What is a healthy salad?? Many people think iceberg lettuce, a tomato and lots of creamy dressing is a healthy salad.... Unfortunately, iceberg lettuce has almost no nutritional value, and most salad dressing are full of sugar and other additives (not to mention most people use way too much!!!) Here is what a healthy salad really is:
First of all, you need to make sure all of your salad ingredients are raw. Eating raw fruits and vegetables allows our bodies to reap all the nutritional-value benefits. Our bodies also have to work harder to digest them. (which also means you're burning more calories!)
Green, leafy lettuce. My favorite is baby spinach, and I also love the "spring mix" lettuce. Just make sure it is green and leafy!
Next you want to add some raw vegetables. I like red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, tomatoes and carrots. You could also add broccoli, sliced avocado, onions, cucumbers, etc. As long as they are raw, throw them in!
I also like to add a few slices of fresh fruit to my salads. Strawberries, pears, apples, whatever I have on hand. It adds a little sweetness to the salad!
Next I add some seeds and/or nuts: Pecans, sliced almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. It adds some protein to the salad! (sometimes I add a hard boiled egg, if we have some in the fridge)
Finally, I dress my salad with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and some sort of balsamic vinegar. (There are all kinds!) One bottle of the vinegar can be a little pricey, but it goes a LONG way! This is much healthier than using a pre-made, bottled dressing that is full of sugar. (and other stuff!) If you must use a bottled dressing, make sure you measure it, and only use one serving. (usually only a tablespoon or two!) How many of us use more than that?? (I used to!)
This is all coming from someone who did NOT ever eat their green veggies... Now I have a large salad every day. I crave it! Now that I know how healthy it is, I can't get enough!
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