Take a fresh look at salads and you’ll see there are a lot of exciting developments in the salad bowl. Banished forever is the image of salads as dull diet food consisting of little more than limp lettuce and soggy, flavorless tomatoes.
Today, salads are one of the ultimate health foods. They can contain an exciting variety of colorful, delicious, and satisfying ingredients that provide the nutrients essential for healthy living. Remember, salads aren’t just for summer. We have plenty of ideas for salads that brighten and lighten winter mealtimes, too. In fact, once you get into the habit of thinking “salad” while menu planning, ideas will also come to you whatever the time of the year as you push your shopping cart along the supermarket aisles or stop at the cheese counter or produce department.
Salads are versatile enough to cater for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Meat, seafood, and poultry are ideal salad ingredients, along with the perhaps more commonly used lettuce and other leaves, vegetables, fruit, herbs, nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, and cheese. And with so many ingredients to choose from, salads can be as simple and light or complex and filling as you like. They also have the added bonus that they are versatile enough to fit easily into all your meal plans, from first courses through to desserts.
As you flip through these recipes you’ll find classic favorites—Caesar salad, chef’s salad, and salad niçoise, to name a few—as well as fresh, new ideas that capture the flavors of cuisines around the world. If, for example, the idea of
As you flip through these recipes you’ll find classic favorites—Caesar salad, chef’s salad, and salad niçoise, to name a few—as well as fresh, new ideas that capture the flavors of cuisines around the world. If, for example, the idea of chicken salad doesn’t excite because you’ve been making the same recipe out of habit for as long as you can remember, try Thai-Style Chicken Salad. You’ll never think of chicken salad as humdrum again!
Bowls of Goodness
It wasn’t long ago that when “salads” and “health” were linked it was in the context of weight-reducing diets that were restrictive and ultimately unsatisfying. Today, however, salads are a delicious component of a healthy diet, giving you endless variety at mealtimes without long hours in the kitchen.
With fresh produce from all corners of the globe readily available in supermarkets and gourmet food stores, you can enjoy a variety of salads all year round but, remember, salads are at their most flavorsome and nutritious when made with seasonal produce in its prime.
We are all being urged to eat more fruit and vegetables every day, and a salad a day can go a long way to help you meet the minimum target of 2½ cups for adults. Enjoy a bowl of Traditional Greek Salad or Three-Color Salad, for example, and you’ll be more than halfway to success. What could be easier—or more enjoyable?
Salads also make great accompaniments, served alongside a filling bowl of pasta or a plate of hot or cold roast meat.
So, if you regularly fall back on the old favorite of just tossing a few green leaves with a simple oil-and-vinegar dressing, it’s definitely time to think again. And don’t make the mistake of thinking all salad ingredients have to be raw, either. Adding small amounts of cooked meat, poultry and seafood to lettuce leaves and other vegetables gives you a satisfying meal. If you want a meal-in-a-bowl, try Roast Pork with Pumpkin, Smoked Chicken Salad with Avocado & Tarragon Dressing, and Shrimp & Rice Salad, for example. There are plenty of vegetarian main-course salads, too, such as the Middle Eastern favorite Tabbouleh and Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Smoked Tofu.
Cooked vegetables also make good salad ingredients. Grilled peppers, fried eggplants, blanched beans of all varieties, and peas are just some of the cooked vegetables.
Salads also make great accompaniments, served alongside a filling bowl of pasta or a plate of hot or cold roast meat.
So, if you regularly fall back on the old favorite of just tossing a few green leaves with a simple oil-and-vinegar dressing, it’s definitely time to think again. It’s very easy to mix and match ingredients and the choice has never been greater. And don’t make the mistake of thinking all salad ingredients have to be raw, either. Adding small amounts of cooked meat, poultry and seafood to lettuce leaves and other vegetables gives you a satisfying meal. If you want a meal-in-a-bowl, try Roast Pork with Pumpkin, Smoked Chicken Salad with Avocado & Tarragon Dressing, and Shrimp & Rice Salad, for example. There are plenty of vegetarian main-course salads, too, such as the Middle Eastern favorite Tabbouleh and Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Smoked Tofu.
Cooked vegetables also make good salad ingredients. Grilled peppers, fried eggplants, blanched beans of all varieties, and peas are just some of the cooked vegetables.
