BarbaraDolan.com

The Easy Way to a Healthy, Vibrant You!

  • Home
  • About
  • Work with Me
  • Recipes
  • Connect

5 Great Ways to Turn Your Salad into a Delicious Meal

February 12, 2015 by Barbara Dolan 2 Comments

IMG_0792I love to eat salad.  I really do.

When I make a basic salad, I think about including different types of vegetables; root vegetables (carrots, onions), round vegetables(broccoli, cauliflower) and leafy vegetables(lettuce, parlsey).  I also consider different colours of the rainbow.  Having a variety of types and colours of vegetables ensures that I will ingest a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Many people tell me that eating a salad is just not enough for them.  It doesn’t fill them up.   I think that it would help by making the salad the main thing, rather than the ‘side’, if you know what I mean.  Get a large dinner plate and pile it high with your favourite things.

I am also told that in the winter time (which is now in my part of the world) they don’t ‘feel’ like having salad.  I have a suggestion for that.

Ideas to Turn Your Salad into a Main Meal

1. Add warming foods during colder seasons-when warming foods are eaten, they push the deep energy and blood up and out to the surface of the body.  Some guidelines for warming foods versus cooling foods are:

  • plants that take longer to grow (carrot, rutabaga, parsnip, cabbage, ginger) are more warming than those that grow quickly (lettuce, summer squash, cucumber).
  • food eaten cold is more cooling.
  • foods that are blue, green or purple colours are usually more cooling than similar foods that are red, orange or yellow.
  • cooking foods for a longer time on low heat is more warming than a short time on high heat.
  • finer cutting, pounding, grinding, pressing and stirring breaks the the food down and releases more energy and heat to the body.
  • chewing food more thoroughly creates warmth.

Hearty Winter Salad

I tend to add a variety of root vegetables to my salads in the winter and I also vary the way in which they are cut.  Also, I will often marinate and roast these vegetables slowly in the oven or ‘roast’ them in the dehydrator for a day and then add them on my plate.

2. Add nutrient-dense foods-

Wakame Noodles 2Consistently eating nutrient-dense foods requires less energy for our body to digest and our body becomes highly nourished.  When our bodies are highly nourished, we tend to more satisfied with the food we have eaten.  Some examples of nutrient-dense foods are:

  • hemp seeds
  • chia seeds
  • flax seeds
  • soaked almonds
  • soaked pumpkin seeds
  • sea vegetables

3. Add a variety of sprouts-Sprouts are nutrient-dense foods in a class of their own.  Their benefits are numerous.  You can read more about sprouts and how to grow your own here.  I have recently become addicted to sunflower sprouts.  They are very enjoyable to eat.

FullSizeRender(5)

4. Top your salad with a tasty vegan soup-Instead of your usual vinaigrette, consider making a soup (raw or cooked) and pour it over your salad.  I enjoy the carrot soup recipe and I will make it a bit thicker by adding more avocado and more grated carrot.  My family really loves pea soup in the winter so I will put a big scoop on my plate too.  I will add some more soup recipes soon.

5. Get creative with your dressing- olive oil with balsamic vinegar, Bragg’s, garlic and basil is my go-to dressing.  That doesn’t always do it though, does it?  Have you thought of soaking a nut or seed, blending that smooth and adding your favorite herbs and spices to it?  Or avocado…there are many possibilities here.  Make it more like a sauce and it will be something that you can get your teeth into.  I love putting pesto on my salads.

IMG_0795

What wonderful creative ways will you be making salad today?  I would love to hear about the tasty things that you enjoy.

Thanks for reading!  If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe and join me on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Filed Under: Brain, Carrot Juice, detox, digestion, energy, Entrees, Enzymes, Fermented Foods, Health, nutrition, organic, Plant-Based Diet, Protein, raw, Salad, sprouts, stress, toxins, Vegetables, Whole-Foods

Comments

  1. Steph says

    February 13, 2015 at 2:03 am

    Hi Barbara, what is that last picture? Is it something like guac? It looks amazing.

    Reply
    • Barbara Dolan says

      February 14, 2015 at 3:17 pm

      It is actually Parsley Cilantro Pesto…so delicious. I could eat it every day.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect With Me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

If you would like to receive new blog posts in your inbox, please enter your email address. Your email will be kept private & confidential:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Recent Posts

  • Fabulous Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
  • Beware: This May Get Steamy
  • How to make a Simple Smoothie
  • GMO. What’s the Big Deal, Anyway?
  • Why I Won’t Go to Starbucks

See All Posts

Comments

  • film izle on Fabulous Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
  • peter on Why I Won’t Go to Starbucks
  • Larnessa Dallas, AAS, CGNA, CPRP, MHP on Cacao; Friend or Foe?
  • Steph on Fabulous Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
  • Kathy on GMO. What’s the Big Deal, Anyway?

Categories

Copyright © 2022 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in