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written by Joel Balasingham & Michelle Swain A Salad Worth Eating When trying to lose weight, or simply make a healthy food choice,
most of us turn to the Salad. Of course, we all know that lathering a salad with ranch dressing and drowning
it with croutons turns a healthy choice into a high fat/calorie choice. So we keep our salads “healthy”
with some greens like spinach, and a few carrots and mushrooms. However, there is so much more that can
be added to a salad to make it nutritionally explosive. Here are some ideas to keep your salads exciting
and healthy. Make it Colorful Having
a variety of vegetables will ensure a balanced mix of vitamins and antioxidants. Green vegetables are great,
but the more color in your salad, the greater the amount of effective antioxidants to prevent and fight disease.
Along with your usual favorites, throw in some orange carrots, purple cabbage, yellow peppers, red tomatoes, etc: Mix Up the Lettuce Create a variety of nutrients
by using different kinds of lettuce. Spinach is a great standard because it is vitamin rich.
But also mix in other greens like kale, radicchio, frisee, and Romaine. Your salad will look and
taste better with so much variety. A Dash of Healthy Fat You
will absorb more carotenoids from the salad if you have a little healthy fat. You can get this from low
fat vinaigrettes that contain olive or canola oil. Heating the dressing will cause some foods like carrots
and tomatoes to release more of their carotenoid compounds. But since it’s hard to control dressing
portions, you can always play it safe and throw in a spoonful of nuts or a few cubes of avocado. Fruit for the Sweet Tooth Adding
some pineapple, mandarin oranges, berries, apples slices or pear slices can go a long way in fixing a taste for the sweet.
More importantly, fruit contains many helpful nutrients and vitamins. We
need Protein Not only is protein important at every meal for it’s nutritional
value, but a little protein will prevent a sugar cycle and spikes in your glycemic index. Consequently,
it will also ensure that you don’t get hungry an hour later and need to devour some peanut butter cups.
Grilled chicken, tuna, salmon, turkey slices, hard-boiled eggs, and even a spoonful of garbanzo or kidney beans will
provide some healthy protein.
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