How to Make the Perfect Salad
The Importance of Salads
I cannot stress enough how much I love salads. Salads, like smoothies, can be packed with essential nutrients without you even noticing. This can be extremely helpful to your diet or just plain boring. Here’s my guide to making the perfect salad.
Calories can cut calories & increase satisfaction.
It is important to make sure your salad contains more vegetables than any and everything else, so start with a base of your favorite vegetables. I have never made a salad that did not include the following: red onions, carrots, baby spinach and baby kale.
These are the fridge staples I keep for salads as far as vegetables are concerned:
Carbs:
Adding carbs to your salad depending on your goals is a great way to ensure your salad leaves you feeling fuller, longer. I like to keep a 3:1 ratio with my veggies to carbs ratio in a salad, so if my salad contains 3 cups of vegetables, I’ll add 1 cup of carbs. The carbs I’ll typically add to my salads are:
The chick peas, and corn I use in place of croutons to add a level of crunch to my salads.
Protein
The protein I use for my salad depends on a few things: my mood, and the other contents of the salad being the most pressing.
Nine times out of ten: I am entirely too lazy to cook my protein right before I am about to eat a salad, so this is my secret:
I always buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, and this lasts me 2-3 days with my family and friends eating as well, and that is typically how I go about adding protein to my salads. Our family favorite is the mojo chicken from Publix.
Now, for the most important element to any salad.
Dressing
I never sway from my dressing of choice: Balsamic Vinaigrette, and my absolute favorite is the Newman’s own balsamic.
Other Toppings
Avocado
Pomegranate Seeds
Strawberries
Almonds
Walnuts
Sweet Potato
Blueberries
Feta Cheese
