Salads

Any suggestions for a yummy healthy salad that is low in calories/fat?  Or salad toppings (including dressings)?

Any salad that is made from mixed greens and just fresh vegetables is going to low in calories and high in nutrition. The key is put in the fresh ingredients you like best.

To add some low cal protein, try some of these:  tuna packed in water, drained; grilled chicken breast, white turkey meat, lean ham.

Leave out the cheese as this adds a lot of fat and calories. No croutons either. If you need something crunchy add a few almonds or sunflower seeds, not more than an ounce or your adding a lot of calories.

Find some dressings that are only 60 calories per 2 Tablespoons or less. There are many options out there for that amount. Many of the fat free varieties don't taste very good, but many of the lite versions do taste pretty good. If you like vinaigrettes there are a wide variety at 60 cal for 2 T's.  Learn to measure your dressing with a real measuring tablespoon at first so that you can learn how much 2 T's really is. Most people dump on more than that.

My favourite salad is baby greens with tofu(cooked plain, not even w/ oil), chickpeas, alfalfa sprouts and beets.

Or get a veggie patty, and cover it with spinach, walnuts, and a tiny bit of goat cheese w/ balsamic vinaigrette.

I got this doing a search for low calorie dressings, not sure which site it came from.  It is very good though.

LOW CALORIE SALAD DRESSING 

1 (7 oz.) pkg. dry ranch style salad dressing mix
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. plain low fat yogurt

Mix ingredients until smooth to creamy. Refrigerate several hours before serving. 10 calories per tablespoon.

 

A lot of times instead of using a regular bottled salad dressing, I'll drizzle a little olive oil over our salad and then sprinkle some garlic salt and mix it all in. From there, I sometimes add a few crushed walnuts, green onions, chicken breast, tomatoes, and/or parmesan cheese. It's really good.

I have been on a major salad kick lately. And I made one the other day that was GREAT:

Mixed Greens

Red bell pepper

Red onion

snow peas

Bean Sprouts

Peeled/Boiled Shrimp

Shake all this together in a bowl WITH Kens light Asian Sesame (a new flavor!) dressing

Its this great Asian, almost terriaki type of tasting salad, and the veggies are all very low in calories, shrimp is also, and the dressing is only 50 calories. Its GREAT!

In all honesty my fave salad is just spinach, romaine lettuce, iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery,cheddar cheese and red wine vinegar. The salad is big enough for both my husband and I to eat it with nothing else and is only around 200 calories for the whole thing. Add a can of tuna or 2 chicken breasts and you are still no more than 500 calories for the entire thing, so that would only be about 250 calories each. Approximately.

I have problems putting a whole lot on my salads.  Most of my salads are

Iceburg, 1Tbsp shredded cheese, tomato, dressing

Iceburg, 2 fatfree crackers, green pepper, dressing

Romaine, tomato, grilled chicken breast, dressing

so on...  Are there some 'simple salads' that maybe have a twist?  Or maybe even some kind of dressing that is lighter (i don't put much on)?  And are the salad spritzers any good?  I see them in the grocery store but have never tried them.

I would suggest trying different types of lettuce. Romaine is good, as well as spinach, arugula, baby greens, etc. Iceberg is pretty low in nutrients.

I always just use a little bit of olive oil and lots of red wine vinegar for my dressing. Friends of mine love the spritzers, though I've never tried them.

To add to the lettuce and dressing, you can combine mandarin oranges & grilled chicken; dried cranberries and slivered almonds; etc. The combinations really are endless.

I usually add tomato, cucumber, celery, carrot, and onion. And then there's the bacon and shredded cheese... :)

My fav version at salad I do at Souper Salad is half generic salad and half sliced mushrooms.  I used to put them on my home ones but I love them sauted too and I go throught them too fast. 

My dressing recommendation is wishbone nofat bleu cheese 35cal for 2 Tablespoons and it really taste like bleu cheese (I was skeptical).

this may sound a little weird, but trust me, it tastes a lot better than it sounds. i top my salads with soft goat cheese and just a tiny bit of a light vinaigrette to mix everything together. besides the cheese, my salads are pretty plain -- mixed greens and/or baby spinach, cucumbers, cherry/grape tomatoes, bell peppers, and occasionally some chicken or tofu.

i've been adding craisins to my salads - it sounds gross but it gives just a little touch of sweetness to it. DELICIOUS!

I like to put salsa on my salads as dressing.  Actually, I just finished my lunch that was a new one I came up with: romaine, spinach, cherry tomatoes, a few cubes of chicken breast, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and salsa on top.  It was really yummy and only (based on CC) about 90 cals.  My favorite salsa is Newman's Own brand bandito salsa which is just a basic chunky style tomato salsa, but I still want to try the mango and pineapple styles too.  Hope this gives everyone a little inspiration to try salsa!!

You could try other veggies on your salad besides just tomatoes and green peppers, or field greens instead of/with the iceburg. You could also cut up sandwich meat and put that on there, the deli counter has lots of fun options.

As far as spritzers are concerned, I like the Wishbone Caeser Delight Spritzer. It's not exactly like normal caeaser dressing but it's got the right type of flavor.

Nancy's lite ranch is really tasty and not to high in calories, great on a salad or just with some carrot sticks as a snack!

i like a 50/50 blend salad greens and baby spinach with clemenines, craisins, toasted almonds, and grapefruit.

you can buy the grapefruit cut up and the organes cut up and emerald nuts and blue diamond nuts make toasted almonds. and i really like Ken's brand lite walnut and raspberry vinagrette. the vitamin C from the citrus helps your body absorb the iron in the spinach and the almonds give you some protein. oh and reducted fat feta is low in cal. has a good amount of protein and a nice salty bite to it.

Leafy greens gag me XP

BUT that doesn't give me an excuse to be a salad dodger.

I make fruit salad, cucumber/tomato salad, or veggie plates with raw broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Be creative =]

Agreed on the craisins! 

I like my salads topped with cottage cheese, craisins, and sunflower seeds

i top my salads with about 10 sprays of salad spritzer dressing plus 2 tsp of parmesan cheese. adds alot of flavor for only 30 calories.

have you tried those spray dressings? I got a honey Mustard one the other day and it is to die for.

 

I never thought I would like anything but a ranch covered salad but i enjoy tasting all the greens.

 I also read somewhere that a few sunflowers seeds sprinkled on top are good too. Might have been one of the Biggest Loser forums.