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Top 5 Tips For Creating Super Healthy Salads

Salads are becoming very popular and are a great way to increase your daily intake of vegetables. You can get your five daily servings- if not more – in just one bowl!

A salad of just plain vegetables is generally very low in calories and could leave you still feeling hungry. So to create a high-energy sports salad, be sure to include enough carbohydrate-rich foods to make it substantial.

Registered dietitian, Nancy Clark, suggests five tips to help you get the most out of your salad:

Tip #1: Boost the carbohydrate content of your salad by adding;

• Carbohydrate-dense veggies such as corn, corn relish, peas, beets, and carrots.
  
• Beans and legumes such as chickpeas, kidney beans, and three-bean salad.
  
• Cooked rice, pasta, or potato chunks.
  
• Orange sections, diced apple, raisins, banana slices, and berries.
  
• Toasted croutons (limit your intake of buttered croutons)
  
• Thick slices of whole-grain bread and a glass of low-fat milk.

Tip #2: Choose a variety of dark, colorful veggies such as red tomatoes, green peppers, orange carrots, and dark lettuce. Colorful veggies are rich in the antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals that protect your health.

Tip #3: Be generous with potassium-rich veggies. Potassium gets lost when we sweat and is the mineral that protects against high blood pressure. Some of the veggies richest in this mineral include:

• Romaine lettuce
  
• Broccoli
  
• Tomato and
  
• Carrot

Tip #4: Include adequate protein by adding low-fat cottage cheese, flaked tuna, canned salmon, sliced turkey, chicken, or other lean meats.
For vegetarian proteins, include diced tofu, chickpeas, three-bean salad, walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, and peanuts.

Tip #5: Don’t forget the calcium. Add grated low-fat cheese, cubes of tofu, or a scoop of low-fat cottage cheese. Drink low-fat milk or skim milk with your salad, or have a cup of yogurt for dessert.

By Kristy Lee Wilson