Celebrate National Salad Month!
May is National Bike Month, but did you know that it’s also National Salad Month? It’s true!
Salads are a refreshing way to get in your fruits and veggies, not to mention, get a healthy meal without having to heat up the kitchen. As the weather warms and your schedule gets busy, you can look to salads to help you feed your family while keeping things healthy.
As our rule of thumb, we recommend keeping some of the following ingredients on hand for fast and easy salads:
- Some sort of lettuce or leafy greens, like spring mix or spinach
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Carrots
- Berries
- Nuts
- Cheese
- Celery
- Onion
- Radishes
As for diversity, you can make salads of all kinds! Try experimenting with different fruit and vegetable combinations until you find the right one. You can also leave out the leafy greens and try experimenting with pasta, rice, quinoa, and other grains.
In addition to keeping those fresh ingredients stocked in your refrigerator, you can also boost the health factor of your salads by doing the following:
- Add protein! Grilled chicken, tofu, chickpeas, hard boiled eggs, or shrimp can be easily tossed into salad to boost the protein level. It’s also a great way to reuse leftovers from the night before.
- Cut back on heavy dressings by making your own with just a little bit of oil, vinegar, and herbs. You can also mash in fresh fruit and a bit of sugar to create a sweeter dressing without all of the preservatives.
- Some people just forgo the dressing all together! Squeeze a bit of lemon juice or use the natural moisture from ingredients like tomatoes, oranges, avocado, berries, or stone fruits to make your salad easier to eat.
- Cut back on heavily processed salad ingredients, like bacon bits or croutons, as these can be packed with sodium, preservatives, and other unhealthy things.
How do you like to enjoy salads?
