The What's What of Salads
Many of us eat salads because we are trying to make a healthy food choice. While salads CAN be wonderful things, did you know that Jack Astor's Grilled Chicken Cesar Salad contains 515 calories, Subway's Chicken & Bacon with Avocado Salad contains 330 calories, and even Kraft's Zesty Italian Salad Dressing packs in 109 calories per 2 tbsps?
Case in point, if you are going to choose salad as a meal, make it wholesome and delish, by making it at home. A few tips:
be sure to include multiple colourful veggies like dark green spinach, deep red beets, orange carrots and bright red cherry tomatoes
include other veggies that you may not normally eat like cucumber, blanched asparagus, green onion, peppers, avocado or radishes
bulk it up with satiating fats like avocado, goat cheese or cashew nuts
spruce up flavour and nutrition with fresh herbs like parsley, mint or cilantro
turn it into a complete meal by including good protein like chickpeas, black beans, chicken breast or cooked quinoa
make a huge batch and parcel meal portions into containers to last a few days for quick healthy meals on the go
make it warm! Try adding roasted veggies (like beets, broccoli, asparagus and Brussels sprouts and garlic) to cooked quinoa. Add some diced chicken breast and top with SARAH'S FAVE Salad Dressing (recipe below). This makes for an amazing dinner, and as a bonus, enjoy cold leftovers for lunch the next day!
last but not least, make your own salad dressing! You can control the ingredients rather than spoiling a large bowl of goodness with things like corn syrup, sugar and phosphric acid. Here are a few great recipes to get you started.
MASON JAR DRESSING
125 ml Extra-Virgil Olive Oil
125 ml Rice Vinegar
2 Cloves Crushed Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
SARAH'S FAVE
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
4 tbsp Extra-Virgil Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
SNAP PEA SALAD DRESSING
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Extra-Virgil Olive Oil
1 tbsp Fresh Chopped Dill
CREAMY MUSTARD
1/3 cup Avocado Oil
4 tsp Honey
4 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Dijon Mustard