Some people just aren’t salad people. They’re usually the ones who think of salads as just plain lettuce and tomato with a bit of dressing. Salads can be creative, try out some slightly different ingredients and you never know what you might like!
Salad ingredients to try
- Green leafy veges – Special lettuce (try different kinds!) / spinach / watercress
- Other veges – Cucumber, celery, cabbage, bean sprouts, red onion, capsicum (large or the small/sweet ones), broccoli
- Pickles/gherkins
- Fruit – Mandarin wedges/orange pieces, apple slices or cubes
- Nuts – Almonds/peanuts/pinenuts/walnut
- Seeds – Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds , flaxseeds etc. (small handful)
- Carrots (try cutting in different ways rather than grating)
- Ham, bacon bits (just watch the fat content!), or slices of smoked chicken
- Avocado slices
- Cooked pasta with or without sauce, couscous
- Meat cooked in a small amount of your fave stirfry sauce (honey soy chicken is great)
- Tuna chunks, shrimps, prawns
- Grains and legumes – Rice, chickpeas, canellini beans, red kidney beans
- Tomatoes (fresh / cooked / sundried / cherry tomatoes)
- Cheese (cubed/grated – go easy on this one as the fat content can be quite high!), crumbled feta
- Fresh basil, coriander or other herbs
- Handful of cut up roast veges, tofu cubes
- Olives
- Dried fruit (i.e. apricots)
- Crispy salad noodles (small handful!)
Themed salads and dressings
You could also do themed salads depending on what flavours you like. For example, Greek (feta/olives/sundried tomatoes), oriental (crispy noodles, sugarsnap peas, avocado, sesame oil). There’s many kinds of dressings – citrus, sesame, vinaigrettes… If you’re not into them but find salads a little dry, just pop on a smattering of olive oil, avocado oil, lemon juice or lime juice.
Weight loss and salads
If you’re after weight loss, just be careful when it comes to the ingredients. Some, such as caesar salads can often be fat-laden (bacon, fried croutons, lots of dressings…). If you like croutons, try making your own by cutting a piece of wholemeal bread into squares – buns usually work better than loaf slices – and dry bake in the oven until toasted.
Any more suggestions? Let us know by commenting below!
Image /Flickr – Jennifer/SweetOnVeg