Salads are a great way to keep your health in check while helping you stay full at the same time. However, sometimes coming up with different varieties of salads on a daily basis can seem challenging. Here’s our guide to making salad less boring for beginners.
- Change up the base: When it comes to the base of the salad instead of going for the same old lettuce, try blending different greens and grains like arugula, spinach, romaine, kale, cabbage, radicchio, dandelion greens or mixed greens to add more variety in terms of texture and flavour. Adding mixed greens ensures you get more nutrients into your weekly diet. Instead of the traditional leafy days, you can also change it with non-leady bases like quinoa or cauliflower rice.
- Spice it up by adding microgreens: Microgreens such as parsley, dill, basil, chives or mint add a kick to the salad and provide nutrition as they are rich in antioxidants.
- Load it up with veggies: Vegetables are low in calories, but high in nutrients, this means fewer calories and more nutrition! Vegetables like tomatoes, radishes, shredded cabbage, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, beets, snap peas, cucumbers, broccoli, corn, edamame, a red onion can be added to salads in raw form, and they are rich in vitamins and minerals.
- Add a fruit for a twist of flavour: along with your regular veggies add in one fruit like oranges, blueberries or apples for a sweet kick.
- Add more protein: protein keeps you feeling full for longer. So, add in proteins like tofu or Cottage cheese ( paneer) for a more protein-packed salad.
- Crunch things up: give your salad a little extra grit with some crunchy toppings or healthy fats. Try some roasted nuts like almonds, peanuts or walnuts to change up the texture.
- Smoothen it out: To add some contrast to the crunch, add a little something smooth, like roasted beets, winter squash, sweet potato or maybe some avocado slices.
- Add some heat: Toss in one or two warm elements onto your salad to switch up the whole experience. The easiest way to do this is to make the protein friendly: some paneer hot off the grill tossed with lettuce, onions, and toppings.
- Dress it up: Finally, the vital part of a salad is its dressing, which can make or break it. A different dressing can completely change the entire character of a salad. Keep in mind while making your dressing: 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil. Try using sesame oil and rice vinegar with a splash of soy sauce for an Asian spin. Red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, olive oil and plain old lemon juice are some very basic dressings to add unique flavours to your regular salad!