What's good about salads? What's good about salad greens? Is there anything bad about eating green salad?
The most likely answer that pops into mind, is all good. Nothing bad at all about filling a bowl with green salad and all the healthy salad fixin's.From tomatoes and carrots that you might slice up and chop fine for your salad, to fresh red onion rings, olives, cucumbers, celery and radishes to name a few — a salad can feature so many fresh, good-for-you foods. Homegrown vegetables. Raw. Cooked. Nuts. I look forward to sunflower seeds and pine nuts on top of a crisp green salad. I've also added walnut pieces and slivered almonds to add crunch and flavor. Turned out really nice.
My dotty brought a wonderful green salad to the table last Christmas. She dressed it with fresh fruit. I hadn't really thought about adding fruit to a green salad before. Now I add strawberry slices and orange sections to my green salad all the time. I keep dried cranberries and cherries in the pantry so I can add a couple of spoonfuls if I'm out of fresh fruit. Delicious. Thanks honey.Salad greens vary. I love fresh spinach, romaine, arugula, bibb and iceberg lettuce. My honey doesn't particularly enjoy iceberg, but he'd be okay with it if I put a wedge in front of him for lunch at home or as a go-with dinner side. He favors escarole, large red oak and arugula. I recently tried butter lettuce and it is awesome. Love it.
I always wash the greens right away when we get home from the grocery store, and then I use my salad spinner to dry the washed greens. It works like a dream. Great investment.Here's a tip: I store my greens in airtight containers with two paper towels [to absorb excess moisture] so they are ready to use. This is a great tip because I find myself making salad a lot more often than I used to... simply because the fixin's are ready-to-go. It's fast and easy, and I discovered the "greens" stay fresh a lot longer.
I do not use a knife to cut greens, except when I make a "chopped" salad. Rather, I tear leafs gently into the sizes I want. [A chopped salad is my favorite type of salad... with hard boiled eggs, rough chopped artichoke bottoms and hearts of palm. Yum Yum!]
The best part of loving salads is the nutritional value. According to the USDA, a cup of a mixed green salad has 0% total fat, 1% sodium (16mg); 1% carbohydrate (1.8g), 4% dietary fiber (Yes, this is good); 0 sugar. Just one cup contains Vitamin C, calcium and iron.
Of course, these values vary with the ingredients that you mix with your greens.
The only downside of enjoying the health benefits of a green salad is the salad dressing. This is a big ouch. If you want the health benefits, then avoid fatty salad dressing. Opt for a flavored vinaigrette. I love balsamic vinegar mixed with garlic and olive oil. If you like your dressing a bit sweeter and less tangy, add a bit of dark brown sugar or a bit of sugar substitute.
What part of a green salad is bad for you?