How to build a healthier, more filling salad
Not only are salads packed with vitamins and nutrients, they also make excellent one-dish summer meals. Beci Falkenberg, a chef at Cancer Wellness at Piedmont, shares her tips for building healthy, filling salads.
“You can customize your salad or bowl to your tastes and dietary needs with whatever you have on hand,” says Falkenberg. “Start with greens and grains or noodles; add vegetables, protein, dressing or healthy fat, and fun add-ins for more flavor, crunch and nutrition. Incorporate leftovers, be creative and experiment.”
Start with your base
Start with a base layer of green and grains or noodles.
Greens: Spinach, arugula, Swiss chard, kale, mixed greens or shaved Brussels sprouts
Grains/noodles: Quinoa, rice (brown, black, wild), oats, sorghum or buckwheat
Add vegetables
“Think color and pick at least three vegetables or one from each category below,” she says.
Raw: Shredded carrots, radishes, purple cabbage/cabbage slaw mix, sliced fennel, bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, sugar snap peas or cucumbers
Cooked: Roasted broccoli, onions, cauliflower, eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini, green beans, Brussels sprouts, or red and golden beets
Complex carbohydrates: Sweet potatoes, pumpkin or squash (acorn, delicata and butternut)
Pick your protein
Protein helps build lean muscle and keeps you full. Try four ounces of one of the following:
Beans like black, chickpeas (hummus), cannellini or adzuki
Chicken
Edamame
Eggs (over easy, soft boiled, or chopped hard boiled)
Lean beef
Lentils
Reduced fat cheese
Seafood (sardines, tuna, shrimp, salmon)
Tempeh
Tofu
Turkey
Yogurt
Add healthy fats
Healthy fats are essential for good health and help keep you satiated.
Try adding avocado to your salad or drizzle on one of these dressings:
Maple mustard vinaigrette
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon stone ground or Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a wide-mouth jar with a lid. Secure lid and shake well until the vinaigrette is thick and creamy.
Ginger almond dressing
Ingredients:
1/4 cupalmond or peanut butter
1/4 cupwater
1 tablespoon olive, avocado orsesame oil
2tablespoons tamari or coconut aminos
1 tablespoonlemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon mincedginger
1 clove minced garlic
Hot chili sauce to taste or cracked black pepper for less spice
Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl; adjust seasoning and water to suit your taste.
Add some fun toppings
Depending on what you’re craving, add a few yummy toppings, such as:
Something sweet, such as apples, pears, grapes, pomegranate seeds, oranges, bananas, unsweetened dried cranberries, fresh berries, pineapple or mango
Something crunchy, like toasted sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, peanuts, slivered or crushed almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, chia or flax seed, or cacao nibs
Fresh herbs, such as basil, mint, dill, chives, cilantro or parsley (try mixing two)
Something fermented, like sauerkraut, a drizzle of yogurt or kefir, miso (add to dressing recipe), tempeh or kimchi (fermented vegetables)
Finally, when preparing your salad ingredients, Falkenberg recommends making enough for three meals to maximize your time in the kitchen, giving you more time for summer fun.
Check out more recipes and nutrition tips from Cancer Wellness experts.
FAQs
Add your protein
Protein also provides a feeling of fullness that you won't get from vegetables alone. Add one or more of these protein-rich foods to your salad: lean meat: chicken or turkey breast, lean steak. lower-fat cheese: light cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, feta, goat cheese.
Why is my salad not filling? ›
Salads are naturally low in calories or kilojoules. This is because salads mostly contain vegetables, which have a high water content. This may mean you don't feel very satisfied after eating your salad – making it hard to stay full until your next meal.
How to be full after eating salad? ›
How to make your salads more filling
- Add some texture. Adding some crunchy elements not only means your body has to work slightly harder to digest it (a good thing in this situation), it also makes your meal waaaaaay more interesting to eat. ...
- Incorporate starchy vegetables. ...
- Add some fat.
Use hefty greens as your base. Iceberg lettuce is still a vegetable, but darker greens like arugula, spinach, and kale contain far more antioxidants, fiber, and minerals like iron. They're also going to fill you up a lot more because they have a heartier texture.
What is the secret to making a good salad? ›
Season, taste, repeat
Every salad component should taste good enough to eat on its own, so season your leaves, your dressing, and your add-ins (raw veg, roasted veg, croutons, nuts, and protein), tasting for salt and acid as you go. Toss, taste, and—maybe, just maybe—season again.
What is the healthiest salad mix? ›
Best: Spinach or Kale Salad
They have the most nutrients. Case in point: Kale and spinach have over 10 times more immune-boosting vitamins A and C than iceberg lettuce. Not a fan of those? Turn over a new leaf: Boston, bibb, and romaine lettuces have a mild flavor, while arugula and watercress have a peppery bite.
What is the healthiest salad dressing? ›
8 Simple and Healthy Salad Dressings
- Sesame ginger. This simple salad dressing doubles as an easy marinade for meat, poultry, or roasted veggies. ...
- Balsamic vinaigrette. ...
- Avocado lime. ...
- Lemon vinaigrette. ...
- Honey mustard. ...
- Greek yogurt ranch. ...
- Apple cider vinaigrette. ...
- Ginger turmeric.
"Some salads might leave you feeling fatigued or hungry because they are lower in calories with fruits and vegetables alone," says Kolesa. She recommends adding protein and healthy fats to make it a balanced meal that will keep you full.
What to avoid in salad for weight loss? ›
Crunchy Noodles, Wontons, and Tortilla Strips
“Crunchy noodles are like eating chips,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.N., creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of Read It Before You Eat It. All they add to your salad are calories (around 120 per half cup) and fat (half of those calories, at around 60 grams).
Can I eat as much salad as I want and still lose weight? ›
Yes. Salads are indeed great for weight loss. However, they can be ruined if you added the wrong ingredients. Always be careful to use healthy ingredients and if possible, have homemade salads.
Eating a salad a few times a week can significantly increase your vegetable intake, providing more of the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy. Adding a salad to your meals every day is one of the simplest dietary changes you can make to improve your health.
What can you bulk up a salad with? ›
Beans, pulses and grains add substance to a salad and really fill you up. They are also great at absorbing the flavours of the dressing. Try chickpeas, beans, cooked and cooled lentils, brown rice, quinoa, and couscous.
Will I lose weight if I eat salads for 30 days? ›
Whether you will lose weight or not by eating salads for 30 days is dependent on what's in your salads and how much you eat. As with any other diet, if you don't create a calorie deficit, you won't lose weight (7).
Does salad fill you up fast? ›
A typical light salad (a teaspoon or two of olive oil, a bit of vinegar, and just vegetables and maybe some chicken breast) shouldn't make you feel full or stuffed as long as you don't eat a huge volume; at that point, it will just be the volume of food that fills you up and not the various combined macros or “Calories ...
How do you bulk up a salad kit? ›
your salad kit:
- Add a protein- always always add a protein. This will. help keep you fuller for longer and turn your salad into. ...
- Add a healthy Carb- mix it in, use it as a base, or roll. your salad greens in it...I don't care how you do it as. ...
- Add in more vegetables- because the more.
