Creating a healthy salad may seem like a simple task. After all, it’s salad, right? Isn’t it inherently healthy? Not so fast. Sure, the base of a salad is vegetables, but as soon as you start piling on toppings like cheese and creamy dressing, you’re sabotaging your healthy eating efforts.
Start with your bed of lettuce. Instead of choosing iceberg, add in a mix of greens including romaine, which is crunchy, and dark, leafy greens and spinach, which are rich in nutrients and have more flavor. Then, add in all the veggies you like! Tomatoes, peppers, carrots, sugar snap peas, beets, cucumbers, corn, onions, radishes--go nuts!!! Also consider adding some fruit. Mandarin oranges, apples, grapes, and pears are all great choices for a touch of sweetness. Dried fruits, like cherries and raisins, are tasty, too, but you’ll want to keep those to a sprinkle, as they are higher in calories. Avocado is a great choice for some creaminess and healthy fat, but it’s also high in calories. Make sure you stick to a few slices so you don’t overdo it.
Top your salad with some kind of protein--it bulks up your salad and helps you feel full longer. Lean grilled chicken, tofu, cottage cheese, beans, and hard boiled eggs are all great choices. Nuts are another source of protein, and while they add healthy fats to your salad, they also tend to be high in calories. If you do add nuts, be sure to keep the portion to a tablespoon or two. Same goes for cheese--you can have some, but don’t pile it on! Stick to about an ounce, which looks like 4 dice, or a small sprinkling.
Last but not least: step away from the ranch dressing. Everyone loves a creamy dressing, but it’s the fastest way to sabotage your healthy eating efforts! Instead, choose olive oil and vinegar. It still adds tons of flavor, but keeps the fat and calories down.
Be creative and follow these tips, and you’ll find yourself with endless healthy and delicious salad combinations!
________________________________________________________________
Melissa Woodson is the community manager for @WashULaw, an online LLM degree offered through Washington University in St. Louis. In her spare time, she enjoys running, cooking, and making half-baked attempts at training her dog.
