Salad is a true superfood, a nutritional powerhouse, and when prepared right, it can truly function in your diet as a perfect and balanced meal. AND, it doesn’t have to be bland or boring either! Salad can be delicious, filling, satiating, and even protein rich, all the while being incredibly healthy. Bonus!
On the other hand however, this brilliant food can (and often is!) shamefully sabotaged! Ruined. Healthy turned hazardous! Could you be a salad saboteur?!
Here’s a few ways that this nutritional crime can be committed:
1. Do you add croutons and bacon bits? Ditch em! These foods add tons of calories and no nutrition (they are also often full of preservatives, artificial ingredients, and trans fat). But you like the crunch you say? You can get the crunch in a better way, see below:)
2. Dressing Overload! Commercial salad dressings also tend to be full of preservatives and artificial ingredients, not to mention trans fats, salt, and sugar! Keep your dressing simple, natural, and omega 3 rich (we tend to get lots of omega 6 and 9, and not enough 3!).
3. You only like Iceberg lettuce? It’s time to get adventurous and explore the land of dark leafy greens! Especially if you’re over 10 years old. Iceberg lettuce is hydrating and water rich, but, that’s about it. Dark greens are very rich in iron, calcium, folate, and tons of other minerals! Try spinach, kale, arugula, watercress, etc! Oh, and these green guys are also protein rich. I know what you’re thinking, “well, how much protein can I really get from a leaf?”... you’d be surprised! Because your body can absorb and so easily utilize the protein in plant based foods, you can actually get more than enough, and, your body doesn’t have to work near as hard during the digestion and assimilation process! Popeye had bulging biceps, and if you’ve forgotten, he was all about spinach. This is no coincidence:)
4. Pass on the cheese, please! Adding cheese to your greens will again add extra and unnecessary calories (mainly because people tend to over do it when it comes to cheese). Cheese is also acidifying, mucous forming, and for many people, very difficult to digest. Dairy allergies are VERY common, whether you’ve made the correlation or not, you may be sensitive to this food group. If you do add cheese, be moderate, and if you’re open to trying an alternative, see below!
5. Mix it up! Step outside of YOUR standard salad box! Try using different greens, use your blender and experiment with making your own tasty dressings, and, try adding some of the vegan protein toppers listed below. Get ready to feel nourished, energized, and full.... on leaves!
The perfect salad:
* NOTE: rethink size guys! You can eat a lot of salad with zero fear of gaining weight. How liberating! Unfortunately, people often associate salad as being an appetizer, as something small and healthy for example, that comes before the main event. Try making SALAD the main event! But seriously, the key is making a (nutrient dense) huge a** salad, not a baby sized one! Otherwise, you’ll still be hungry and left craving something more.
Directions:
In a huge bowl, add dark leafy’s of your choice:)
Now, add some of the following protein rich salad toppers ....
•Hemp seeds (omega 3 & protein)
•Sprouts!!! Low fat, high fiber, and very high in absorbable protein (there is a sprout shop on the lower level of The St. Lawrence Market..you can buy a variety of sprouts there!)
•Pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds (ideally raw & soaked)
•Quinoa
•Kale chips - for that crunch you love!
•Lentils
•Green beans
•Avocado
•Tempeh (fermented soy, easier on digestion than tofu)
•Nutritional Yeast - cheese replacement! Available in health food stores, these tasty flakes are protein and B-vitamin rich!
•Not ready to pass on the flesh? Add some Chicken / salmon (ideally organic) to your greens .
Next, decide how your going to dress?
For a very simple alkaline dressing (that is also rich in omega 3), choose between EVOO, hemp, or flax oil, and then combine with raw apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top at the end! Yum:)
Enjoy!
On the other hand however, this brilliant food can (and often is!) shamefully sabotaged! Ruined. Healthy turned hazardous! Could you be a salad saboteur?!
Here’s a few ways that this nutritional crime can be committed:
1. Do you add croutons and bacon bits? Ditch em! These foods add tons of calories and no nutrition (they are also often full of preservatives, artificial ingredients, and trans fat). But you like the crunch you say? You can get the crunch in a better way, see below:)
2. Dressing Overload! Commercial salad dressings also tend to be full of preservatives and artificial ingredients, not to mention trans fats, salt, and sugar! Keep your dressing simple, natural, and omega 3 rich (we tend to get lots of omega 6 and 9, and not enough 3!).
3. You only like Iceberg lettuce? It’s time to get adventurous and explore the land of dark leafy greens! Especially if you’re over 10 years old. Iceberg lettuce is hydrating and water rich, but, that’s about it. Dark greens are very rich in iron, calcium, folate, and tons of other minerals! Try spinach, kale, arugula, watercress, etc! Oh, and these green guys are also protein rich. I know what you’re thinking, “well, how much protein can I really get from a leaf?”... you’d be surprised! Because your body can absorb and so easily utilize the protein in plant based foods, you can actually get more than enough, and, your body doesn’t have to work near as hard during the digestion and assimilation process! Popeye had bulging biceps, and if you’ve forgotten, he was all about spinach. This is no coincidence:)
4. Pass on the cheese, please! Adding cheese to your greens will again add extra and unnecessary calories (mainly because people tend to over do it when it comes to cheese). Cheese is also acidifying, mucous forming, and for many people, very difficult to digest. Dairy allergies are VERY common, whether you’ve made the correlation or not, you may be sensitive to this food group. If you do add cheese, be moderate, and if you’re open to trying an alternative, see below!
5. Mix it up! Step outside of YOUR standard salad box! Try using different greens, use your blender and experiment with making your own tasty dressings, and, try adding some of the vegan protein toppers listed below. Get ready to feel nourished, energized, and full.... on leaves!
The perfect salad:
* NOTE: rethink size guys! You can eat a lot of salad with zero fear of gaining weight. How liberating! Unfortunately, people often associate salad as being an appetizer, as something small and healthy for example, that comes before the main event. Try making SALAD the main event! But seriously, the key is making a (nutrient dense) huge a** salad, not a baby sized one! Otherwise, you’ll still be hungry and left craving something more.
Directions:
In a huge bowl, add dark leafy’s of your choice:)
Now, add some of the following protein rich salad toppers ....
•Hemp seeds (omega 3 & protein)
•Sprouts!!! Low fat, high fiber, and very high in absorbable protein (there is a sprout shop on the lower level of The St. Lawrence Market..you can buy a variety of sprouts there!)
•Pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds (ideally raw & soaked)
•Quinoa
•Kale chips - for that crunch you love!
•Lentils
•Green beans
•Avocado
•Tempeh (fermented soy, easier on digestion than tofu)
•Nutritional Yeast - cheese replacement! Available in health food stores, these tasty flakes are protein and B-vitamin rich!
•Not ready to pass on the flesh? Add some Chicken / salmon (ideally organic) to your greens .
Next, decide how your going to dress?
For a very simple alkaline dressing (that is also rich in omega 3), choose between EVOO, hemp, or flax oil, and then combine with raw apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top at the end! Yum:)
Enjoy!