Eating Healthy Salads

When eating out, many are now looking for more healthy choices of foods, and in so doing, many restaurants and fast food places are offering salads - salads of all kinds. However, you must be aware of what your salad contains.

A while back I ordered a salad from Wendy's - the garden salad. Pictured were a variety of greens and colorful vegetables. Yum! What I got wasn't that at all. With a sprinkle of vegetables and small green leaves on top, I found the underneath to contain a full bowl of iceberg lettuce. I took my salad back to the counter and questioned its contents. The lady went and checked and came back to report that "they are only required to put four green leaves on top". No thanks! I got my money back!

What is more deceiving is the calorie content. While a burger, fries and soft drink or smoothie may contain 500-600 calories, it is found that at most fast food restaurants that if you order a salad instead, you may find the salad dressing to contain up to 20 grams of fat per serving and your salad can have almost the same amount of calories - 550 or so! Plus the dressings are extremely high in sodium!

So how do we find or make healthy salads when eating out or at home?
* Eat salads made of leafy greens. We need lots of greens in our diets, and iceburg lettuce is lacking those green nutrients that we need.
* Add lots of other raw vegetables, sprouts, cooked or sprouted grains or beans, etc. to increase the vitamin, mineral, and fiber content.
* When eating out, use the balsamic vinegar and little bit of olive oil rather than a dressing. Or if your salad comes with a packet of dressing, choose a vinegrette and only use 1/3 - 1/2 of it. Be ware of fat-free dressings as they are filled with sugar and many unhealthy fillers.
* Make your dressings if/when possible. Choose olive oil and water rather than straight oil, and use fresh lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, or unprocessed apple cider vinegar with seasonings.
* Use "Real Salt" or some other high mineral salt instead of pure sodium.
* For a quick yummy dressing for almost any green salad, use this recipe:

3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
2 Tbs. olive oil or flax oil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Real Salt

Just stir this together and drizzle on the whole salad and toss just before serving! Yum! Healthy choice!

For more great healthy super salad recipes, see http://erleentilton.com/store.htm for your copy of "Simple Super Salads".

Have a great healthy salad day!
Erleen Tilton