Tip File: Salads as Nutritional Spackle

I read so much about wonderful, highly nutritious foods we should all be eating every day. A half cup of beans, a bowl of oatmeal, a handful of nuts — in fact, it often seems nuts how much food we’re expected to consume daily and yet still keep the calorie count low.

 

With so many obligation foods out there, where do I fit in my pizza and grilled cheese?

 

Aside from wanting to satisfy my cravings for what’s bad for me, there is the problem of just where to fit in all those magical foods that will make us so much healthier. I can’t serve dark, leafy greens as the main course every night.

 

That’s where some sneakiness needs to come in, I think. I know parents have a tendency to disguise good-for-us vegetables under blankets of cheese or grated to oblivion in sauce, but that’s a topic for another time.

 

What I’m thinking of is tricking our adult selves into consuming more of the nutritious foods that are often missing in our diets without shunting aside our favorite main courses.

 

My top method for accomplishing this is incorporating the foods into side salads.

 

Maybe you didn’t grow up with a salad as a side dish every day, but my mom started providing salad at nearly every evening meal about the time those bagged mixes started showing up in the produce department in our hometown. It took me a while to overcome my aversion to lettuce as a child, but my tastebuds have most definitely grown out of it. I’ve now become accustomed to having a salad to accompany my dinner most nights, and I consider it a sign of a good-value restaurant if they throw me one before my entrée arrives.

 

Here in Slovakia, I continued the tradition, generally tossing some lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, maybe some radishes if I felt ambitious. I got a bagged salad mix with iceberg lettuce, grated carrots, and shredded cabbage.

 

But lately, I’ve been taking advantage of that daily salad to sneak in some extra nutrition in something I’m going to be eating anyway.

 

Now, due to nutritional issues, cost, and the fact that my bagged mixes here were going bad within a day or two, I make all our salads with that dark green, romaine lettuce. If you’re in the United States, you can up the dark-greens content of your salad by tossing in some baby spinach as well.

 

Also, I started adding drained and rinsed canned beans to our salads every night. This adds protein and fiber to our diets, two things I noticed we were generally lacking in. Plus, the fiber in beans can help reduce cholesterol levels over time.

 

Another trick I’ve read about is to add a small portion of nuts to your salad each night. This strategy could replace the crunch I’ve missed since giving up croutons (sniff!), along with providing nuts’ vitamins, minerals, and good fats in doses smaller than you’d be tempted to consume when snacking.

 

Or at least what I’d be tempted to consume should someone place a bowl of roasted, salted almonds in front of me.

 

Salads can also accommodate fruit, but if you go this route, stick to fresh fruits such as diced apples, orange wedges, and strawberries (tasty with balsamic vinegar!). Dried fruits often have added sugar and, if nothing else, provide more calories than fresh fruit per given volume since all the bulk-adding water’s been sucked out.

 

Of course, it’s important to mix in your garden-variety salad vegetables as well. Tomatoes and carrots (I now keep a bag of the pre-shredded sort on hand) are nutritional powerhouses themselves. Cucumbers help make you feel full because of their high water content, leading you to consume less of a perhaps naughtier main dish.

 

Salads aren’t the only solution. At some point, I’ve got to add an entry here about using desserts to fill nutritional holes in your diet. Pizzas, sandwiches, and other less than healthy foods as well. But salads, if you generally eat them with your dinner, are an easy start.

 

Now that you’ve packed your salad bowl with all this good stuff, there’s no need to ruin it by drowning it in ranch dressing (I know what you like, America). Stick to the light versions of bottled dressing, switch to Salad Spritzers, drizzle on straight balsamic vinegar, or try some homemade dressing. Below is a recipe for a delicious sweet and spicy dressing Scott and I came up with while trying to duplicate Catalina for his mom’s taco salad.

 

Fat-Free Taco Salad Dressing
Source: Colleen Fischer (with inspiration from a number of Catalina dressing recipes online)
Yield: 13 two-tablespoon servings

 

• ½ cup vinegar
• ½ cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 onion, grated

 

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl or mix in a blender. Serve or store in a dressing cruet.

 

NUTRITION FACTS
Servings: 13
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 18
Total Fat: 0.11g
Cholesterol: –
Sodium: 198mg
Total Carbs: 4.22g
Dietary Fiber: –
Protein: 0.29g

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Bring Home the Bacon

Note: Originally published on June 10, 2005. You can also bake the bacon at 350 degrees, if you’re willing to wait a bit longer. Also, I highly recommend grinding some black pepper on the bacon before it goes in the oven. For a breakfast treat, sprinkle brown sugar as well as black pepper on the raw bacon.

 

I’ve tacked on a recipe for a wrap sandwich I enjoy. You can have it as a straight BLT, but it’s better with the egg and cheese — sort of like a breakfast wrap.

 

The typical image of cooking bacon involves a spitting skillet on a hot cooktop. The bacon curls into little pinwheels as it contracts on itself. Some parts burn while the rest still looks raw. You splash hot fat on yourself when you try to turn it.

 

Oh, but you cook your bacon in the microwave? Sure, that’s quick, neat and easy, but I’ve always found the flavor leaves something to be desired. The bacon often turns brittle and dry, a shadow of its former greasy, meaty glory.

 

The trick to great bacon is to get your oven in on the act. How does that make this an easy upgrade, then?

 

Bacon prepared this way not only requires little effort (in both baby-sitting and clean-up), it tastes ridiculously good. You get the neatness of the microwave combined with the browning of the skillet.

 

To get even more mileage out of this upgrade, make as much bacon as you can fit on your sheet. Store the leftovers in a zip-top bag in the refrigerator for use in sandwiches and salads. It sure beats the anemic, expensive precooked bacon from the grocery store — now that’s a nice little upgrade.

 

 

1. Cover a baking sheet in foil. It’s best to use a small one you can cover entirely with one sheet so that the grease doesn’t leak onto the pan.
2. Lay out your bacon flat on the foil.
3. Shove the sheet in the oven.
   
4. Turn the oven on to 400 degrees. That’s right, no preheating required.
5. Let the bacon roast for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how well done you like it. I usually take it out when each slice has turned a nice overall brown. While it’s in the oven, you can check on it, but don’t touch it. You don’t need to! And if you leave it alone, it will keep its nice, flat shape.
6. Remove the bacon from the baking sheet. Lift off the foil, allowing the grease to pool in the middle, and crumple it up. Throw the mess away and put your clean sheet back into storage.

 

 

BLT Wrap Sandwich
Source: Colleen Fischer
Yield: 1 sandwich

 

• 1 tortilla
• Mayonnaise (or ranch dressing)
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Crispy pepper bacon
• Optional: hard-boiled egg, cheese

 

Spread the mayonnaise on the tortilla. Place the bacon on the mayonnaise, then pile other fillings on top. Wrap like a burrito and serve.

 

 

Download BLT Wrap Sandwich into MacGourmet.