15 Ways To Build A Healthier Salad

By Lisa Schweitzer for YouBeauty.com

Dining out? It's hard to get a more beautiful meal than a salad. They fill our bodies with nutrients we need to look and feel our best. But all too often, we make our salads ugly by topping them with ingredients that increase our risk for chronic disease as well as hurt our waistline. How can you keep the beauty in your salad and avoid the ugly? It's simpler than you think!

Start with brightly colored greens like arugula, romaine, spinach, endive or kale. How will you know that's the lettuce of choice? Ask the waiter. Having a conversation with your wait staff at any restaurant is the first step towards healthy eating. If you find out the salad is made mostly of iceberg lettuce (which has minimal nutritional value), ask them to swap something greener instead. From there, toppings can include anything from tomatoes and cucumbers to peppers and mushrooms -- whatever you wish that comes from nature! Some of the most beautiful ingredients will be those that have the brightest colors. Think beets, tomatoes, carrots, figs and cranberries (portion-controlled, of course).

Comments

[reganrd]

12:36 PM on 12/29/2011

I have an idea, if you're writing an article on how to make a healthier salad, why not give examples of what to do rather than what NOT to do. First, dressings can be high in calories and fat, but it doesn't negate the value of the vegetables in the salad. If the only way you'll eat broccoli, cabbage, radicchio and cauliflower is with a little blue cheese dressing, go for it; the benefits of cruciferous vegetables are so huge.
Here's my list:
*Add more colorful and cruciferous vegetables
*Limit the amount of dressing you use, but choose the one you like so you don't need to use a lot
*Have some type of lean protein with your salad because it helps keep you full longer (yes, eggs are fine, the whole "avoid eggs" is old thinking)
*Have some type of fat with your salad, just not tons (fried chicken is just chicken with a little breading and oil)
*Add fatty fish occasionally
*Be sure you have some high fiber or whole grain carbs to provide energy (they aren't bad; the leanest, healthiest people get about 50-60% of their calories from carbohydrates) such as beans, fruit, whole grain bread, pita or tortilla or grains such as corn, brown rice or bulgur.
*Be aware of "sneaky calories" from marinated or pickled vegetables
*Add more colorful and cruciferous vegetables (did I mention that already?) and then add some more.

Be wary of nutrition advice given by someone uncredentialed.

[NevaforLeadership]

10:59 AM on 12/29/2011

I believe this article is not researched sufficiently.

Eggs are the best, most balanced, form of protein there is. The myth of all the artery-clogging egg cholesterol was debunked a long time ago.

Creamy dressings are not necessarily full of saturated fat.

I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't mind betting that crispy bacon has about the same fat content as other meats in salads -- not that one wants to eat the nitrates in the bacon.

Far better to be eating sugary fruits in a salad than piles of greasy high-density carbohydrates -- everything is relative.

In my view, whole grain breads are just as unhealthy as white breads. They are so processed and most have a dusting of "whole grains" with white flour, that the end result is just the same -- empty calories -- sugar (that's what carbs turn into) in our bodies.

Better to concentrate on cutting out those high-density carbs, than nitpicking about the minute details of a salad.

Myself, I love a salad loaded with croutons, but that is one of the points in the article, with which I agree.

[HerrMonk]

09:22 AM on 12/28/2011

Sounds like advice written by a Dr. Orish zealot, or someone who stopped reading anything about nutrition published after 1990...

[NevaforLeadership]

11:00 AM on 12/29/2011

Exactly.

[aFtersootdamP]

02:30 AM on 12/28/2011

Wrong about cheese, wrong about eggs, wrong about bacon, and wrong about creamy dressings.

[oceanlover503]

03:48 PM on 12/27/2011

OMG, fix these captions!! All of the healthy stuff is in the TEXT, all of UNHEALTHY stuff is shown in 15 beautiful pictures, under the caption of "15 ways to build a healthier salad." WHAT??? Fix the headline, please; there's enough confusion about nutrition out there already!

[drmindhealer]

12:45 PM on 12/27/2011

My rule of thumb is to make sure there is something of every color in that salad - blues, reds, oranges, yellows, purples, greens. Then add nuts, herbs (basil leaves and pineapple sage are amazing in salads!) and seeds. Top it off with a good homemade vinaigrette with quality olive oil and you have yourself a meal packed with vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and other beneficial nutrients. A good salad is your best friend in controlling blood sugar and weight. Be well!

[gurke75]

11:43 AM on 12/27/2011

It never ceases to make me laugh when people order a salad and then drown it with creamy dressing.

I usually use either oil and vinegar or balsamic. Recently, though, I've been using a few drops of Tapatio or whatever hot sauce they have available.

[NevaforLeadership]

11:01 AM on 12/29/2011

That's old thinking.

It is carbohydrates that is sinking the nation in ill health.

[gurke75]

11:46 AM on 12/29/2011

I don't think it's old inasmuch as I think it's good advice to not overeat anything, even healthy food, or in this case, dressing.

[allerleirauh]

05:28 AM on 12/27/2011

I'm thinking if you ask a restaurant to substitute fancy lettuce for iceberg all you will get is an odd look. Iceberg is cheaper - if the restaurant uses iceberg, it's not like they have a big pile of endive and kale hiding in the back for the Special People! If you want a better salad, try going to a better restaurant.

[Z trufflesniffer]

01:31 PM on 12/27/2011

The problem is that iceberg just doesn't have nutrients. Dr. McDougal says not to eat it.

[kelbell]

02:20 PM on 12/28/2011

Agreed! Iceburg is nothing but water!!! Spinach is soo good for you! So is basically all other types of lettuce. The darker the green, the better it is for you!

[iLdoRight]

02:33 AM on 12/27/2011

I recently watched a PBS program by a Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who said a recent study showed that by adding one button a day to your food intake and including green tea and greens foods one can lower their chance of getting breast cancer by 89%. I recently ordered 4 different kinds of dried mushrooms from lifegourmetshop.com and I think they said one can be eaten raw, perhaps they all can I don't know, but I plan to add mushrooms to anything I can. Will probably pour boiling water on them first from my coffee water heater if not fully cooking them. Cheaper to avoid cancer than to try to fix it.

[NevaforLeadership]

11:05 AM on 12/29/2011

I agree.

Such a shame to end up with a self-induced chronic disease.

[mithrilsolider]

11:42 PM on 12/26/2011

Whats a heathier salad? ROFLMAO! WTG huffington post!

[ecotopian]

10:17 PM on 12/26/2011

15 Ways To Build A Heathier Salad..wait until all the ingredients are in season in your area.

[geddy lee is a god]

09:08 PM on 12/26/2011

I enjoy cranberries and other fruits like mandarin oranges, red grapes, and pineapple chunks in salads. The sweetness of the fruits combined with the bold flavors of salads make for a very tasty meal.

[Thaag Tidestalker]

04:56 PM on 12/26/2011

Leave off the iceberg and use leaf lettuce instead. You'll eat more lettuce since iceberg tastes like wet, crunchy cardboard by comparison.

[gsapples]

08:06 PM on 12/26/2011

Romaine lettuce and spinach are good choices too.

[Z trufflesniffer]

01:35 PM on 12/27/2011

Along with red cabbage which is one of my favorites and arugula adds a nice bite to the salad and easily grown in cold climates.You can grow in a big pot and cut and it will grown again.

I like to mix lots of greens though a spinach salad with nuts and roasted or just fresh fruit is perfect. Add very thin slices of red onion, or scallions and it's a meal for me.

[Chas53]

04:38 PM on 12/26/2011

Leave off the oil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbALgjmZUek

[Thaag Tidestalker]

04:57 PM on 12/26/2011

If it's olive, a little oil is good for you.

[Huntergp02]

04:34 PM on 12/26/2011

I've read a few articles that show you would have been better off ordering a double cheeseburger with fries than the salad at certain restaurants. But if I'm eating a salad for my main entree and I'm ordering it as opposed to a greasy burger I need to have a little fun with it.