5 Ways You’re Ruining Your Salad

Salads don’t have to be sad.

Salads are simple and quick to make as a meal, side dish, or quick snack for busy individuals or families. Salads can be a part of a nutritious meal plan.

Here are a few ways you may be ruining your salads and sabotaging your health:

Switch from Cream-based Salad Dressing to an Oil-based Salad Dressing

1. Using cream-based salad dressings such as Thousand Island, blue cheese, ranch, and buttermilk salad dressings. These salad dressings can be high in saturated fats, sugar, and calories. Switch to oil-based salad dressings like vinaigrettes or make your own with a little Dijon mustard, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper mixed in a bowl.

Add Protein

2. Adding a serving of protein to your salad is highly recommended by this registered dietitian nutritionist, but stay away from fried foods. Fried foods are loaded with sodium, fat, and calories. Healthier protein alternatives are grilled chicken, raw nuts, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, and beans.

Add Nuts

3. Nuts are healthy fats high in fiber and protein that add a little crunch to your salad. You want to avoid sugar-coated or glazed nuts that will add way too many calories. Grab a handful of unsalted roasted pecans, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, and almonds and sprinkle them over your salad.

 

This colorful salad is packed with vital nutrients…walnuts, blueberries, and veggies.    

Choose Healthier Salads

4. If you’re in a Mexican restaurant and you think ordering the “southwestern salad bowl” with or without the tortilla shell is a healthier option, think again. These salads are loaded with cheese, creamy dressings, and tortilla chips. Moe’s Southwest Grill Crispy Salad Bowl can be more than 1,000 calories and 56 grams of fat. Forget the tortilla bowl, tortilla chips, creamy dressing, and cheese. Choose healthier ingredients like vinaigrette dressing, black beans, and grilled vegetables.

Add Fresh Fruits

5. Dried fruit is fruit, so I can fill up my salad with these sweet treats, right? Well, not so fast. Dried fruit like craisins and raisins can increase your fiber and nutrient intake; however, too much increases your sugar and calorie intake. Just ¼ cup of raisins has 29 grams of total carbohydrate and 108 calories. That’s 7.25 teaspoons of sugar! If you insist on adding something sweet to your salad, try fresh strawberries and blueberries, which are full of antioxidants and add a burst of color.

Can you think of other ways you can ruin your salad? I would like to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.

Nutritionally Yours,

Jerlyn