Salad... Have you heard of it?!

It’s usually green, and has salad dressing.... Or that’s what 98% of people consider to be a salad. Maybe you’re adventurous and add croutons & olives- how daring of you!!

Most Americans eat a green salad once a week and its served as a SIDE DISH. It’s the decoration on the plate you push around but never makes it to your mouth. You despise it  and you aren't even sure why...

Let’s take a look at this DISH most people try their hardest to avoid!

Types of Salads:

~Green Salad

The "green salad" or "garden salad" is most often composed of leafy vegetables such as lettuce varieties, spinach, or arugula.  

~Vegetable salad

Vegetables other than greens may be used in a salad. Common vegetables used in a salad include cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, spring onions, red onions, avocado, carrots, celery, and radishes. Other ingredients, such as olives,hard boiled egg, artichoke hearts, heart of palm, roasted red bell peppers, green beans, croutons, cheeses, meat , or seafood are sometimes added to salads.
~Bound salad

A "bound" salad is assembled with thick sauces such as mayonnaise. Examples include tuna salad, pasta salad, chicken salad, egg salad, and potato salad.Bound salads are often used as sandwich fillings.

~Main course salad

Main course salads commonly known as "entree salads" may contain chicken pieces, seafood , or  sliced steak can be placed upon the salad. Chicken Cesar salad, Chef salad, Cobb salad, Greek salad are types of dinner salad.

~Fruit & Dessert  salads

You know what they are and they are definitely NOT a meal!

When i say I'm making a salad for dinner, I mean I'm making a Green-Vegetable-Main course salad. That is MY definition of a Salad! The more items you add to the salad, the more filling and satisfying it will be! I have a few favorites i like to make such as a Grilled Chicken Salad, BBQ- Habanero Chicken Salad, and a Fiesta Pollo Salad to name a few.

Last night our dinner salad had: Chicken, lettuce, tomato, carrot, red pepper, cucumber, snap peas, mushrooms, zucchini & flax seed oil. Topped with a choice of dressings: Ranch for the hubby & Raspberry vinaigrette for me and a side of Jalapenos bread- it was amazing! Jared even STOLE some of my lettuce cause his was disappearing so quickly! I listed the MAIN vitamins in each veggie I used below:  (there is SO MUCH MORE stored in each veggie- i cant name it all at this time)__________________________________________________________________________________

Lettuce- leaf vegetable: Vitamin A & folic acid
Tomato- fruit: Lycopene (most powerful antioxidant)

Carrot- root vegetable:  B-carotene (vitamin a)

(Red) Pepper- Compared to green peppers, the level of carotene, like lycopene, is nine times higher in red peppers. Red peppers have twice the vitamin C content of green peppers. Also, one large red bell pepper contains 209 mg of vitamin C, which is three times the 70 mg of an average orange.

Cucumber- gourd,: Lignan

Mushroom- fungus: Vitamin B, riboflavin, niacin & essential minerals

Zucchini- Summer Squash: Folate, potassium and vitamin A , manganese.

Sweet pea- Legume: phytonutrient

Flax seed oil- OMEGA 3
Chicken- tasty-licious protein __________________________________________________________________________________

The Vitamins & Nutrients found in a salad have life saving

components & keep your heart young.

 Dark leafy greens have the highest nutrition density scores based on identified phytochemicals, antioxidant activity and total vitamin and mineral content. We should be eating dark leafy greens with each meal or at least a few times per day for optimum health.
According the Dr Joel Fuhrman, author of Eat to Live, Raw leafy green vegetables such as dark green salad mix, romaine lettuce, kale, collards, dandelion greens, mustard greens, spinach, Swiss chard, parsley and daikon greens fit the bill, with solid green vegetables being second highest on the chart.

Now, knowing that, will you eat them on a daily basis?  



Would you know Kale if you saw it on your plate?



Or do you even eat vegetables at all?

The fiber in Romaine lettuce adds another plus in its column of heart-healthy effects. In the colon, fiber binds to bile salts and removes them from the body. This forces the body to make more bile, which is helpful because it must break down cholesterol to do so. This is just one way in which fiber is able to lower high cholesterol levels.
- Bye bye Lipitor!

So it’s time to make an acquaintance with salads if you don't  know them already! They don't always have to be the MAIN dish, but add them into your menu’s a couple times a week. Another way to get all your veggies into your body without munching them down is JUICING!



But we'll leave that to another discussion another time.

Heather