Salads need not be boring. Adding fruit, nuts, cheese and a protein source likes beans or grilled chicken not only improves the taste and texture of salad, but can also raise the nutrient content of your favorite greens. You can also add cooked/cooled grains to make your salad a complete meal. Mix and match the following ingredients in your next salad.
| Greens: Bibb lettuce Boston lettuce Iceberg lettuce Radicchio Romaine Spinach Spring mix |
Vegetables: Bell peppers Celery Carrots-shredded Onions (green, red, white, yellow) Radishes Tomatoes (cherry, grape) |
Fruit:
Apples (Fuji, Gala Granny smith, Jonathan)
Cherries- dried
Craisins, dried cranberries
Grapes (green, black, red)
Oranges (mandarin, fresh/juice orange)
Pears (Bartlett, Bosc, Comice, D’anjou)
Raisins (black or yellow)
| Protein: Beans (black, garbanzo, kidney) Beef strips Chicken strips Eggs, hard boiled Fish (salmon, tuna, other) Turkey strips |
Nuts/Seeds: Almonds (chopped, slivered) Pecans Pine nuts Pistachios Pumpkin seeds Sunflower seeds Walnuts |
Cheese: Blue cheese/gorgonzola Cheddar (2% milk, shredded) Feta cheese (low fat) Fontina cheese Goat cheese Mozzarella cheese (2% milk, shredded) |
Classic balsamic vinaigrette:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl. Makes 3/4 cup dressing (12 Tbsp)
.
