Salads readily come to mind when people think of health or diet foods. However, many salads are not particularly nutritious, particularly when they're mostly iceberg lettuce, some cucumber slices and another vegetable or two. Such salads don't offer much more than water. They become high in calories after you add bacon bits, croutons and a thick, creamy dressing. Salads are exceptionally versatile, however. They support such an array of ingredients that it's easy to make them healthy and satisfying at the same time.
Step 1
Start your salad with leafy, dark greens, rather than iceberg lettuce. Dark green leafy vegetables, such as romaine, arugula, endive, spinach and dandelion greens, are rich in vitamins A, C, and K, folate, fiber, and a variety of minerals and antioxidants. Skip the iceberg lettuce; it's almost completely devoid of nutritional value.
Step 2
Add a variety of many-colored vegetables. Cucumbers are high in fiber, but offer little else, so don't waste valuable salad space on them. Use carrots, onion or garlic, and tomatoes instead. Green bell peppers are nutritious, as are red, yellow and orange bell peppers. Raw broccoli and cauliflower go well in many salads. For even more flavor, add cooked vegetables, such as artichokes or asparagus.
Step 3
Toss fruit into your salad. Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries complement many salad preparations. Avocado is rich in vitamins and heart-healthy unsaturated fat. Don't be afraid to try others, such as melon, kiwi, peaches, nectarines or mandarin orange segments.
Step 4
Include legumes, nuts and seeds in your salads. Beans, lentils, slivered almonds, chopped walnuts and sunflower seeds add protein, healthy fats, fiber, and a variety of vitamins and minerals to a salad. They also help bulk it up to make it more filling.
Step 5
Snip fresh herbs into your salad. Parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, sage and chives are a good source of antioxidants and other nutrients, and they enliven the flavor of any salad.
Step 6
Dress your salad with a straight unsaturated fat-based oil, or a low-calorie salad dressing made from these oils. Unlike saturated and trans fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are healthy, and the American Heart Association recommends that 1/4 to 1/3 of your daily calories come from these fats. Use olive, canola, sunflower, safflower, sesame, corn, cottonseed, soybean, hazelnut or grapeseed oil.
Step 7
Add protein, potassium, omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients to your salad by including a serving of seafood. Put either canned tuna or salmon on the salad, or top it with a fish fillet. Shrimp, sardines or anchovies work in many salad preparations, too.
References
- Harvard School of Public Health: The Healthy Eating Pyramid
- American Heart Association: Know Your Fats
- American Dietetic Association: Healthy Salads; Linda Formichelli
- Center for Young Women's Health: Dark Green Leafy Vegetables
- What's Cooking America: Types of Cooking Fats and Oils
- Cleveland Clinic: The Power of Fish
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