Anatomy of a Salad
Posted on January 23rd, 2013 by Caroline
If you take one look at the “Salads” section of my recipes tab, you’ll see that I eat a lot of salad. In fact, I try to eat one for lunch every day as an easy way of including plenty of veggies into my day. As I was assembling today’s salad, I realized that it was a pretty good representation of what a nutritious salad should include.
Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
- Veggies. As you can see, the foundation of the salad is vegetables. The green beans and tomatoes (along with the Romaine lettuce hiding underneath) collectively provide about 6 grams of fiber, or about 20% of what you need in a day. (The potato also adds some fiber, if you leave the skin on). You get bonus points for bright-colored vegetables, as those vibrant hues generally indicate a high antioxidant content. Tomatoes, for example, contain lycopene, lutein, and beta-carotene (all carotenoids that act as antioxidants).
- Lean protein. While fiber can provide some satiety, protein is a great way make sure your salad has some staying power. For this salad, I chose wild Alaskan salmon from a can, which offers a lot of protein for your “Calorie buck,” so to speak. That is, there are a whopping13 grams of protein and just 60 Calories per 3-ounce serving. I used more than 3 ounces here, but the principle is the same.
- Starch. I like to round out my salads with a bit of starch, which in this case is represented by half of a small baked potato. Yes, I know that potatoes are technically vegetables. But they’re quite rich in starch like grains, so I treat them as such in my diet; potatoes are also classified as a starch in diabetic exchange lists.
- Fat + flavor. Fat is necessary for absorbing many of the nutrients in this salad: specifically the vitamin A and vitamin K (both present in high amounts in the romaine lettuce and tomatoes). Fat is also a flavor enhancer, which is often necessary for eating a pile of vegetables. I used an olive oil-based vinaigrette and a small amount of feta cheese to add fat to this salad. You could also use nuts and seeds to achieve the same purpose.
Wow. Did I really just write that much about a salad?! I think I’m going into the right profession…
What kinds of things do you like to put on your salads? What’s your favorite combination?
Caroline Cohen, MS
I’ve written entire posts about salads, too.
We love them and we don’t make them boring. They should be tasty and fun to eat.
I used to eat a salad every day for lunch and would incorporate similar base veggies (spinach, cukes, tomatoes, red pepper) then top them with 1-2 “fun” items (goat cheese, guac, hummus, etc) and a lean protein. But after getting a Vitamix, I have a big green smoothie for breakfast, in which I use a lot of veggies, so now all i want for lunch is an almond butter and banana sandwich! I probably need to eat a side salad or something for dinner.
BroccoliHut Reply:
January 24th, 2013 at 9:22 am
Ooh, I would be all about the green smoothies if I had a VitaMix too–salads in liquid form!
Love salads, mine just need to be a big old mess of anything and everything. I find if it’s just a plate with lettuce, tomato, and carrot, I am going to be running to get a cheeseburger when it’s finished. So I need lots and lots of different things mixed in. Beetroot, carrot, broccoli, spinach, capsicum, tomato, corn, red onion…insert more!
Spinach, apple and mango is good too, if you’d count that as a salad. Tried it with carrot but I felt that didn’t really belong. With a little balsamic vinegar, too. Sounds weird but it was yum.