Without a doubt, the salad is the queen of the summer, so in today’s article we will talk about the Green Salad: 10 tips to make the perfect salad in summer. So that you get the most out of something that seems so simple and that at the same time is delicious, healthy, and nutritious that we should not put aside, whatever the season.
We have just entered the month of August, some of you will already be enjoying your holidays, resting on beaches or mountains, outdoors, doing more social life, enjoying more relaxation and relief … and something that we should not leave aside in these periods of rest and vacations it is our food.
Our diet should be the main objective throughout the year. We are strong advocates that, you may have already seen in these last summer articles, nutrition and our way of eating is healthy throughout the year. It is useless to be obsessed with “bikini operations” or restrictive diets that all they can achieve is to aggravate our problems.
In case there is a real weight problem, the only viable thing is to go to a professional nutritionist who will guide us on a diet according to our needs.
I said, whether or not you are enjoying your well-deserved vacation, you should not abandon good habits, and having a green salad is undoubtedly one of them.
Green Salad: Health on Your Plate.
A well-planned green salad can meet all the indications for a healthy and nutritious dish.
As you hear, a single plate, salad, can be everything your body needs to meet its daily requirements. Of course, it must be a complete salad, below we will tell you everything you need to know to start making a green salad your unique dish this summer. Health on your plate.
Nutritional properties of green salad:
The green salad gives us a lot of vitamins, especially antioxidant vitamins, which we have already talked about on other occasions ( https://www.huercasa.com/es/blog/alimentos-antioxidantes ) that, among others, prevent us from suffering from degenerative diseases, they help us in the prevention of cancer and are of great help against cardiovascular diseases, in addition to making us feel younger inside and out since they are great for maintaining young and vital skin.
The green salad also provides us with folic acid, specifically folates, necessary for growth and tissue repair. Remember the importance of folic acid during pregnancy and a few months before conception, in the event of a planned pregnancy, its supplementation is vital, since folic acid helps prevent certain congenital anomalies, including spina bifida. Another reason, of great importance so that green is present in our daily diet.
Folate is also indicated in cases of anemia since it participates in the formation of red blood cells thus preventing the disease.
Part of these vitamins can be lost, to a greater or lesser extent, with the heat of cooking, hence the importance of including, along with cooked products, raw foods in our plate, which guarantee us a correct intake of these vitamins. Later you will see that it is easy to comply with this rule, fruits, vegetables, and greens are our great allies.
In addition to the vitamins that we have mentioned, salads also provide us with minerals, among which we will highlight potassium, which has a great diuretic effect, and also, if that were not enough, little is purifying.
Fiber is also present in a green salad and helps us regulate intestinal transit, avoiding constipation, and taking care of our intestines from diseases.
The fiber and the large amount of water in the vegetables give the green salad a great satiating effect, providing hardly any calories, as long as we take care of the dressings and they are moderate and not based on fat creams.
Thus, salads help us to take care of the line throughout the year and are our great allies during the summer.
10 Tips To Make the Perfect Summer Green Salad:
1. Proportions so that your green salad is a complete and unique dish:
The first advice that we are going to address is regarding the proportions that your green salad should have to make this a unique, complete, balanced, and healthy dish. We will have to divide the plate into 3 parts, of which one will be half of the total and the other two will arise from dividing the remaining one in two. So that two quarters are topped with raw greens and greens. A quarter is a protein, either of animal or plant origin. And the last quarter will be carbohydrates.
Also do not forget to drink plenty of water to meet the hydration needs during the summer.
2. Make sure the green is not missing!
It may seem like a no-brainer but without green ingredients, there is no green salad. And also these are our great protagonists.
Green leaves, sprouts, lettuce … variety is important since in this way you will also never get bored of eating salad. The greener the main ingredient, the better. More nutrients.
You can give all the prominence to the same green ingredient, or on the contrary, you can mix several.
Use fresh lettuce that will also give a crunchy touch to your salads.
Opt for mixed tender shoots to add diversity to your dish. Lambs, arugula, and spinach are our favorites.
Nowadays, in the markets we can choose a great variety of lettuces, always choose local and seasonal pieces to also guarantee all their nutrients.
Half of the plate should be this or these green ingredients of your choice. Remember that proportions are important when it comes to having a green salad that serves as a unique, nutritious, and healthy dish.
3. Vegetables and vegetables as secondary actors:
Tomato, carrot, onion, and cucumber. The great secondary of any green salad worth its salt. In addition to benefiting from all its nutrients by consuming them raw, we ensure a good dose of refreshing ingredients of different textures so that our salad has little or nothing boring.
4. Perfect complements with your green ingredients:
Use ingredients that complement the basics of a green salad, in this way we add an extra flavor and color. Our favorites in this case are cooked sweet corn, which we talked about in the last article, as well as cooked beets.
5. Fruit in the salad ?
Yes, fruit also has a place in our salad plate. Light, nutritious, and healthy we must not leave it aside. If you are also one of those who have a hard time reaching the five recommended pieces a day, adding it to the salad makes sure you get one more shot. Use seasonal fruits, now in summer, melon or watermelon are delicious.
6. Fats, of good quality and in moderation:
For our green salad, we will always use quality fats in the dressings, opting for extra virgin olive oil when dressing, as well as other healthy fats such as avocado or raw and unsalted nuts, gives us a nutritional contribution inside that we make responsible use. Two tablespoons of olive oil, half a medium-sized avocado, or a handful of dried fruit will suffice. Remember not to abuse fats, even though they are healthy.
7. The protein part, which is not missing:
If we visually divide the plate into four, one of those parts must be filled with protein ingredients so that our plate is nutritious and balanced.
We will opt for healthy protein, preferably of plant origin, such as legumes. Cooked chickpeas, cooked beans, lentils, or grilled tofu in small cubes (if you cook it with fine herbs it will be delicious in the salad). If you opt for animal protein, the healthiest and lowest fat ones will be grilled or steamed chicken or turkey. We can also use fish, canned tuna is a quick and inexpensive option, as long as it is natural. Grilled salmon is very rich and gives us an extra rich fatty acid.
The boiled egg is another of the basics that we can incorporate into our protein part. Remember, you can give prominence to a single ingredient or use several, in this way eating salad can never be boring. Fill that quarter plate with rich and healthy protein and enjoy.
8. Carbohydrates, the last quarter of our green salad:
The last part of our green salad is made up of carbohydrates. We will opt for quality, whole grains. Cooked brown rice is our favorite for summer salads, it also combines great with the protein part, whether it be legumes or meat or fish.
In Huercasa you can buy it already cooked and ready to use. If you prefer to cook it at home, you can cook more quantity than you are going to use in the salad and thus have an alternative meal or garnish for another day. You could also freeze it. So if you ask us if it is worth the time these grains take to cook, the answer is that without a doubt, the whole grain is worth the time it takes to cook, the first thing for its magnificent qualities compared to refined ones, and the second because, as we say, you can overcook and take the opportunity to prepare other meals. It keeps great both in the fridge and frozen.
Use brown rice, quinoa, whole-wheat pasta, croutons … they are a good option. Also, potatoes and legumes, which we also indicated in the protein part, provide us with carbohydrates, so we repeat: the combinations are innumerable, let your imagination fly!
9. The key, the seasoning:
Undoubtedly, if you are going to use oil for dressing, make sure it is of quality, always using extra virgin olive oil will make a difference.
Also, mix with natural lemon juice, apple, or wine vinegar, to give it a touch of acidity.
Complement your dressing and change it daily to enjoy a fun green salad every day. Add to the vinaigrette mustard, chia seeds, previously crushed sesame to better absorb its nutrients or aromatic herbs and spices, they are always a success!
Do not sin excessively with the salt, use it iodized and in moderate quantity.
One part of vinegar for two of oil is the most suitable ratio if you want to make a classic vinaigrette, emulsify before adding and enjoy.
10. The last and most important tip:
whatever your green salad of the day is, enjoy it!
This may seem silly, but these days we often don’t give the food the importance it deserves, and we should! since it is one of the most important things we do throughout the day, nurture ourselves.
We eat badly and quickly, without noticing each bite, each flavor, each nuance of the dish in front of us.
Let’s stop for a moment in front of our plate, our green salad, and visualize, it is there to nourish us, body and soul. A plate full of health, savor each shot, enjoy the flavors, internalize what you are putting in your mouth, eat slowly, chewing at least twenty times consciously, thus, in addition to promoting digestion, we produce a feeling of real satiety.
So far our article today dedicated to green salads and in which we also give you ten tips to prepare your green salad this summer.
Salads that as you have seen you can vary daily, changing the green base, vegetables, greens, and fruits.
Alternate the protein part, give prominence to the vegetable protein and the healthy one. Always use whole grains in the carbohydrate part, and season sparingly using quality oil.
We share with you the following link where you will find a lot of recipes that you can follow to make your salad a salad of ten ( https://www.google.es/amp/s/www.kiwilimon.com/listeners/getamp/ recipes/salads).
