Super Salads
Nothing sounds healthier than a salad, right? It may be, but not if you add the wrong
ingredients. A salad topped with bacon, cheese, crouton or mayonnaise dressings
could have as many calories as a cheeseburger. That said, don't give up on salads —
they can be a filling, low-calorie option and a great way to satisfy your daily
vegetable requirements. Just follow our guidelines for making the perfect healthy
salad — and you'll never have to worry again.
1. Colour it in!
Create your salads from a variety of colourful fruits and
vegetables to gain the most advantage from the nutrients,
fibre. Eating five or more fruits and vegetables a day has
been associated with helping protect against certain types
of cancer and heart disease as well as with aiding in
weight control. For starters, here's a selection of possible
colours:
Red: tomatoes, peppers, beetroot, red onion, radish
Yellow: sweet corn, yellow peppers
Orange: carrots
Green: broccoli, lettuce, spinach, peas, green peppers.
2. Put the Food Pyramid on your plate!
Move salads to main dish status for some of your
meals. Try to include foods from all shelves of the
Food Pyramid not just fruits and vegetables:
• Meat Group: Mix in meat, chicken, seafood,
beans, eggs or nuts.
• Dairy Group: Slip in slivers of cheese.
Drizzle on a yoghurt-based dressing.
• Carbohydrate Group: Base your salads on
pasta, rice or cous-cous.
For further information please contact [email protected] Sonja Lynch, Community Dietitian, HSE Dublin South
3. Dress it up!
A very healthy salad could go very wrong with one too many shakes of oil or
dressing. Mayonnaise-based salad dressings undo your weight loss efforts with empty
calories and saturated fat. Just two tablespoons of the average Thousand Island
dressing contains approximately 20% of your daily fat allowance. You can still have a
great tasting salad that is also nutritious. Here are 3 healthy salad dressing options that
won’t ruin your diet:
Oil and Vinegar
Oil and vinegar is an easy and healthy
salad dressing option. Try to use more
vinegar than oil. The best combination is
usually a balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Balsamic vinegar is flavourful and olive
oil has tremendous health benefits when
used in moderation. Olive oil can lower
your LDL (bad cholesterol), which will
make your heart healthier. Olive oil is also
healthy for your skin and hair. Aim for
two tablespoons of olive oil on your salad.
Use as much vinegar as you like.
Yogurt-Based Salad Dressing
It might sound strange, but you can use plain yogurt as a salad dressing base. Using
yogurt instead of mayonnaise as a base for your salad dressing is a healthy alternative
to traditional salad dressings. Try blending the plain yogurt with Dijon mustard and
chives. You will still get that creamy consistency, but without all of the saturated fat.
For an even healthier salad dressing, use fat-free or low-fat plain yogurt.
Cottage Cheese and Chive Dressing
Cottage cheese and chives is a tasty and healthy salad dressing combination.
Mix 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and freshly chopped chives. Add salt and
pepper to taste. Try to find a low-fat cottage cheese with less than 3 grams of
fat per 100g. Cottage cheese is a good source of calcium and protein. It will
help you feel full and satisfied.
So, as you can see, it’s as easy as 1-2-3 to make your summer salads SUPER!
For further information please contact [email protected] Sonja Lynch, Community Dietitian, HSE Dublin South