Salad Toppers - The Top Healthy Toppings For Your Salad

If you are trying to eat healthy, salads are a wonderful option for you to enjoy. The problem is that many people make their salads a calorie trap by using the wrong salad toppers. However, you will find that there are plenty of healthy toppings out there that you can enjoy. Here are several top salad toppers that you can use for a healthy salad.

Topping #1 - Tomatoes

One of the healthy salad toppers you will want to add to your salad is tomatoes. Tomatoes are wonderful for you and you can use fresh or even canned tomatoes on the top of your salad. The great thing about tomatoes that they include lycopene, which is a very powerful antioxidant. It is linked to reducing certain cancers like breast and colon cancers.

Topping #2 - Various Beans

Another of the healthy salad toppers is various types of beans, such as black beans, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans. These are heart healthy toppings that add protein, complex carbs, and even iron to your healthy salad.

Topping #3 - Seeds

You will find that different types of seeds make great salad toppers as well. Some of the best seeds to add to your salad include pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds. These seeds include a lot of fiber, vitamin E, and various B vitamins. You can eat these toasted or raw on your salads for a nice crunch.

Topping #4 - Canned Fish

Canned fish can actually be a great healthy topping option that you may want to use on your salads too. This includes tuna and salmon. Fish includes omega-3s, which can help to lower your risk of developing heart disease. While it is nice to grill the fish for a salad, simply going with canned options are an easy way to top off your fish. This is a simple way that you can add healthy protein to every salad.

Topping #5 - Dried Cranberries

If you enjoy the sweet option, dried cranberries are a wonderful option. They are full of great antioxidants, they include high amounts of vitamin C, and they are very low in calories as well. This fruit is tangy and tart and they taste wonderful with pecans or walnuts. Here is a look at a great recipe that includes cranberries.

Cranberry Chicken Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups of romaine lettuce chopped1 cup of baby spinach1 cup of shredded or chopped chicken? cup of dried cranberries? cup of walnutsRaspberry vinaigrette dressing to taste

Preparation:

Cook chicken and cool. Shred or chop into smaller pieces. Chop romaine lettuce. Add to a salad bowl. Add in the baby spinach. Add the chicken and then toss. Top with walnuts and dried cranberries. Add the raspberry vinaigrette dressing to your own taste.

Serves 2 people.

Salads are a wonderful way to enjoy a healthy diet and they also go great with steak dinners as well. Find more great salad recipes and steak marinade recipe options that will make a wonderful dinner. Enjoy a flank steak marinade or other tasty marinades for a tasty steak.

Easy Steak Marinades Help Make a Truly Mouthwatering Meal - EasySteakMarinades.net

Make The Most Of Salads - Making Healthy Choices

Whether you are eating out and hitting up the salad bar or you are trying to create your own salads for a nice dinner party, you want to make sure that you only go with healthy choices. Even though you are eating a salad, it does not mean that it is healthy for you. It is important to learn which options are the best when it comes to salad bars. This way you get the best nutrient punch while enjoy a crisp and delicious salad.

Go with the Darker Greens

To make the most of a salad, start out by going with the darker greens. The dark leafy greens, such as romaine or spinach are going to be packed with great nutrients. Just one cup is going to offer you vitamin K and vitamin A, which are important to a healthy diet. They also provide plenty of fiber, folate, and even vitamin C. You will not get these benefits from the lighter greens that often end up in salads.

Add Veggies in Plenty of Colors

Make your salad as colorful as possible by adding veggies in all different colors. Choose veggies that are bright and attractive. This can include green peppers, red peppers, red tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, beets, and more. These veggies are packed with great nutrients as well, making the most of the salad that you are going to eat.

Lean Proteins

Instead of going with high fat proteins, choose lean proteins for your salad. One great way to get plenty of protein is to add in kidney beans and chickpeas. A half cup of beans will provide plenty of fiber and a lot of protein too. Both tuna and grilled chicken make great protein additions to a salad. Even lean cuts of grilled steak can make a wonderful protein addition to your salad. Other ways to add protein include adding hard cooked eggs, some cottage cheese, or just a bit of low fat cheeses. Avoid ham or anything that is oil or mayonnaise based.

Have Fun with Some Crunch

It is always nice to have some crunch in a good salad. You can get more crunch by adding in sunflower seeds, walnuts, or even some sesame seeds. These are better options than Asian noodles or croutons. Jazz up a salad with a bit of Parmesan cheese as well, which adds a nice tang to the salad you are creating.

Don't Forget to Garnish

As you are creating salads, do not forget to garnish your salad as well. One option is to add a sweet garnish by adding in some fresh fruit. Avoid going with fruits that are canned in a thick, sugar filled syrup. Grapes, watermelon, fresh berries, peaches, or even oranges make great garnishes to add a hint of sweet.

Be Careful with Dressings

Last, you do not want to ruin your entire salad by choosing the wrong dressing. Avoid the high fat, creamy dressings unless they are specifically low fat options. The best options are to make your own dressings or to simply add some vinegar and olive oil with a bit of pepper to your salad.

Salads are a healthy choice as long as you carefully choose the ingredients. Consider serving as a nice side with lean steaks. Look for a flank steak marinade recipe you like or find another great steak marinade to use for a nice dinner of steak and salad.

Easy Steak Marinades Help Make a Truly Mouthwatering Meal - EasySteakMarinades.net

How to Get More Healthy Walnuts Into Your Diet? Delicious Salad Recipes With Walnuts

Walnuts are small nutritional gems and doctors and nutritionists say we don't eat enough of them. Many times people stay away from them because of the fat content. The problem is, they provide the healthy fats that our bodies need to function properly. A cup of raw walnuts contains 18 grams of fat. However, that number contains no trans (bad) fats and only 2 grams of saturated fat. So 16 of those grams are healthy fats. The amount of saturated fat you would get in a serving of either of these salads wouldn't even be enough to count and these nuts have no cholesterol.

Walnuts are equal in carbohydrates and protein and very low in sugar with less than a gram of sugar per cup, making them perfect for diabetics. They also provide iron, calcium, vitamins C and E in small amounts. Everyone should include walnuts in their diet and adding them to salads is a good way to do that. This article has recipes for a Chicken, Peach, and Walnut Salad as well as well as an Apple Walnut Salad. If you aren't fond enough of walnuts to eat them raw, this is a great way to get them into your diet. For this article, I have included the nutritional information.

CHICKEN, PEACH, AND WALNUT SALAD
This recipe works for diabetics because of the carb to protein ratio and the 3 grams of fiber per serving. Remember there is basically no nutritional value in iceberg lettuce so it is best not to use it as a substitute for the mixed spring greens.

2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken breast
2 fresh peaches (medium sized), peeled and chopped coarse
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup mayonnaise (fat-free preferred)
1 tsp curry powder
8 cups packaged spring salad greens

In a medium mixing bowl combine the chicken, peaches, raisins, walnuts, mayonnaise, and curry powder. Gently toss to combine ingredients until coated.

Place salad greens on salad plates and top with the chicken mixture.

Yield: 4 servings

HEALTHY APPLE WALNUT SALAD

1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons canola or olive oil
1 1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt, optional
dash of fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
1 head of Bibb lettuce, separate into leaves
1 red apple, thinly sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced

In a small bowl,using a wire whisk, combine the vinegar, oil, honey, salt, and black pepper. Whisk together well. Stir in the cheese.

On four salad plates evenly divide the Bibb lettuce leaves. Divide the apple slices evenly and arrange over the lettuce leaves. Drizzle the dressing over the four salads and sprinkle the toasted chopped walnuts over the top.

Nutritional information per salad: Approximately 147 calories, 8 g (2 sat.)fat, 3 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 3 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 207 mg sodium

Per serving with 1/2 cup chicken mixture and 2 cups salad greens: 277 calories, 19 g carbs, 26 g protein, 3 g fiber, 12 g (1 g sat)fat, 57 mg cholesterol, 295 mg sodium Note: This analysis figured using fat-free mayonnaise!

Diabetic exchanges: 3 lean meats, 1 1/2 fat, 1 starch

Enjoy!

For more of Linda's recipes visit her blog at http://grandmasquickfixrecipes.blogspot.com/
For her diabetic information and recipes visit http://diabeticenjoyingfood.blogspot.com/

A Salad a Day - An Important Part Of A Healthy Diet

Planning out dinners ahead of time can be a great way to ensure you keep food costs down and that you eat healthy meals. As you are planning dinner, you may want to start planning out salads for each day. After all, a healthy salad can be an important part of a healthy diet. It is important that you get plenty of vegetables each day and eating a salad is one of the best ways you can do this.

One of the reasons that it is such a good idea to go with a salad a day is because of all the nutrients that can be found in salads. Many of the types of lettuce and veggies that are put in salads are full of nutrients that your body needs, which means they are a great addition to a healthy diet. Another reason that salads are a great option for dinner each night is because they will help you stop eating as much of other foods at dinner time. You will fill up on salad and eat less of the higher calorie and fat foods, which can definitely help you to lose some weight.

A Few Tips to Help

If you are going to start eating a salad a day as a part of a healthy diet, there are a few tips you can use to make it a nice event. First, make sure that you make enough salad to last for a couple of meals. This way you do not have to take the time to make a new salad every single day. Leftover salads can also be a great lunch or snack during the day as well.

Another great tip is to always make sure you have fresh veggies on hand. Keep them in the crisper so they do not wilt and so they stay fresh as long as possible. Mixing up your salads is a great way to keep them interesting as well. Throw in different veggies or vary the toppings on them from time to time. Also, do not turn your salad into a fat or calorie trap. Avoid using high fat dressings, croutons, bacon bits, or high calorie cheeses.

Large Vegetable Salad Recipe

This recipe is for a large salad that will serve several people. It is full of great veggies that will definitely help you stick to a healthy diet.

What You will Need:

1 julienned kale leaf1 head of Romaine, torn into bite size pieces1-2 cups of baby spinach leaves1 small radish, chopped into very thin slices1 carrot, grated or chopped1 cucumber, finely sliced1 big tomato, chopped4-6 leaves of sweet basil, torn into small pieces1/3 cup of Italian parsley, chopped coarselyBlack pepperSea SaltExtra virgin olive oilRed wine vinegarDried Italian seasoning or oregano

How to Make It:

Mix together kale leaf, romaine, baby spinach, radish, carrots, cucumber, tomato, basil, and parsley in a large bowl. Toss well. Add black pepper and sea salt to taste. Add the extra virgin olive oil and the red wine vinegar to taste. Mix well to distribute the oil and vinegar. Top with the Italian seasoning or Oregano.

Oven baked fish recipes, homemade tartar sauce
A salad can be a great addition to any meal. Add a salad on the side when you make oven baked fish recipes. Look for a tasty homemade tartar sauce recipe to compliment your healthy fish meal as well.

EasyFishRecipes.net - The Only Thing Better Than Our Recipes Is Catching Them Yourself!