Shredded Pork and Black Bean Chopped Salad

 Yesterday, I was making my lunch, and it turned into such a pretty salad! So, I decided I would share with you how I made it. It is quick, super easy, and very tasty!

On Monday, I cooked a BBQ pork loin in the Crock-Pot, and we ate that for supper. I used some of the leftover pork in my salad yesterday, so I though I would let you know how I prepared it. I don't have pictures of my process because I decided on the spur of the moment to share my salad.

Crock-Pot BBQ Pork Loin

• 1 pork loin (mine weighed about 2 lbs.)
• 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1. Mix together the BBQ sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and garlic powder. 
2. Put the pork loin in the Crock-Pot, and pour the sauce mixture over it.
3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Easy as that! After it's done, you can slice it into pieces or shred it. I chose to shred mine. You can also put it back in the sauce, so it all gets coated, or you can spoon the sauce over the meat. I chose to spoon the sauce over ours.

Okay, now, fast-forward to Tuesday at lunch. Here's how I prepared my salad.

Shredded Pork and Black Bean Chopped Salad

• 1/4 cup pork loin, shredded
• 1/4 cup Mexican blend cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup yellow corn, drained
• 1/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
• 10 grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 an avocado
• 2 cups hearts of romaine, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. BBQ sauce

1. Chop the romaine, and put it into a bowl.
2. Top the romaine with all your add-ins (meat, cheese, veggies).
3. Drizzle with BBQ sauce.
4. Toss everything together.

This salad could not be any more simple! The great thing about it is you can put any kind of add-ins you want. Don't like pork? Try shrimp or chicken. Adding sweet bell pepper or red onion would be good. The possibilities are endless!

I even plugged everything in to SparkRecipes and calculated the calories and fat grams.

Calories: 399.1 
Total Fat: 21.8 g

Most of the fat is from the avocado, which is a 'good fat.'

I also went to Chili's and Applebee's websites to compare my salad to a couple of theirs.

Chili's Santa Fe Chicken Salad
Calories: 700
Total Fat: 51 g

Applebee's Fiesta Chicken Chopped Salad
Calories: 860
Total Fat: 42 g

The salad I made at home is considerably lower in calories and fat than the salads at either restaurant. I was AMAZED at the difference in fat grams.

If you make your own chopped salad, I hope you enjoy it! Looking forward to sharing more recipes in the future (with more pics included too)!