Blueprint for a Healthy Salad
Q: The girls in the office and I have started
going to a salad bar for lunch, which is good because I need to
lose about 10 pounds. There are so many choices – which are
most nutritious? I tried doing a low-cal "vegetable-only"
salad, but I was hungry 2 hours later. A: The salad bar can be your best friend or your worst foe. The trick is knowing what and how much to choose. Like everything else, moderation is key. The best salad is based on fresh raw vegetables; the other items should be added in smaller amounts to round out the taste and nutritional value. A one-pound salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers, cucumbers, and onions has only about 100 calories and a gram of fat. That's a lot of food for so few calories, which is why you feel hungry afterward (plus, most of the weight in veggies is water). However, add just 1 tablespoon bacon bits, 1 ounce cheddar cheese, 2 ounces feta cheese, 1 ounce croutons, 1/4 cup potato salad, 2 tablespoons egg salad, and 4 tablespoons creamy Italian, and the numbers swell to 930 calories and 66 grams of fat (23 of which are saturated)! The veggies that make up the base of your salad, as we saw, are very low in calories and fat and totally devoid of cholesterol, yet high in the good stuff. Our veggie-only example provides 8 grams of fiber, 100 milligrams of calcium, as well as over 400% of your daily requirement for vitamin A, about 30% for iron, over 250% for vitamin C, and over 100% for folic acid, a B vitamin that is needed to help prevent birth defects. Not a bad start to a healthy lunch. If you're lucky, your salad bar contains more exotic veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, beets, peas, sprouts, and spinach (use as much of these as you like!). Now, what else to add? The next thing to look for is something with lean protein. Best choices are beans (such as chick peas, hummus, and kidney beans) and tofu. Good choices are plain water-packed tuna, turkey or chicken breast, and cottage cheese. Stay away from cold cuts and other processed meats. Next, add some type of starch. This could include some corn, pita bread, 1/2 bagel, a baked potato, roasted potatoes, rice, or a low-fat pasta salad. Some salad bars offer wonderful grain-based salads, such as bulgur wheat and cous cous. Whole grain breads and pastas are always best, if available. Finally, add the toppings you love, but do so sparingly. For example, if you can't say no to cheese, allow yourself an ounce (the size of 4 dice), which contains 100 calories and 9 grams of fat, but then make the rest of your choices low-fat to balance out your meal. Try to skip the prepared mayonnaise-based or pre-tossed creamy salads (e.g. tuna, Caesar, pasta, and egg salads), which are not only fatty but also carry an increased risk of food-borne illness due to bacteria. As far as other prepared salads, choose ones that have little or no added oil. When in doubt, ask an employee what is in a particular salad bar item. Fats from croutons, bacon bits, chow mien noodles, granola, and other crunchy goodies add up fast; go easy on these. Keep in mind that creamy dressings, like creamy Italian, can sabotage your healthiest salad. Most people put on a ladleful of dressing (4 tablespoons), which contains a whopping 200 calories and 21 grams of fat (bleu cheese has even more). Even reduced fat creamy dressings can contain more than half this amount. Opt for the water-based, low-cal dressings; bring your own from home; or use vinegar and a little oil. Finally, if you're avoiding dairy and meat items (which isn't a bad idea because of high fat and cholesterol content and risk of bacteria), add a handful of nuts or seeds or olives, which contain the healthy unsaturated fats. Finish off with fresh fruit and there you have it: a nutrient-packed, low-cal, low-fat, tasty, satisfying lunch. Bon appetit and good luck!
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