Summer days signal hot and humid weather and whenever it comes, everyone is trying to find ways to stay cool and comfortable. This also means that mostly, people are consuming light meals that are both cool and refreshing. Salads fit these descriptions perfectly, especially when we're talking about summer salads. And we'll talk all about the dish in this article.
Basically, summer salad is just like your average everyday salad but especially made for the hot season. It is made of fruits and vegetables that are refreshing to the senses. Of course, the most important factor to consider is that they should be light but still nutritional in value. And lastly, they should be easily prepared, since moving a lot during summer is definitely not an ideal thing to do, right?
Just the same, what works well in a summer salad is still the age old ingredient lettuce. Lettuce is mostly stored cool and very refreshing to the taste. Even its crisp property gives a little relief to those who eat it. Besides lettuce though, there are many other ingredients you can throw in a summer salad, and let's check them all piece by piece.
Fortunately, fruits and vegetables are plentiful enough in the summer months. Whether you are in grocery stores, fruit and vegetable stands or even farmer markets, you're sure to find wonderful sights and smells of these fresh little gems. And with that said, let's start talking about vegetables.
Just about any vegetable goes well with summer salads but there are especially better ones available out there. Cool favorites would be tomatoes and cucumbers, and when we're talking about summer tomatoes, we're talking about various shapes and colors that can also make your salad very lively. Tomatoes are mostly associated with the color red, but yellow and orange ones are plentiful in the summer months. Bite-sized cherry tomatoes to large beefy tomatoes, the variety is just something everyone can be excited about.
Another colorful vegetable that is perfect for any summer salad is pepper. Bell peppers are very tasty and you can get really creative with its variety. All pepper types: green, orange, red, purple and yellow peppers look very pretty in a salad dish and the color makes them much fun to eat too. For a little bit more crunch, try adding in some squash or zucchini into the mix. Now, that's one yummy treat for the whole family.
When we're talking about fruit, there's also an abundance to choose from to put body into your summer salad. Mostly, we'll have citrus fruits growing very much during summer season, as well as pears, peaches, apples and many kinds of berries too.
Citrus salads are very welcome since they are mostly composed of juices perfect for the humid season. Try mixing some limes, lemons and oranges together for a simple citrus salad. And if the sour taste of citrus is not to your liking, try making a salad composed of grapes, bananas and strawberries. To top the salad off, put in some marshmallows or whipped toppings. Add a cherry on top and voila! You now have a salad that will make even the pickiest eater water his mouth in anticipation.
In summary, there are quite a number of fruit and vegetable choices tossed together to form a great summer salad. Using a bit of imagination, you can make the summer days just as cool and refreshing as the salad you can concoct. Just be sure to not make it too complicated. You won't want stressing yourself in the summer days, right?
By Free Vegetable Recipes
All health conscious people love to eat salad and if you're one of those people, you probably know how sumptuous well-made salads can be. All that lettuce topped with your favorite dressing and sprinkled with other toppings is enough to make your mouth water. However, not all salads are really healthy as you might think, and discussed here are the factors you must consider if you have maximum health in mind while eating salads.
Most of the vegetable salads we know today are composed of a primary ingredient called lettuce. Now, don't get me wrong, lettuce is a very healthy thing to eat, however, its downside is that it really doesn't have much of an impact when regards to taste. That's why we include all those extras in our salads to enhance its flavor. Fruits can easily accomplish this, but most of the time, we add in a little bit sin to the meal.
These are the ingredients that make the salad not so healthy and if you'll like to have an actual example, then take a look at any local salad bar. If you take a closer look, many of the items in a salad bar are not for health conscious people, but all salad bar patrons love to include them in the mix. So, let's just take a closer look at these ingredients and provide some guidelines to lessen their consumption.
Obviously, fruits and vegetables are the healthy part of salad so we'll just look at the next tray of ingredients. Here we see bacon bits and croutons which are both adding to the downfall of your salad. Bacon bits and any other meat add fat to your body. But I'm not saying avoid them entirely, just moderate additional meat and you're perfectly fine.
Another part of salad we cannot do without are dressings. Generally, dressings are unhealthy, so the greatest way around the use of dressings is to measure just enough of them before you begin eating the salad. At an average, a two tablespoon of dressing will accumulate eleven grams of fat in your body. Not really a lot, but it can certainly build up overtime if you consume more.
Unfortunately, a salad is not a happy salad unless it has a dressing on top and adding flavor to every bite. That is why in order for you to cut back on the calories, here's a handy little tip you can implement. Try using a fat free or low calorie dressing to add flavor to your salads. Nowadays, this is already a very famous option seen on groceries, with most of our favorite flavors already having its low fat counterpart.
The downside to all these is that low fat dressings doesn't really taste the same as their original counterparts. This will probably make you use more of them, which is a downside to cost savings. For this problem, here's a possible solution. Instead of spreading the dressing evenly across the salad before you eat, try putting it in a small cup. Use the dressing as a dip for your salad, taking in only a few portions just to add taste to the vegetables. This way, you can monitor well your calorie intake and see more progress in your health efforts.
To sum it up, in order for a salad to become really healthy, you must pay attention to the ingredients you put in it. I know it takes a bit of self control but hopefully with these little tips, you can still enjoy eating your favorite salads without much toll on its taste.
By Free Vegetable Recipes
When people talk about salads, they mostly think that it's just the little dish made up of lettuce and other fixings, toppings and dressing they eat before starting the main course of every meal. Some will think that it's just the optional food you get from the salad bar at the corner of the restaurant. But nowadays, as more people become health conscious, making salad as the main course of the meal is becoming a great idea.
Main course salads have become quite a hit during these times when people are already mindful of what they eat. And in order for them to enjoy each meal, they are trying find ways into making their salads a delightful treat. Besides, salads are very easy to prepare. They are simply fixings thrown together and then consumed to fill up any empty stomach, taking you at most 15 minutes to prepare.
In preparation for a main course salad, try using a salad plate or some decorative salad bowl to enhance the presentation of the meal. Taco salad bowls can also work perfectly for any salad. These salad bowls can be seen on most grocery stores and doesn't necessarily need to be used for tacos. And if you really want to be creative, try using pita bread or taco shells for the main course salad base.
As for the filler, hands down the best vegetable to fill any salad is still lettuce. They come well with any meat enhanced salad too. And even if you're trying to make some pasta salad with some seafood like shrimp or tuna, lettuce leaves are still great for filling and presentation by making them act as a bed for the whole salad.
After creating the bed and filling, you can then go ahead and put all of your prepared vegetables into the main course salad mix. Possible examples would be mushrooms, onions, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. These veggies act as enhancement ingredients for your main course salad. As a matter of fact, the more veggies you pack in, the better. Of course, this is as long as the vegetable you're putting in will taste good for you. You really don't want to make something you wouldn't want to eat right?
Salads can be a complete main course dish too and with that said, let's take an ease now on all the vegetables and make the salad more filling. Chopped, sliced or diced meat like chicken, beef or pork is an optional addition to a perfect salad. They certainly add a great deal of flavor to the mix besides making the salad more filling and satisfying. Other alternatives can be seafood, ham or turkey if you have the budget. Or if you want to add some more protein, get some eggs into the mix (but not too much of course).
Don't forget to top your salad off afterwards before serving them. For toppings, you can use croutons, bacon bits, seeds or nuts, or even a combination of these options. Adding some cheese for the salad climax can add more substance to the presentation. Afterwards, let's get on to the dressings and we're all done.
If you want a change to the ordinary main course salad you're used to eat, try exploring other flavors to make the dish more exciting. Try making the salad with Mexican or Asian fixings to provide some spice or sweetness whichever you prefer. For example, adding some chow mien noodles gives the main course salad some oriental flare. Be sure to match the salad with a flavorful dressing afterwards. After all is said and done, dressings are still the ones that mostly dictate the flavor of the salad.
Salads have come a long way from becoming just rabbit food. I hope you'll have fun in making your own main course salad and please do keep in mind that when preparing the dish, let your taste buds and health consciousness dictate each step of the way.
By Free Vegetable Recipes
When it comes to leftovers, people are most often than not having hard times in making family members eat the meal. After seeing the same meal served again for lunch, your family may tend to get very picky and the food won't even get near to being eaten. What happens next is very obvious. The food will stay in the refrigerator for a couple of days and then, it goes to the trash for its final resting place.
When you think about it, this common scenario is such a waste. That's why this article provides an easy solution to save you money as well as keeping the complaints about the leftover food to a minimum. And as the title suggests, why not make a salad out of it? It's pretty simple when you think about it and it will certainly look like a brand new dish after you're finished making one.
If your leftovers are composed entirely of meat, then it's going to be a real walk in the park for your salad creation. That roast beef from dinner can be sliced and diced and added to a salad for some heavy lunch. And if you're having some trouble with leftover pork, try making an Asian salad side dish by adding them with some coleslaw and sesame seeds.
Taco salads are also great when you have some leftover hamburger lying on the fridge. Add some lettuce, onions, black olives, cheese and tomatoes and you'll have a real tasty treat. Toss the tortilla chips in and top the recipe for salad by some sour cream and you'll have the perfect snack to delight your family and friends. Just be sure you have enough for the sure-fire demand though.
If you're having problems with those turkey or chicken leftovers, I advise you not to throw them to the trash just yet. For these treats, try removing the meat from the bones and create strips from them using a fork. Add some pickles, hard boiled eggs, celery and mayonnaise into the chicken strips and you'll have the perfect lunch time salad you can even make your kids eat at school.
Another easy leftover ingredient to use in a salad would be vegetables. Now, this is quite straightforward since all you got to do is to add them up in a salad bowl and top the mix with some flavorful dressing. Nobody wants to eat leftover vegetables again, but when those carrots, broccolis and cauliflowers are added to a salad, just sit back and relax while your family automatically digs in into the meal.
The same is true when you're dealing with fruit. You have a certain hit on your hands if you're going to add your leftover fruit into some mix complete with marshmallows, nuts and whipped topping as a crown. Serve this as a dessert and your family will even love you more for it.
All in all, there's more life in your leftover foods than you might think existing. By using your leftovers in making salads, you're going to save time, effort and more importantly, money from throwing away good food. Just go and give it a try so that you can make those leftovers end up in the belly of your loved ones instead of inside the garbage can.
By Free Vegetable Recipes
Whenever you are fixing a salad, there are always a few ingredients that instantly come to mind. There is really no helping it, you will either think of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. You are possibly thinking of cheese and your favorite dressing too, but in any case, all of those ingredients are already too cliché. You can be very creative when it comes to salads too, and we get to explore other salad fixing ideas through this article.
When you go visit your favorite salad bar, I bet the first thing you will see is the lettuce section. As a matter of fact, creativity starts with this basic ingredient among salads. Chances are that the salad bar you frequent will contain other types of lettuce. Instead of choosing the one you like, try mixing them all up. The taste difference can be subtle, but this is where it all starts.
Next, try adding more of those vibrant colored vegetables into your salad. If you think about it, vegetables with different colors not only act as a decoration to your meal but can be very appetizing as well. Carrots and peppers look nice in a salad, or opt in for some "bloom" by adding in broccolis, cauliflowers or mushrooms too.
Most vegetables used in stir-fry are also perfect as salad fixings. Zucchinis and baby ears of corn are perfect examples. Most people don't even think about adding these ingredients for a salad, but actually they contribute a great deal of flavor if added into the mix.
All in all, a salad can be fixed with just about any vegetable you can think of. There is a reason why salads are considered to be very healthy meals, and are used frequently by those who are in diet or watching their weights. Just think about the nutritional value of each salad serving, especially when you add all the fixings just mentioned above.
It is not only vegetables that add nutritional value to a salad. For a really well-rounded meal, you can also add fruit into the mix. Most salad bars contain apples, pineapples and bananas. Other than these, there are also a couple of berry types you can use. Dried fruits like raisins or prunes add a lot of flavor to the mix. Generally, fruits are sweet and can really satisfy your palate. They add a lot of vitamins and minerals too, which means you're adding more nutrition to your meal besides those from the vegetables.
Lastly, it's worth considering also those toppings you see at the end of the salad bar line. Seeds, nuts and meat bits populate this area and instead of just going with the conventional cheese, why not add these ingredients too? You'll be surprised at how much flavor they can contribute to your salad. The trick is just to experiment, and you'll soon have your new favorites at the end of the meal.
In summary, when it comes to salad fixings, the sky is really the limit to how much experiment you can do. It's hard to break a tried and tested recipe, but as you try new things you might have never imagined eating in a salad, you'll soon find the new ingredients worth the taste too. Give those neglected fixings a chance, it's really much better and more fun that way.
By Free Vegetable Recipes
Whenever it's already salad time, people will begin to ready the key ingredients to complete the meal. Every recipe for salad includes lettuce and other vegetables, cheese, bacon bits and croutons. And to top it all off, the final recipe to flavor-up the salad - the dressing. Nowadays though, there are just so many salad dressings to choose from, so let us tackle some of them to help you decide on what to use for your salad.
No salad is complete without the dressing and frankly, I don't know anyone who'll eat a salad without it. In fact, when it comes to applying dressing, people mostly go into extremes. This is perfectly fine if you're not overly concerned with health or weight, but if you want to trim down on those fats, you need to be choosy on what you put on your salad.
There's no need to worry though since the choice for salad dressings is vast. Just take a look at any salad section of a grocery store and you'll find lots of them adorned with their brands. Each brand will span into different flavors too and it's quite confusing on what to choose to perfectly complement your meal. It's easy to say that the sky is the limit, unless if you're planning to prepare a specific type of salad, because sometimes a certain salad type can only go with a specific flavor of dressing too.
For instance, if you're going for some Caesar salad, you wouldn't think of any other dressing than the Caesar style. That's quite obvious, just like partnering a Cobb salad with some tasty Green Goddess dressing. Bottom line is that sometimes, in order for you to recreate that fancy restaurant taste for your salad, you just have to follow the norm of using its partner salad dressing because most of the time, it's better that way.
I can't blame you for being creative too and in fact, I highly suggest experimenting with your dressing decisions. With all the salad dressing choices in the grocery, you just have to trust your gut and your taste buds on what you think will do the trick. You may make mistakes in choosing, but the rewards are definitely greater when you find a combination that you'll always enjoy.
Salads are originally meant to be a healthy alternative meal. When we're talking about dressings though, most of the time, health is compromised. You have to admit, you'll rather want to smother your whole salad with some tasty dressing than just putting in a small amount. It's still a fact that in eating, we would mind the taste more than the health factor.
Read the label - this same rule applies when choosing a healthy dressing. Your recipe for salad should consist of correct measurements too if you want to monitor calorie intake. About 2 tablespoons of dressing will do, really. That's already 11 grams of fat, but it can be worse off if you don't measure.
You can also search for healthier salad dressings in the grocery like those low fat or low calorie ones aligned with the regular ones on the same isle. These alternatives are very famous for health conscious individuals. The taste of these products is nearly the same and the price doesn't really vary much, making them worth the difference for your health and weight efforts.
Of course, for the ultimate experiment, why not try making your own version of your favorite dressing at home? Olive or canola oil can be the building block of a wonderful home-made dressing. Put in some vinegar, add some lemon, pepper and other spices to taste, and amaze yourself with your own salad dressing creation.
By Free Vegetable Recipes
Face it. When someone tells you about salad, the first thing that pops into your mind would be lettuce. Although lettuce is the primary ingredient for most salads, it's not really a necessity for some salad recipes. Salads can be made from just about any ingredient you can think of and if you want to change things up a bit, fruit can be the best way to do it.
Obviously, fruit salads are mainly composed of, well, fruit. Some lettuce can be added to the salad if you wanted to, but still, the main component of the meal would be fruit. Fruits, like vegetables, come in different types and varieties too. Now, just thinking of the many ways you can use those fruits in luscious salads is enough to make your mouth water, right?
Like most salads, traditional fruit salads are also easily prepared. Most of the time, you just buy cans of fruit cocktail in the grocery, drain them of water, and dump the contents into the salad bowl. You can add a few extras into the fruit salad mix too, like sprinkles of coconut, whipped cream toppings, marshmallows and nuts.
Of course, traditional fruit salads don't need to come from just cans of fruit cocktail. You can make it healthier and take it a bit further by adding more fresh fruits into the mix. For this, you might be thinking that berries can very much work well. Not only berries though, but also peaches, pears, oranges, or well, just about any fruit you can think of that you're sure that will complement the overall taste of the fruit salad.
Traditional fruit salads are not meant to become main dishes though and are mostly associated as side dishes or dessert. In any case, they are still something your family or friends will look forward to eating. Basic fresh fruit salads can complement any breakfast perfectly well and if you're eager to have some quick snack, you can always reach for some of that chilled fruit salad as well.
One special type of salad would be citrus salad. Obviously, when we talk about citrus, it will most certainly be composed of oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes, which will certainly have a tinge of sour taste in it. Add in some toppings and other flavorings you believe will enhance the salad's flavor and it will become a certain hit for kids and adults alike. Of course, given the sourness of the ingredients, it always helps to add some whipped topping or some sugar-based dressing so to keep those eager lips from puckering up too much.
If you haven't tried it yet, why not make a fruit salad composed of some exotic ingredients for a little change in pace. Conveniently nowadays, lesser known fruits like kiwis, star fruit, papaya and pomegranate show up more and more frequently in local supermarkets. Exotic fruits are mostly very tasty and will make your fruit salad very well stand out both in presentation and palate.
In summary, we can always say that fruit salads are very easy to make. With the many varieties of fruits available today like apricots, cherries, grapes and other berries, you can always make this type of salad a constant companion side dish at the table. If you want it simple, you can always use canned fruits. If you want it extravagant, try using fresh and exotic fruits. And if you want it fun, why not try dry fruits in the mix? No matter which way you decide, fruit salads are set to become a big hit for your family and friends.
By Free Vegetable Recipes
