Still using salad as the prelude to the main event at your dinner table? Summer’s the perfect season to promote this side dish to a main course. Cool and refreshing, healthy and satisfying, these sensational salads from our Colors of Summer magazine, 2004 will surely be hits at your table.
Avoid the Salad Trap
Do you think of your salad as a kind of free food pass — so automatically nutritious, you can load up on whatever you want? Well, a salad is only as healthy as the sum of its ingredients. Heavy dressings and unhealthy additions can turn what could have been a beneficial meal into a fat, cholesterol and calorie trap. Follow our healthy hints to help you decide what to put in your salad bowl.
• If you are watching your fat intake, it helps to know that two tablespoons of a full-fat dressing can pack in as many as 200 calories and 15-20 fat grams. In a restaurant or at the salad bar, always get your dressing on the side — and either request a light version or stick to vinegar and oil. Instead of pouring the dressing on your salad, dip your fork in and then take a bite.
• At home, make your own dressing healthier. Instead of using a three-to-one oil-to-vinegar ratio, use a 50-50 combination. With a flavorful oil like olive or sesame, you’ll need even less. Or skip the oil altogether and mix your dressing with broth, lemon juice or even wine — or go bold and mix your greens with salsa.
• Pass on the croutons! You won’t get any fiber from them, they’re loaded with empty carbohydrates and they’re packed with saturated fat. Even lower-fat varieties are packed with carbs.
• Add texture, flavor and color to your bed of greens with a healthy complement of other vegetables — make them at least 20 percent of your salad.
Visit Big Y’s produce department for a great assortment of fresh vegetables. Use cucumbers, carrots, string beans, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes...you’re limited only by your imagination and what you find in the produce department. Keep veggies raw or steamed for better taste and nutrition.
• Counting carbs? Bulk up your salad with healthy high-protein items like tuna, shrimp, chicken or even steak.
• You don’t have to bypass the real goodies like cheese, eggs and bacon bits; just make sure they don’t add up to more than 15 percent of your salad. These high-flavor items add to the punch of your salad and help you feel satisfied when you have finished your meal. Cheese adds calcium (stick with cottage cheese, ricotta made with skim milk or part-skim mozzarella for your healthiest choices), bacon bits only have 25 calories per teaspoon and eggs are loaded with protein. As a bonus, they’re all on the menu if you’re following a carb-conscious diet.
©Copyright 2012, Big Y Foods, Inc., Springfield, MA, (413) 784.0600
Artwork is for display purposes only and does not necessarily reflect specific items. Not responsible for typographical errors.
like our Facebook Page