Thinking Outside the Salad Bowl
Losing weight but losing interest in your same-old, same-old salads? Jazz up your salad bowl (and keep shedding those pounds) by experimenting with tasty new toppings that are low or moderately low in calorie density, such as:
- Cut-up baby red potatoes (Are leftover roasted potatoes from last night's dinner in the fridge? Toss them into today's salad.)
- Grilled shrimp
- Corn kernels
- Sliced radishes
- Shelled edamame
- Cut-up fruit, like pears, apples, and mangoes
- Grilled salmon (Again, leftovers from last night's dinner make great toppings on your salad for the following day.)
- Wild rice (Make up a big batch on Sunday and spoon into your salads throughout the week.)
- Beans, like pinto, garbanzo, and cannellini beans
- Fresh basil (especially nice with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing)
- Nonfat ricotta cheese (A little goes a long way.)
- Scallions
- Napa cabbage
- Grilled chicken
- Roasted red bell peppers (Or try the miniature versions of red, yellow, and orange bell peppers - so rich and yummy when roasted! - newly available at many stores, including Costco)
The point here is: Don’t give up on your salads. Just get a little more creative. Eating big (really big) salads truly is the way to enjoy a lot of good food, feel nice and full, and keep your total calorie count for the day to a minimum.
Bottom Line: Super-sized salads will create a much smaller-sized you.
