Which Salad Is Really Good For You?

 

Have we not heard this enough times? Eat your vegetables. Have a big bowl of salad for lunch. Feast only on salads at the buffet table. Eat salads, stay healthy, live long. Have a salad daily, a salad for a meal and so on. But are all salads good? Also, are salads always good for you?

In this article, let me attempt answering the first question for you.

Yes, eating enough vegetables is vital to good health. The Food Pyramids of USDA and NIN amply bring home that for us.

Yes, eating salads are a great way to increase variety in routine meals. Salads are low in calories, add colour, zest, fibre, anti oxidants and every other good thing you may find in diet and nutrition books.

Which salad gives you all of this?

A salad that is made from fresh produce, not old.

A  freshly harvested fruit or vegetable is still living and breathing. If harvested when fully formed, the vegetable has the maximum nutrient content. With each passing day after harvest, fruits and vegetables lose moisture and valuable nutrients through surface. Losses can range from 5% for Vitamin B to even 70% for Vitamin C depending on harvest procedure, type of post harvest handling, effective cold storage (or not). Fat soluble vitamins are lost if the produce is exposed to heat / light.

Fresh vegetables, fresh fruits work best in a salad both in terms of flavour and nutrition. If you have ever dug into a salad which had one rotten tomato, you will understand this easily. The reasons we include salads in a meal are the vitamins, minerals, fibre, phytonutrients and anti oxidants that fresh produce has to offer. The real purpose of a salad is defeated if we use shrivelled, nearly dying vegetables.

A salad that is NOT drenched in sugary, creamy, high fat dressings.

Again, if you are stuffing yourself with a salad slathered in gooey, creamy, cheesy dressings, you have just added a few hundreds of calories from sugar and fat, thousands of mg of sodium and thwarted all attempts to ‘eat healthy’. Choose dressings with good fats such as olive oil, skim milk yoghurt or low fat Greek yoghurt. Include dressings such as those with herbs, lemon juice, honey mustard, balsamic vinaigrette, fresh pesto.  Avoid dressings which have ingredients such as sour cream, any type of cheese, maple syrup, high fructose corn syrup.

A salad that does not have deep fried foods as part of it’s ingredients.

Fried chicken salad, lettuce salad topped with deep fried croutons, crispy noodles, deep fried potatoes, potato straws, fried pork or any other deep fried ingredients to add crunch or taste to salad are harming your health and waistline.

Want crunch in your salad without the guilt of excess fat or sodium or calories? Add grilled vegetables or baked croutons. Add healthy nuts and seeds such as toasted walnuts, almonds, toasted melon seeds or pumpkin seeds to add nutty crunch.*

Also, a salad that is assembled in hygienic conditions and stored safely before consumption.

Every single vegetable or fruit used in a salad, (especially raw salads) has to be thoroughly rinsed before peeling/chopping. Rinsing after peeling or chopping increases chances of contamination and nutrient losses. After rinsing, the ingredients have to be drained clean of the wash water too.

Bagged salad, pre cut greens, are all potential sources of bacterial contamination.

No salad ingredient should come in contact with raw meat.

Use clean cutting boards, knives and utensils while assembling salads.

Take care to store the salad as well as the dressings in a cool dark place, preferably covered in the fridge. If dressing is store bought, store as per instructions. Sniff, taste a wee bit before using each time to make sure it is still usable.

Assembling a simple home made salad is often easier than shopping for necessary ingredients and dressings. Enjoy fresh home made salads any time!

Happy, healthy eating.

*Nuts in salads – People who are allergic to tree nuts or all nuts should avoid them in salads too.

 

Cherry tomato Lettuce Salad

Well, this salad does not even need a recipe. It is such a simple combination of veggies and dressing. In fact, I am sure several of you will have tried out some version of this salad. I made this salad to accompany the Low Fat Creamy Pasta. The salad, pasta and fragrant garlic bread comprised dinner last weekend. Quite a combination of textures, colours, flavours and tastes. It was a very satisfying meal.
Taking some time to plan, shop and create good meals is so fulfilling. The happiness I feel when I sit down with loving family members eager to sample the latest creations and finding their faces light up with joy and hearing those happy exclamations – these make all the effort of cooking worthwhile. Well let me also admit that I go through my good share of disasters, and food that no one wants to touch. But thankfully, these happen lesser than the former.
As I said, this salad is a simple combination of dressing, veggies and tossing them together.
You need
For the veggies -

1. Iceberg lettuce – 1 small head
2. Cherry tomatoes – 22-25 numbers
3. Cucumber – 1-2 medium (really, your choice)
4. Ice cold water – enough to dunk the lettuce in (approx. 4 cups)

For the dressing -

1. Balsamic vinegar – 1 tbsp
2. Extra virgin Olive Oil – 4 tbsp
3. Crushed black pepper – 1-2 tsp
4. Salt – 2 pinches
5. Sugar – 1 pinch (optional)

To assemble

1. Wash the lettuce head, tear leaves apart by hand into bite size pieces and keep immersed in ice cold water until needed.
2. Dunk the cherry tomatoes in a bowl of water for 5 minutes, drain, pat dry and cut into halves. Place in a large mixing bowl.
3. Rinse the cucumber thoroughly with the peel on . You can retain the peel on the cucumber or partly peel them too. If there are too many seeds along the middle of the cucumber, you may want to discard them. If so, cut into half lengthwise, remove the ‘seedy’ parts and slice into half circles. Else, if the seeds are tender, you can slice the cucumber into thin disks. Place along with the tomatoes in the mixing bowl.
4. Pour the balsamic vinegar into a bowl. Pour the Olive oil in a thin drizzle whisking with a fork all the while. Continue to whisk well until all the vinegar and oil have blended into an almost homogenous mixture. Add the crushed pepper and salt now, whisk them in too. Dressing is ready.
5. Now is the time to drain the lettuce in a colander – drain it well, shake up the colander and coax the last drops of water out! Add the lettuce to the mixing bowl, pour the salad dressing on top and mix well, toss, shake – do whatever except spilling the contents!
6. Chill the salad for at least half an hour before serving so that it is at the right temperature and the flavours settle well.

Notes

• You can add pitted black olives, walnuts, coloured peppers (capsicum), rocket leaves or any preferred vegetables to the salad. Use dressing in proportion to the vegetables used.
• Using fresh tender vegetables, and chilling well before serving help to enhance the taste of the salad.