Internet Chili & John's salad

Internet Chili is what we call Lisa Fain's Seven Chile Chili, which is by far the best chili recipe I've ever made. It's great, but definitely not diet food. Of course it's great—it's a bowl full of spicy meat. No beans, no tomatoes, just beef and peppers. The recipe says it serves 8 (about 500 calories per serving), but I usually can't even finish half of a half serving. Here's a terrible picture of this fantastic chili (served with avocado, lime, cilantro, sour cream, and my favorite tortilla chips):


There's also some salad there. I love salad. Unfortunately, salad is a sneaky jerk of a food that seems like it would always be a low-calorie choice, but often isn't. John came up with this recipe for a light vinaigrette that can dress enough greens and vegetables for 2 huge salads. Easy on the salt; the fish sauce (which I know sounds like an odd choice, but adds rich, non-fishy flavor) is pretty salty.

John's Salad Dressing

1.5 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar (or another vinegar you like)
3/4 T mild fish sauce
2 T lemon juice
1 t Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
Black pepper & salt to taste

Put all that in a jar and shake it up. I like to cut up all my non-lettuce salad vegetables and pour the dressing over them in the salad bowl to let them soak in it for a while before I toss it all with lettuces.

Serves 2
About 110 calories per serving