Keep Your Salads Healthy and Tasty

by Lisa P | More from this Blogger

05 Nov 2007 06:18 AM

A healthy salad doesn't need to consist of just lettuce and lemon juice. In fact, you could be sabotaging your weight loss efforts by boring yourself out of salads altogether! Try jazzing up your next salad by adding some of these healthy items to it.

A quarter cup of avocado is high in good fat, low in saturated fat and cholesterol free. The high fat content in avocado will also help you to feel more satisfied after eating your salad.

The right salad dressing can make a huge difference in your diet. By slathering on a cream or mayonnaise based dressing, you could be inadvertently loading on hundreds of empty calories. Lowfat dressings or dressings with an olive oil base are the best for keeping your salad flavorful and less dense with calories.

A sliced hard-boiled egg can add protein and other important nutrients to your diet. The protein will not only spare your muscle from being wasted while dieting but it will also help you to feel more full after your salad.

A tablespoon of almonds or cashews added to your salad can add good fats as well as protein and fiber to your salad. The crunch doesn't hurt either!

A quarter cup of mushrooms will add fiber, protein and important B vitamins to your salad.

Adding a quarter cup of low-fat or nonfat cheese will add both protein and calcium to your salad.

A quarter cup of shredded carrots or sliced bell peppers will add color, flavor and plenty of vitamin C to your salad.

Broccoli and Cauliflower florets will add fiber, iron and vitamin C to your salad as well as some crunchy textures.

A sliced, grilled chicken breast can add flavor, texture and a good deal of protein to a salad.

Of course no salad is really complete without a bed of greens. Iceberg lettuce is the common green of choice but if you opt for greens with darker leaves like romaine or spinach you'll be getting far more vitamins in each forkful.

Don't let a bland salad derail your weight loss efforts. Try some of these great additions the next time you want to have a healthy, filling salad.

Learn more about Lisa P

Lisa used to be a freelance writer and Community Manager for Families.com, but she has finally made the jump to novelist.

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