Salads are one of the easiest meals to prepare. All you need is a bowl and a variety of salad mixes that naturally comes with an array of nutrients.
Each vegetable has its very own benefits, which is the reason why you would want to alternate your vegetables on a regular basis instead of having the same salad constantly.
There are endless ways for you to create your own version of salad mixtures without the need to be a great cook.
Use the guidelines below and bring your culinary creativity to the test by creating your own salad concoctions like never before!
All About That Base!
When it comes to choosing your greens, try looking for low-calorie greens such as kale, spinach, microgreens and many more. Also, do take note that the richer the color of the leaves are, the more nutrients it contains. Dark leafy greens are typically rich in vitamin A, B, C and vitamin K.
There are varieties of vegetables you can use as the base of your salad.
If your idea of healthy is synonymous with low in calories, then you can use red leaf lettuce in your salad.
Like all varieties of lettuce, red leaf lettuce is also low in calorie and has a high volume of water in it, making it to be a very nutritious option. Plus, it has half the calories of romaine lettuce per serving. Also, red leaf lettuce naturally contains plenty of vitamin A and K.
If you ever want to substitute your lettuce for other vegetables, then you should definitely give arugula a try. Arugula has just 6 calories per cup!
There are many other vegetables as well that you can use for your salad base such as watercress, cabbage, broccoli, spinach and kale.
Flavour Booster
It’s time to think outside the box when it comes to making your own salad. Salads do not always need to be made out of raw ingredients and vegetables.
If you’re someone who doesn’t like your salad ingredients to be a 100% raw, then your add-on ingredients can be cooked proteins such as chicken breast, prawns, eggs, tofu or beans. Alternatively, you could also mix and match by having a cooked salad base such as steamed broccoli or cauliflower rice with raw salad toppings.
On the contrary, you can also have a mixture of fruits in your salad to give a citrusy or sweet flavour. For example, apples, oranges, mango as well as pineapples are versatile fruit options for salads.
Dress Up
Adding dressing to salads adds some healthy fat to your meal and gives extra flavouring to your salad. These healthy fats can be obtained from the oils that you use as your dressing, like olive oil, truffle oil, avocado oil and flaxseed oil to your salad.
Actually, it’s really simple to make a homemade salad dressing. Simply whip one up, store it in an air-tight glass jar and keep it in the fridge. Use the following steps to make a vinaigrette dressing:
- Oil will be the base to your dressing. You can use oils like extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil.
- To give some acidity to your salad dressing, add some lemon juice, or vinegars such as balsamic vinegar.
- Season your salad dressing as you don’t want your salad to taste bland. You can use is salt, black pepper, garlic, onions, and dried or fresh herbs.
Choose your vegetables wisely and make yourself a super-healthy bowl of salad accompanied with some homemade salad dressing.
If you’re not a salad lover, but would love to give it a try. Then you can start with these all time favourite salads:
- Caesar salad – Consists of romaine lettuce as the base, served with an egg, parmesan cheese, croutons and dressed with a rich, creamy and tangy dressing.
- Greek salad – Greek salad is made with slices of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, feta cheese, and olives and typically seasoned with salt and oregano, with olive oil as the dressing.
- Bean salad – A combination of cannellini beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, celeries, red onions, parsley, and a sweet and sour dressing made of vinegar, oil and sugar.
- Fruit salad – The common ingredients used in fruit salads include strawberries, pineapple, honeydew, watermelon, grapes and kiwifruit.
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