Remember back in the summer when a lot of people went to this thing called BlogHer? Doesn’t that seem like, you know, a MILLION years ago?
Well, at BlogHer, Sam and I met a really nice woman who worked with McDonald’s. Because Sam is a schmoozer extraordinaire, she told this nice lady all about this site, and our premise that one can have little fun everyday luxuries without pulling in a six-figure paycheck. Well, turns out McDonald’s is all about trying to lure in new customers with a very similar “everyday luxury” kind of premise, so they asked if we wanted to review their Premium Salads and McCafe lines to tell our readers about.
And then? They offered TWENTY-FIVE coupon sets to allow TWENTY-FIVE readers to try a premium salad and McCafe drink for free. We said yes.
Since I am our resident kitchen and food and health person, it fell to me to taste these items and give you a review. And oh my god, y’all, did I ever drag my feet on this. Every day I would say I was going to hit up Mickey-Ds for lunch, and yet I kept….not going.
I just don’t go to McDonald’s that often, and if I do? Dammit, I want some fries and a caramel sundae. The idea of “healthy” food from a fast food restaurant just holds very little appeal for me.
But I said I’d try it, and try it I did.
I tried the Southwest Chicken Salad with grilled chicken. It’s a mixed green salad with a “southwest veggie blend” (some shredded carrots and peppers with a few black beans, and some suspiciously blackened corn that they called “grilled” but looked more like “blowtorched”), shredded cheese, a “cilantro-lime glaze”, and chili-lime tortilla strips.
According to McDonald’s website, the salad (without dressing) has 320 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 3 grams of saturated fat. That’s not so bad- in fact, it’s substantially fewer calories than I would typically eat with lunch. But oh, the SALT. Dear god, the salt. Apparently fast food restaurants, in an effort to impart “flavor” to their healthier items, positively BATHE them in salt. The chicken breast alone has 710 milligrams of sodium, and the glaze they paint on the chicken has another 105 milligrams. That, my friends, is a LOT of sodium. I could practically feel my fingers starting to swell as I ate it.
So how did it taste? Well, to be honest, it was hard to taste anything besides the salt. I’d picked up a packet of Newman’s Own light Balsamic dressing (one of several Newman’s Own dressings McDonald’s offers, in an interesting, if odd, partnership between wildly different companies) but found that the glaze and juice from the chicken was already making the salad a little soggy so the last thing it needed was more dressing.
And I can’t really avoid talking about the chicken. I’m pretty new to meat after 10+ years as a vegetarian, and the grilled chicken breast on this salad was everything I dislike and fear about meat. It looked and tasted suspiciously like chicken breast parts that had been mixed with salt water and fillers and pressed into a chicken breast shape. I made it about two bites before I had to take it off the salad entirely. But: I am not the target market for a chicken breast. Even a free range organic grilled chicken breast from a chicken that was lovingly sung lullabies every night before going to bed in a box full of fresh straw would not be my cup of tea. So for those for whom a salad with a grilled chicken breast sounds like the perfect lunch, it may not be such a problem. If I had it to do over again, I think I’d order the crispy chicken breast- it seems less likely to get soggy and more like something McDonald’s might excel at (though it would add some fat and calories).
It was not all bad- I was happily surprised to see that the lettuce blend was actually mixed greens, not shriveled, browning iceberg as I would usually expect with a fast food salad. The Newman’s Own dressings, though I did not eat them, are a nice touch. And while I am lucky to work within a two block walk of about three dozen restaurants, I realize that many people are not so fortunate and have limited food choices near their homes and offices, and it’s good to know that there are some options at McDonald’s that won’t cause you to eat your entire recommended daily allowance of calories and fat in one sitting. If I were, say, on a cross country road trip where there were not a lot of choices, I’d order it again- just maybe without the chicken breast. And I’d have a caramel sundae on the side.
Want to try a McDonald’s premium salad AND a McCafe beverage for free? Leave a comment here by 10pm CST on Friday, November 13. If more than 25 people comment, we’ll do a random drawing for 25 names. The odds are good, everyone! Get cracking!
Sara
That sounds gross but I’ll try it! I think getting the crispy chicken is key.
November 10th, 2009 @ 7:46 am
Carrie
I ALWAYS get the crispy chicken–even on the snack wraps. More calories, yes, but that grilled stuff is just DISGUSTING.
I’ll give the premium salad a shot.
November 10th, 2009 @ 9:32 am
Suzannah
Count me in! Don’t know about the salads but some of those McCafes are good!
November 10th, 2009 @ 9:43 am
Kristin C
I can always use a cup of coffee before a 12 hr nursing shift and a quicky dinner at 8pm after said shift…..count me in as well!
November 10th, 2009 @ 10:08 am
Ris
I haven’t been to McDonald’s in a really long time but I’d like to give it a shot again!
November 10th, 2009 @ 10:27 am
Ashley L
I haven’t tried the salads, I’ve wanted to but haven’t yet. And I’ve only tried one of the drinks and I wasn’t crazy about it, I want to try more! Thanks for the offer!
November 10th, 2009 @ 11:00 am
Mary
I’m always up for free food
November 10th, 2009 @ 11:10 am
Michelle Smiles
I haven’t tried the salads because frankly I can make a pretty awesome one at home…and on those rare occasions I stop at McD’s I go for the fries because nom nom – those I can’t do at home. But I will admit to mild curiosity about their salads for when we are traveling for the holidays and stop at fast food for a quick bite and diaper changes.
November 10th, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
Swistle
YES I want to try it! I always think the salads look good, but then I’m like, “For $5 I can get 8 nuggets, a value fries, a drink, and a hot fudge sundae with nuts” and so I do.
November 10th, 2009 @ 12:19 pm
Emily
I would love to try the salad and McCafe! Anything that can help me NOT spend a fortune at Starbucks! :) Thanks for the chance!
November 10th, 2009 @ 1:31 pm
Sarah Lena
Any salad that 1) is free and 2) I don’t have to make or clean up after is GOLDEN. HOOK ME UP, YO!
Also, McCafes are straight up yummy.
November 10th, 2009 @ 2:53 pm
Katie Mae
My wallet could use a break from my terrible addiction to a certain salad bar…*coughwholefoodscough*
November 10th, 2009 @ 2:57 pm
Mimi O
Sign me up! Free is right in my price range!
November 10th, 2009 @ 3:54 pm
Bridget
I haven’t had one of their salads in a long time but seems worth a try. That is a lot of sodium for grilled chicken so may also forgo for the crispy.
November 10th, 2009 @ 4:19 pm
Martha
I’m kind of a coffee snob, so I’d kind of like to take a crack at the McCafe beverage, but I don’t want to pay for it. Sign me up! :D
November 10th, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
Lisa G.
Ooh, I’d love a free Mickey D’s meal–haven’t been there in a while and on the rare occasions that I do go, I usually get a Big ‘n’ Tasty with a small fry (and I usually have my own drink with me, as I am cheap personified). Haven’t tried their salads or McCafe drinks–sign me up!
November 10th, 2009 @ 6:16 pm
Nora
I never go to McDonalds but I’m always up for salad!
November 10th, 2009 @ 6:53 pm
Josie
Would love to give one of their salads a try, with the crispy chicken of course :)
November 10th, 2009 @ 10:44 pm
Kate
I’ve been wanting to try a McDonald’s salad but when we do happen to go there I have a hard time passing up the dollar menu double cheeseburger and small fries. Count me in!
November 11th, 2009 @ 4:30 pm
Tien
I LOVE salads. I would love to try a salad from McD!
November 11th, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
Amber Hacker
would love to try one! :)
November 11th, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
Trinka
Would love to try one! Thanks for the give-away!
November 12th, 2009 @ 2:37 pm
Corinne
I’m in! Maybe it would keep me from eating the kids’ fries.
November 12th, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
Raleigh
I never trust the chicken at McDonalds. I appreciate that they are trying to make it seem fresher and more “normal” but I am not going for it.
November 12th, 2009 @ 11:27 pm
Sara
I’m eating my *free* salad for lunch right now. Thank you for not making me pay for this crap! It’s horrible! Even with the crispy chicken. I think I’ll stick with the wraps…and fries! :)
December 15th, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
The Anvil Tree » Ten Bullets of Twitchiness
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December 15th, 2009 @ 3:36 pm