3 Tips to Loving Salad
1. Eat what you love
Fill your plate with the veggies that you love, not the ones you hate! If you don’t like bell peppers stop trying. If you only like a veggie cooked rather than raw, add the cooked version to your plate and vice versa.
When you start prioritizing whole, unprocessed foods you will also start to crave MORE whole unprocessed foods (and less junk). It’s true! When I haven’t had spinach in a few days, I really do crave raw spinach. I love that I now crave what my body actually needs to stay nourished and healthy.
2. Consider texture
CREAMY: I used to think a good salad absolutely needed a good cheese. Like a lot of cheese. When I went on the Low Fodmap elimination phase, I cut out creamy cheeses (lactose!) and hummus (garlic = fructan!). I noticed after awhile following the Low Fodmap guidelines that I wasn’t making salads at home anymore. I thought that without cheese or hummus there was no point. But really I just missed having something creamy in my salad. Once I started looking elsewhere for that texture, my love for salads returned and we are very happy together now thanks.
My creamy favorites: diced or smashed avocado, roasted or mashed sweet potato with cinnamon, protein salads (wild tuna/salmon or pastured egg/chicken with my fav mayo- primal kitchen avocado oil), blended hemp seed for dressing.
CRUNCHY: If you grew up like me with croutons, tortilla strips, and candied nuts in your salads, you might also realize the importance of the crunch! There are so many fun ways to get a great crunch from real, whole, unprocessed foods.
My crunchy favorites: pumpkin seeds, cucumber, walnuts, cold grapes, chopped romaine / green leaf lettuce / kale, jicama, sliced almonds.
3. Make it a “trio meal”
I call a trio meal anything that meets the following 3 criteria:
At least 3 colors from real foods.
Includes protein, fiber, and healthy fat.
At least 3 different veggies.
We are way more likely to love a meal that leaves as feeling satisfied with balanced blood sugar and energy. We get more essential nutrients by eating a variety of colors and a variety of veggies.
What are your favorite salad ingredients? Share in the comments!
❤︎ Emily
Did you try out any of these tips?
Show + tell! [Tag @emilykwellness]