salad bar help

Okay, I've been off at college (Indiana University), and for lunch, I usually get a salad from the salad bar.  I'm pretty good at choosing what I put on the salad:

 

- lettuce

- carrotts

- cucumbers

- bell peppers

- green peppers

- while onions

- green onions

- celery

- table pepper

 

Occasionally, I throw on some sunflower seeds, but I've cut back on this.  Anyways, I have two questions:

 

1). I know I may sound a bit paranoid, but I want to be sure that red wine vinegar has little to no calories or fat.  I use this as my salad dressing alone, without oil and I think it tastes great.  If I think it's too light, I'll throw on some hot sauce.  Anyways, can anyone help me out with this?

2). How can I calculate the total nutritional value of the salad?  The salad is weighed to determine the cost, could this some how help me for my calculations?  Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

 

Thanks guys!

why don't you just look it up using the CC search engine?

I second looking it all up using the search engine.

Vinegar doesn't contain fat.  A vinaigrette (which has oil) does.

But you need a little bit of fat to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins in your food, so a bit of olive oil or some nice nuts are a good idea.

you should really put some protein on that salad - you will feel so much more full & such!! and dont worry about the vinegar - there is hardly any calories unless it is a red-wine vinegar dressing... then i would be ware - but you can always ask anyone who works in the cafeteria! that is how i made it through my 1st year at college!! living on your own in your own place though is great! 

I don't know how long you've been using this site, but you seem to know what you're putting in your salad. If you haven't found it yet, this site provides a tool to evaluate foods with more than one item included. Look under foods new recipe. There's a tips section for help.

It work with everything I've tried. And it's usefull for giving total nutrition info for the most comlicated food.

To get an accurate total nutritional value, you'd have to measure/weigh each item individually.  If that's not possible, you'll have to estimate.  If there's not a scale at the salad bar (as opposed to at the cash register), maybe you could talk to the staff and ask that one be added.  Or you could also take your own measuring cup in and measure out each item separately before dumping it on your plate.

What you're eating is all vegetables and they are fairy evenly scored for cals per 100g.   8oz of that mix you describe would be no more than 100 cals.....  which is nothing.  What you're missing to make this a healthy, balanced meal are fats, complex carbohydrates and proteins.   Add back the sunflower seeds, enjoy some oil dressing and how about having a bread roll on the side?  Otherwise you'll get to mid-afternoon and find your concentration is poor and you're feeling fatigued.

I totally agree with gijane.  A lot of people are not aware that your body cannot absorb the nutrients without some fat in the meal and you need protein to sustain.  All the veggies you listed are fairly equal and would just enter in daily meal log using estimates (ie 3 slices of green pepper, 2 T of onion, 4 C mixed greens....)  Most salad bars have protein options such as turkey, cottage cheese, nuts, or beans (great for fiber too), and also hope you are eating at least 1200 calories a day (or more if under 20) since this salad  probably has less than 200 total