Once of the things I love about summer is salads. Yes, salads! I love salads. I can eat salads every day in the summer and never get bored. You can too! You can eat salad every day and never repeat a recipe twice. Salads are so versatile, so easy to make, so delicious and so good for you.
Here is my little secrete to make the perfect salad every time: It’s all about pairing ingredients with different textures and flavors that you like, and together they’ll make deliciousness in your salad bowl.
Start with your your greens.
There are so many options here, and just by changing your base can make your salad taste and look different every time.
Salad greens are a great source of vitamins, especially A, C, and K. Many are high in iron, some even have surprising amounts of calcium. Add that in with the fact that many of them contain disease-fighting phytonutrients, and it’s hard to find a reason not to go for leafy greens whenever you can.
Some of my favorite options include: romaine, mixed greens, escarole, and baby spinach.
Add some protein:
Proteins are essential nutrients required by the body for optimal function. Proteins can support weight loss attempts through stabilizing levels of blood sugar and therefore curb hunger, they also aid the body in providing essential energy. Consuming adequate protein is vital in maintaining a healthy and strong immune system, and also supports o maintain healthy muscles and assists building skin, nails, cartilage and hair.
If you just change the protein in a given salad recipe you can totally change the flavor profile. You can even combine multiple proteins like chicken and hard boiled eggs.
Some of my favorite proteins to add to my salads include: chicken, shrimp, salmon, tuna and hard boiled eggs. If you are vegetarian tofu and bean are great options too.
Add a pop of color with extra fruits & veggies:
I like to make my salads colorful. I feel that the prettier the salad the more you enjoy it, as they say, sometimes we eat with our eyes, and when it comes to salads, that is true for me every time.
I love to add a pop of color by adding some additional veggies and fruits. You can go totally classic adding some tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are my favorite), onions, cucumbers, julienne bell peppers and / or shredded carrots; or go bolder and add things like beets (which I love in my salad), mushrooms, olives (black or green) or some fruits like strawberries or any kind of berries and citrus fruits. Play with the different options to create different flavor and texture profiles.
Don't forget the healthy fats:
Healthy fats are rich in nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. I like to think of healthy fats are accessories, a little amount goes long ways.
Avocado and nuts are my go to healthy fats to add to my salads. The key about these is to play with the textures and flavors to balance the entire composition of the salad, and as I said to go easy on these as they are the most calorie dense. Once thing that helps me is to pick one and stick that one healthy fat vs using multiple different options in the same salad.
End with the perfect dressing:
The right dressing can make that "boring" salad pop with flavor. Dressings can be tricky. Sometimes your dressing can add more calories and fat to your salad than the rest of the ingredients. Choosing the wrong dressing can transform a healthy salad into a calorie dense meal. Here are some of my tips to pick the right dressing:
Keep it simple. A little olive oil, vinegar, fresh and / or lemon juice are for me the way to go 80% of the time.
Whenever possible make your own dressings. One of my favorite dressings is a combinations of olive oil, red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard.
Look for yogurt based dressings. I love these.
Search for your dressings on the refrigerated section. The healthiest dressings are typically not found on the central aisles of the grocery store.
Want to take it to the next level? Add some extras!
Elevate your salad adding some extras like cheese, herbs or sub-dried tomatoes. The sky is the limit. Leverage calorie free accessories like herbs which can add a layer of flavors to your salad. Like with healthy fats the key is to control he portions, specially on things like cheese. A little goes long ways with these.
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