Tossing a Healthier Salad

It's lunchtime and you're starving. As hard as it may have been, you found a way to pass up the burgers and book it to the salad bar in search of a healthier meal. Don’t be fooled though—salads can quickly become high fat, high calorie meals if you’re not careful. Take the classic Caesar salad for instance, which may easily contain 700 calories and as much saturated fat as a cinnamon roll! Stay true to your healthy dietary choices by remembering the dos and don’ts of the salad bar:

Pile on…
Dark-colored greens like romaine, arugula, or spinach, which are higher in vitamins, minerals, and fiber than their light-colored companions. One cup of romaine lettuce has over ten times the amount of vitamin A and three times the amount of folate that you’d find in a cup of iceberg lettuce.

Lean proteins, such as grilled fish, chicken, a hardboiled egg, or beans to stave off hunger through the rest of the workday. A 4 oz serving of protein should be about the size of your palm.

Healthy fats, such as nuts, seeds, and avocado. Healthy fats are essential for everything from brain health to skin health, and will help keep you full until dinner. Plus, they add tasty variety to any salad creation.

A colorful mix of veggies. More color usually means more nutrition, so don’t be afraid to be adventurous! Veggies are low in calories but high in fiber, so they’ll be sure to keep you full. Some of your best bets include vitamin C-loaded peppers, antioxidant-packed beets, and magnesium-rich broccoli.

Pass up…
Mayonnaise-laden salads, such as tuna, egg, or chicken salad. Although they will provide some protein, these salads are full of fat and dripping with empty calories.

High-fat condiments like bacon bits, cheese, or olives. Although a sprinkling of these tempting toppers may seem harmless, they quickly add calories, fat, and sodium to your salad. Just 2 tablespoons of blue cheese will pack over 60 calories and 235mg of sodium!

Creamy salad dressings, which contain few nutrients, are extremely calorie-dense, and are almost always loaded with saturated fat. As an alternative at the salad bar, try a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar, or a couple tablespoons of a vinegar-based dressing such as a balsamic vinaigrette.

- Bianca Teran