I have jokingly referred to the Pittsburgh region (my childhood stomping ground) as "The Beer-Gut above the Bible Belt". I love the food there, but it is not known for sprouts and avocados. In fact, one of the most famous restaurants in Pittsburgh is a sandwich shop called Primanti Brothers which is know for putting the coleslaw and french fries directly on the sandwich.
Another dish that I have only see in da 'Burgh is the Pittsburgh Salad. Traditionally, the Pittsburgh Salad is grilled flank steak, cheese, and hand-cut french fries served over a variety of greens and other sliced and diced veggies topped with a heavy French or Ranch dressing. Not exactly the healthiest salads.
At my house we have grilled chicken salad if not every week, then every other week. This is usually and a spiced grilled chicken breast served on whatever veggies we have in the house topped with fresh vinaigrette and served with whole wheat pita, rolls, or bread (whichever I have on hand). But this morning when I was taking a chicken breast out of the freezer to thaw, I noticed that I had some Alexia Sweet Potato Fries in the freezer as well and decided I needed to make a lighter version of the Pittsburgh Salad.
I started with a bed of Romaine lettuce and topped it with the following veggies carrot ribbons, diced green pepper, thinly slice red onion, sliced cucumber, and a hand full of canned chickpeas. Then I added the sliced grilled chicken and oven baked sweet potato fries. Finally, I dressed it with a simple white wine vinegar Dijon vinaigrette. Yum! OK, yes - I missed the hand-cut deep fried french fries a tiny bit. But this version of my basic chicken salad really jazzed up was could have been another ho-hum weeknight dinner.
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