Making a healthy salad should be a snap. You eagerly chop a head of fresh lettuce and colorful vegetables to create a nutrition-laden dish that's as tasty as it is healthy. Unfortunately, low calories and salads don't always go hand-in-hand.
In short, not all salads are created equal. Mix an oily or creamy salad dressing with less than fresh ingredients, perhaps adding a fatty cheese to the combination, and you'll likely be faced with far more calories and fat than you'd figure for such a traditionally slimming, nutrient-rich meal.
Build your salad smartly; selecting the ingredients from fresh, organic components full of antioxidants. Maximize your choices with smart planning, mixing the salad with filling vegetables that satisfy your daily energy intake, before bonding the meal with a super-healthy dressing.
A Foundation of Leafy Green
Always use crisp, fresh lettuce and dark green vegetables as a base for the salad when at all possible. You can boost the nutritional value of your salad by adding any combination of these greens:
- Bok Choy
- Arugula
- Broccoli
- Swiss Chard
- Dandelion Greens
- Kale
Bok Choy, arugula, and broccoli are rich in the aforementioned antioxidants as are Swiss chard, dandelion greens, and kale. Chard has other benefits that include flavonoids for regulating processing of complex sugars. Keep all of this greenery raw to preserve the nutritional compounds. If any component is cooked, go no further than a light steaming to soften tough roots, preferably cutting those roots off entirely to keep all constituents raw, crispy and fresh.
Raw Vegetables
Aside from common lettuce, the pre-packaged salads are often missing fresh vegetables. Some of the healthiest include:
- Carrots
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage, both red and green
- Tomatoes
- Asparagus
- Leeks
- Bell Peppers
Vegetables like asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage can be lightly steamed or grilled ahead of time. Baked garlic is another option that not only adds flavor, but packs high nutritional value.
Berry Good for Health
They may not always be a traditional component of a salad, but try opting for berries to balance the nutritional content of the salad. They're the single fruit with the highest known antioxidant content. As well as adding a splash of vibrant color to the verdant green of the food, the fruity taste brings a hint of natural sugary spice to the mix. Consider:
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
The benefits of berries have been exhaustively researched, but it's an ingredient that's often ignored in a balanced salad. Full of vitamin C, delivering a depth of taste and texture to the green base, berries are a sweet constituent for any nutritional salad.
Nutty Accents for the Salad
The dressing is likely the glue that holds the taste of the salad together, blending the healthy aspects of the dish, but nuts go just as far in enhancing flavor with a touch of crunch and texture.
- Walnuts
- Pecans
- Cashews
- Almonds
- Pistachios
The temptation may be to add salted nuts, but avoid adding unnecessary sodium. Instead, sprinkle sliced walnuts and almonds throughout the plate. Stick with raw, sliced nuts, and veer away from products that are cooked, salted, or coated in sugar. Cashews and pecan nuts enhance the flavor with equal measures of nutrition and creativity.
To Seed or Not to Seed
Adding varieties of healthy seeds bring new taste sensations to entertain the palate. You are likely to have some of these in the kitchen already. Remember, your body doesn't need a lot of them to see a boost in nutritional value, just a sprinkle.
- Sunflower Seeds
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Chia Seeds (the healthiest seed on earth)
- Hemp Seeds
- Pomegranate Seeds
- Flax Seeds
Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and, they all contribute to the nutritional value of the salad.
Bean Up! Take this a step further and include chick peas, lentils and black beans to complete the grainy components of the dish, before moving on to the addition of protein for turning the salad into a meal.
Include the Protein
To all intents and purposes the salad is finished. It's a colorful combination of greens and beans, of grains and berries. Now you can think about making your salad a meal, or power lunch with some low-fat protein:
- Turkey
- Chicken Breast
- Fish
- Shrimp
- Lean Beef
- or go Exotic with low-fat Buffalo
Make the decision to add a creatively cut lean slice of free-range turkey or chicken to the dish to check off that requirement for protein, ensuring the body receives every vitamin and food group that it needs to recover after a hard day at work.
Yes, a power salad my take a little extra effort, but once you see and feel the benefit, you'll come to see it as a labor of love.
