What are some healthy things i can add to my daily salad to jazz it up a bit?

Question

I have been trying to eat salads for lunch lately. i have heard spinach has much more nutritional value than does lettuce. Is this true? It doesnt matter too much seeing as how i prefer spinach over lettuce anyways. i have been making my own dressing out of olive oil, vinegar, and basil pesto sauce. I am the type of person who HATES salt, so i'm sure i dont have high levels of sodium in my dressing.


what can i add to my salad to make it different?

Answer 1

I use good ole fashioned fresh squeezed lime juice on my salads



i dare anyone reading this to try a spinach, turkey, tomato, and lime juice salad. i also add curry and or cayenne pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to it. MMMMMMMMmmmmm i think im gonna go make one right now!


FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

A salad dressing is anything that you add to a salad to give it more character. The honey you mentioned is a good example of a simple dressing. The commercially available dressings and mayonnaise are usually very fattening and should be avoided if you are calorie conscious. They make a good salad a dangerous one. Heathly dressings for fruits salads can be Low fat yoghurt, low fat cream or even a squeeze of lime juice and salt. What i like best is just a sprinkle of rock salt powder. Gives the fruits an amazing zing. You can also hit and Indian store and look for something called "Chat masala" and sprinkle that. With time, you will know how much you need to sprinkle to tickle your palate. Enjoy!!

Answer 3

Here are some of my favorite things to put in salad:

1.garlic

2.Worcestershire sauce

3.paprika

4.hot sauce

5.onion

6.bell pepper

7.cucumbers

8.blue cheese

9.blue cheese dressing

10.chickpeas

11.Parmesan cheese

12.chicken

13.pickles

14.cottage cheese

15.walnutes

I have many more but this is all i could think of.

Answer 4

We like putting trail mix, apple bits, cheese , mixed nuts or raisins in our salads and my Auntie Emily made a killer spinach salad: 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1 lb spinach washed and dried thoroughly
2/3 cup white sugar
1 medium onion diced
bean sprouts or mushrooms
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
6 slices cooked bacon
Blend oil,vinegar, ketchup,sugar& diced onion together.
Tear spinach into small pieces and toss with 'shrooms or sprouts, eggs and crumbled bacon pieces, then add dressing and serve...Hope you enjoy it

Answer 5

Add a teeny tiny bit of salt to your dressing. Salt 'electrifies' your tastebuds so you can taste everything more. (Don't add so much that you taste the salt).

Add nuts, fruits, chicken, eggs, lots of different vegetables (cukes, zucchini, radishes, oranges, almond slivers, sunflower seeds, chickpeas, corn). Try different kinds of greens (spinach, romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, dandelions, endive, etc). Yes, spinach has more good stuff than lettuce, especially iceburg lettuce (which is a nutritional void).

Change up your salad dressing recipe. Vinegar, oil, and some dry mustard (to keep it emulsified) is a very basic recipe. You can add herbs and spices and change up the kinds of vinegar and oil you use (lots of them are flavored).

If you're in the mood to be a little bad, add a scoop of tuna or chicken salad

Hope this helps

Answer 6

Oh, what fun!

Romaine lettuce and spinach are packed with nutrients. I use those for the base of my salads.

When you make your salads, make sure they are colorful. Tomatoes, orange and yellow bell peppers and black olives are great starters.

The purpose of the colors is to maximize on the nutrients.

Adding fruit and nuts (especially almonds will prevent you from getting bored.

When you add fruit, keep the skin on when you can (like apples).

Pesto is extremely fatty since it has olive oil, nuts and cheese. When you make your oil and vinegar mixes, experiment:

Instead of vinegar, use lemon juice (another mild acid) and add some dill or rosemary for flavor.

Check Penzey's website for seasonings to add to make wonderful tasting dressings from oil and vinegar. www.Penzeys.com

Switch up your vinegars and oils! Try grape seed oil with a pomegranate vinegar. Add some parsley and shake it up.

Or chili oil and red wine vinegar with some cilantro.

Salt is very important when making salads (especially the dressings) and cooking. The salt "pulls" the liquid (flavor) out of the fruits and vegetable (osmosis). Add 1/8 teaspoon or less to your salad. Enough to cause the reaction, but not so much that you will taste it.

Answer 7

All these ingredients you all are posting is making me hungry!

Btw, if you don't like salt, try Mrs. Dash seasoning as a substitute. There is no sodium in it nor calories. It's a great replacement for salt:)!

Everyone should use it since salt is too high in sodium(and can be very unhealthy). So try Mrs. Dash.

Answer 8

spinach is better for you but lettuce is still healthy. I like to put mandarin oranges and raisins on my salads. I like Wishbone Italian dressing.

Answer 9

peeled oranges or grapefruits,
walnuts,
pine nuts,
toasted sunflower/pumpkin seeds,
black/green olives,
preserved artichokes,
mushrooms, sliced and cooked in a bit of olive oil,
sliced avocadoes,
croutons,
bacon bits,
shavings of parmesan cheese

You could try this link for a list of salad dressings
http://www.cooksrecipes.com/salads/salad-dressings.html

And yes, you are right......spinach does have more nutritional value than lettuce

Answer 10

Feta cheese
bacon bits
ginger
crutons

Answer 11

Apples, raisins and dill pickles are yummy on a salad. And lots of black pepper.