Rosalee Brown WE ARE experiencing some very hot summer days. Most of us are not looking forward to spending too much time in warm kitchens, preparing meals over warm stove tops and in ovens. One way to continue to consume nutritious meals without too much cooking is to prepare more salads. The variety of salads is endless and our creativity can yield amazing and tasty results.
Salad greens
Buy freshly harvested lettuce, cabbage, water cress, celery, parsley and young cucumbers. Buy just enough that you can keep them fresh and sweet for maybe a week.
Add more colour with purple cabbage, carrots, redand yellow bell peppers and add sweet tomatoes, sweet and tarty fruits such as apples, pineapples and firm mangoes.
Try some purple onions or scallion tops for a different twist.
Some basic rules of a good salad:
Use fresh and wholesome ingredients.
Clean your ingredients well.
Dry your ingredients well. This is very important as excess water can affect the flavour of the dressing and prevent your salad from keeping fresh for more than a day. There are some very useful tools now available that can spin your salad greens and get rid of every drop of water. I just love them as they extend the life of my salads.
Use clean cutting boards and knives as salad greens can pick up 'off' flavours from other ingredients you do not want in your salad. Tear salad greens instead of shredding with a knife to reduce the speed of unsightly browning.
Use your creativity in combining the vegetables and fruits that you like.
Do not try to use all the ingredients in one salad; experiment with different combinations. Try a green salad dotted with colour and some sweet or tart fruit then, on another day, use a different combination of fruits and vegetables.
To complete a salad you need a dressing. You can make your own with an oil base such as olive oil; a cream sauce or add tart or tang with your choice of vinegar (balsamic or any of the other flavoured ones). A fruit juice can be added to the oil. Season the dressing with any choice of fresh herbs if you so desire.
Garnish the salad with your choice of herbs, seeds, slivered almonds, other nuts or even croutons.
Chill
Serve in an attractive container.
Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.Main dish salads
A salad with only vegetable and some fruits will only serve as side dishes, but these same salads can be transformed into a meal by adding sources of protein and carbohydrate. Here's how to do this:
Marinate chicken breast, wrap and then put in a microwave dish and cook. If you can tolerate the heat, you can use the toaster oven or grill. Slice or cube the chicken and add to the salad. Other choices of protein are boiled eggs, ham, beef, shell fish, peas, beans, nuts and cheeses.
Additional carbohydrate can come from whole kernel corn, beans, peas and croutons.
A bean salad can be a great main dish salad on a bed of greens.
Why not start experimenting with some new combination of salads this summer, you might just find a new love and be able to reduce your caloric intake as you enjoy some sumptuous new dishes.
Enjoy your summer salads!
