by Anna TourkakisEat Your (Winter) Salad
As temperatures remain in the chill zone for several more weeks, salads may not be on the menu. Instead soups, casseroles, and long braised stews are cooking. These typical winter comforts can be high in ‘energy density’ better known as calories. Unless you shovel all the snow in your street, that energy may be stored as fat on your body that will have to be ‘run off’ in the spring. One way to prevent storage of those sticky calories is to add a tasty light salad to a meal.
Salads can vary from just leafy greens to complete meals.
A green salad contains only green leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach, arugula, mesculin, etc.). Simple salads have one main ingredient, raw or boiled, such as a tomato salad or a potato salad. When salads include grilled or roasted ingredients, they are referred to as warm salads. A complete meal salad offers elements typically expected in an entrée, such as a protein and a starch.
• Iceberg lettuce stays crispy after being cut or prepared.
• Bibb lettuce, also known as Boston lettuce, has pliable tender leaves with a velvety texture.
• Romaine lettuce has a strong green flavor and coarse deep green straight leaves.
• Leaf lettuce, red or green color is mild in flavor with crisp fluffy leaf edges.
• Mesculin is a mixture of baby greens.
• Arugula has a strong peppery taste and strong flavor, best used as an addition.
A drizzle of dressing made with good quality oil and vinegar, herbs and spices embellishes salads’ unique flavors, textures and goodness. So, balance those wintry comfort foods with a light and refreshing salad.
For a great winter-time salad check out my Field of Greens with Black Grapes and Farmers Cheese!
Anna Q. Tourkakis, DTR, MPA is a nutritional counselor. She teaches nutrition to food service professionals at North Shore Community College and does cooking demonstrations and healthy eating related presentations. Anna Q. Tourkakis, DTR, MPA is a nutritional counselor. She teaches nutrition to food service professionals at North Shore Community College and does cooking demonstrations and healthy eating related presentations.
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