Get Creative with Salads this Summer

Now that summer is here, it’s a great time to increase your vegetable – and fibre – intake by eating more salads. This can also help you to lose weight or maintain your weight.

But rather than filling your plate with typical salad ingredients such as iceberg, romaine, spinach, or other leafy greens topped with tomato and cucumber – which can quickly become boring – get creative with your salads.

There are endless ways to make delicious healthy salads – and a salad doesn’t have to be leafy-based. In fact, non-leafy-based salads are often higher in fibre and much more filling.

Try making salads with ingredients such as beans, grilled chicken, nuts, seeds, avocado, mango, pineapple, apples, broccoli and carrots. Use high-fiber salad bases such as brown rice or quinoa.

Here are just two delicious high-fiber salad recipes to try this summer.

Mango Black Bean Salad (Recipe source: www.eatrightontario.ca)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Servings: Makes 3 – 1 cup (750 mL) servings

Ingredients

1 Mango, peeled and diced

1 Small red bell pepper, diced

1 cup (250 mL) Drained and rinsed, canned black beans

2 tbsp. (30 mL) Fresh lime juice

1 tbsp. (15 mL) Chopped fresh cilantro

¼ tsp. (1 mL) Each salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine mango, pepper, beans, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper.
2. Stir well and let stand for 10 minutes before serving for flavours to combine.

Tip: Serve on its own, with tortilla chips or as a fresh topping for burgers, fish or sandwiches.

Zesty Quinoa Salad (Recipe source: adapted from allrecipes.com )

Prep Time: 20 minutes/ Cook Time: 10 minutes

Servings: makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 limes, juiced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste

1 ½ cups halved cherry tomatoes

1 can (15 ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup corn niblets

1 avocado, chopped

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Prepare quinoa per package instructions. Set aside to cool.
2. Whisk olive oil, lime juice, cumin, red pepper flakes together in a bowl.
3. Combine quinoa, tomatoes, black beans, corn niblets and avocado together in a bowl.
4. Pour dressing over quinoa mixture; toss to coat. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and black pepper.

www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/060113p18.shtml