Today's Tip: Salad

Eat more salads, not because they are "Diet food" but because when built properly, they are packed with nutrients.  Keep a variety of ingredients on hand and create your own salad buffet every day of the week.  Get creative and chop, dice, shred, or slice your salad.

Tips to building a better salad

Load up with nutrient-dense ingredients such as:

• Leafy greens - arugula, bibb lettuce, escarole, red or green leaf lettuce, iceberg, napa cabbage, spinach, radicchio, romaine
• Vegetables - artichokes, bean sprouts, beets, bell pepper, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, corn, cucumbers, mushrooms, onions, peas, radishes, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, water chestnuts, zucchini
• Fruits - dried cranberries or apricots, apple, blueberries, grapes, mandarin oranges, melon, pears, raisins, strawberries
• Beans - black beans, chickpeas, edamame, kidney beans, navy beans

Sprinkle on some extras but go easy, these toppings can pack on extra fat and calories:

• Cheese - blue cheese, cheddar, feta, mozzarella, parmesean
• Nuts - almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, walnuts
• Other - Avocado, chow mein noodles, croutons, olives, sunflower seeds

Make your salad a main dish by adding:

• Lean beef, chicken, ham, hard boiled egg, salmon, shrimp, tofu, tuna, turkey

Delicious Salad combos:

• Romaine, grape tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, carrots, avocado and shrimp
• Mixed greens, chicken, melon, walnuts, and feta
• Spinach, red onion, mandarin oranges and almond slices

Add a light salad dressing and enjoy!