Colorful, Healthy Salads

As mentioned yesterday, this month is National Nutrition Month, with a theme of "Eat Right With Color."

It can be all too easy to boil your diet down to the same old colors. Interestingly, psychology has shown that Americans associate shades of reds and yellows with more "delicious" foods than greens and purples. You could even call them the "McDonald's" colors. Unfortunately, diets that are not varied can also be unhealthy. 

A great way to introduce more color and better nutrition into your meals this month is to eat more salads. Here are our tips for creating better salads:

• Instead of consuming a salad of iceberg lettuce, consider adding darker leaved greens such as spinach or romaine. Darker hues mean higher levels of important nutrients.
• Always add salad toppings like kidney beans, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, etc. to boost the nutrition levels AND the color factor!
• When picking a salad dressing, avoid creamy dressings and opt for the vinaigrette. When available, always choose a light version!
• Don't use too much dressing! A good way to evenly distribute a small amount of dressing on your salad is to put it in a tupperware and shake it up.

(c) Michael Werner graphics

Choosing a healthy salad dressing can often be the hardest part, with so many choices in the supermarket. Here are some tips for making your decision:

• A good rule-of-thumb is to look for dressings that contain < 8 grams of fat and < 300 mg of sodium per serving. These are typically "lighter" dressings.
• Check out the ingredient list - use dressings with canola or olive oil, which contain healthier fats.