When you’re thinking about healthy foods, salads are usually at the top of the list. Whether your goal is to lose weight or you’re just trying to add more veggies to your diet, a healthy salad can be an excellent choice! If you do it right, you can eat different salads everyday and never get bored. But if you don’t keep a close eye on your salad, it can quickly inflate to a meal of high-calorie toppings smothered in fatty salad dressings.
Bird Food
Salads can get a bad rap. Some call salads “bird food,” while others think salads are boring. This couldn’t be further from the truth! With such a wide variety of colorful and delicious vegetables to choose from, the combinations are endless for unique, mouthwatering, robust, vibrant salads at any meal — not to mention the long list of health benefits you are offering your body when you eat salads regularly.
Nutrient Kick
When you eat salads each day, you are providing your body with the essential nutrients that you need including:
Fiber — soluble and insoluble
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Beta Carotene
Folic Acid
Potassium
Iron
Magnesium
and MORE!
Adding or increasing these nutrients will have a positive effect on metabolism, digestion, cardiovascular health, eye health, immune function, gut health, blood sugar regulation and more. Many of these nutrients also serve as antioxidants and offer an anti-inflammatory response in the body.
The Unsatisfying Salad
It is absolutely possible to eat a salad and walk away feeling completely unsatisfied. Have you ever eaten a tomato or a strawberry in the dead of winter?? They are typically over priced and flavorless, when you buy them in the grocery store in their off-season. A plate full of low-calorie, out-of-season vegetables drizzled with vinegar will certainly not offer the satiated feeling we desire after a meal. To avoid this kind of salad, be sure to buy fresh produce regularly and stick to the veggies that are in season in your area.
Eating the Rainbow
As you are assembling your salad, you want to be certain to choose vegetables in a variety of colors. Start by selecting a leafy green as your base — lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage, arugula.
Then fill the body of your salad with all the colors of the rainbow — carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, peppers, beets, cucumbers, corn, beans. Roasted or grilled veggies are always a great way to add variety, flavor and texture to your salad too.
Next you will want to add some kind of lean protein to make this salad a meal — tofu, egg, chicken, fish, or steak.
Finally you will want to add a little bit of fat and some garnish to complete the meal. As a rule of thumb the fat can come in the form of a salad dressing, vegetables (such as avocado or olives) or your favorite cheese to add flavor. If you are choosing to add fat in the form of a vegetable or cheese, you will want to choose a low-calorie, low-fat dressing such as balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
Boost your rainbow of color by adding any kind of fun garnish as an added kick of flavor — mint, cilantro, dill, basil, pepper, etc.
Mix it all up and ENJOY!
Bottom Line
If your goal is to eat healthy, you need to choose foods that are good for you and you enjoy. Once you start experimenting with different combinations of vegetables, lean protein, and dressings, you will want to make and eat salads everyday!