Monday, September 9, 2013

Who says salads are boring?

While trying to stay fit, work out and eat healthy meal time can become a bit routine. If you repeatedly eat the same foods then chances are you will soon tire of them and maybe even go scrounging around for something less healthy and more chocolatey.

Leafy greens are good for you but salads can get a bit boring if you eat them everyday. To maintain a healthy relationship with your greens you should try switching it up. Since lettuce can be rather bland there is a lot you can add to incorporate flavor.

Here is a dinner salad I made which is not only loaded with vitamins, fiber and protein but is also filling and delicious.

For this salad I used:
*Lots of chopped romaine lettuce
Romaine lettuce has tons of vitamin A, K and C and also contains fiber and water. It is low in calories, so eat as much as you want!

*Raw organic sunflower seeds
Sunflower seeds are very high in vitamin E which can help lower cholesterol.

*Cranberries, which are great for the urinary tract.

*Eggs, which are high in protein.

*Cheese

*Finley chopped green onion.

*Spicy chicken breast: the chicken breast I used is from M and M meat shop and is very lightly breaded and made with sunflower seed oil. One breast is 200 calories.

*Cucumbers

*Light/low fat ranch dressing

Mix different kinds of lettuce
You can purchase premixed salad blends that contain different types of lettuce. I like to add arugula to my salads because it has a unique taste.
I also like making my own vinaigrette dressing with grapeseed oil which tastes great in salad.
Cranberry, sunflower seed and feta cheese green salad
Cashew, cranberry and shredded chicken salad
Peppercorn chicken, apple and pecan salad
Add fruits and nuts:
Having a fruit salad is a sweet escape from a leafy green salad and can be a great snack. Adding fruit to a  lettuce based salad is also a great option. I like adding apples with toasted pecans, fresh berries with slivers of almonds or sweet mandarin orange with toasted cashews.
Sunflower seed, cheese and Mandarin orange salad in a vinaigrette dressing 
I love a delicious mango salad, for the recipe click: mango salad

Fiber is your friend
If you want to switch it up a bit try making a delicious bean salad! Bean salads are very filling, high in fiber and make a great lunch or side dish for dinner.
Mixed beans and sweet corn salad
More substantial salads:
Egg salad: If you want something a bit more for lunch why not try a nice egg salad sandwich on rye or whole wheat bread made with light mayo.
Chicken salad: 
Click HERE for the recipe

Pasta salad 
Rotini pasta salad with veggies
Sweet pepper, sun dried tomato and feta pasta salad
Potato salad
Potato salad with light mayo, mixed veggies, egg, sweet corn and cilantro
Other salads I love:
*Couscous salad
*Tabbouleh salad: made with tomatoes, cucumbers, finely chopped parsley, mint, onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
*Light/low fat Caesar salad

What is your favorite salad?

17 comments:

  1. All of those look amazing! I'm a little bunny rabbit when it comes to salads. I can eat them everyday lol. Also, making them yourself helps a lot. It makes it much more fun to come up with recipes to keep it from becoming boring. :)

    ciaobella0816.blogspot.com

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    1. I know, sometimes when I have the same old salad everyday I get tired of them but I learned to really spice up my salads, I also love mexican salads with tortilla mmm! I forgot to add that!

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  2. I never used to eat salad until my boyfriend made me a Thai inspired salad. I starting getting used to eating raw vegetables because of that and now I make and eat all kinds of salad.

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    1. Raw veggies can be a bit tough to swallow at first but I like to eat them with some low fat dressing or veggie dip. With the dip I can finish almost an entire pack of baby carrots lol.

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  3. This looks amazing I am a sucker for pasta, I do agree about the raw veggies is hard to get use to, I always end up eating them steamed!

    I just might have pasta tonight, thanks for the inspiration! =)

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  4. I know what you mean lettuce salads can get boring but not these salads! Thanks so much for the dinner inspiration!

    Rebecca
    www.winnipegstyle.ca

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  5. Loved this post! It definitely inspired me to be more creative with salads. I don't really care for traditional salads, but this was a good reminder there are easy ways to spice them up!

    sundays grace

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Thanks for stopping by :)

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  6. Oh wow!! I never thought of salads being anything other than lettuce with a few toppings!! You've completely broadened by view on this things. I might need to try a few of these!

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    1. Do try them out! Many of them are very delicious!

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  7. I always picture salads as the same, but you have shown such a variety of good, wholesome recipes that look so tasty. Hmmmm ... this could be Pin worthy!

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    1. They are tasty and many of them are very filling too!

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  8. I'm going to have salad for dinner tonight - they look tasty! Thanks for the ideas. : )

    Louisa @ My Family & Abruzzo

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  9. Salads are so not boring. I love salads and he ones you made look so good. I am going to have to try some of your recipes. mmm yumm :) thanks for sharing.

    www.muslimahluvsmakeup.blogspot.com

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  10. I eat salads every day, but that is something I am used to from my parents home. There is no meal I can imagine without a salad :-) And there are so many great recipes, I will try your recipe too sweetie, thanks for sharing!

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