Was your new year resolution to cut out carbs from your diet? Are you still following it, or did the boring lettuce get you to choose carbs over health? If yes, you are not alone. Millions of people decide to eat salads but fail because of cravings but plants before pills, always.
So, what you can do is, dress your salad with some toppings or add particular things to it. That will make your salad tasty while keeping it healthy. Through this article, you will learn some of these ways.
How to Make a Tasty Salad
Here are a variety of ways you can spice your boring salad.
1. Experiment with Your Greens
Most people have their favorite green according to the texture or vitamins they want. But why limit your choice to a few greens when there is a lot to explore? You can look for alternatives to the greens you like.
For example, if you want more delicate and subtle lettuce, you can go for Bibb. It pairs well with creamier dressings. If you are looking for a crunchy delight with an assertive flavor, you can choose escarole or its sharper cousin, radicchio. You can also mix these two sisters in a salad.
You can also opt for kale, a healthy, vitamin-packed, nutritious green that does not wilt fast. Here is a kale-based salad recipe with sweet potato and black beans.
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato ( large size, cut it into wedges)
- 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons of ancho chile powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 medium-sized shallots, quartered and peeled
- 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1 sizeable grated garlic clove
- 1 pound of kale, torn and stemmed
- 15 ounce ( 1 can ) saltless black beans ( make sure to rinse them)
- 1 cup of cooked quinoa
- ½ cup of feta cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup of unsalted pepitas, toasted
Steps to Follow
- Preheat oven to 425 F
- Keep the sweet potato wedges on a baking sheet with ⅛ teaspoon of salt, chile powder, and 1 tablespoon of oil.
- On another baking sheet, spread shallots (tossed with 1⁄8 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon of oil). Roast both the veggies until they get caramelized and tender.
- Meanwhile, whisk garlic and lemon juice with the remaining oil and salt. Add kale to it. Cover it with the dressing until it becomes shiny and its volume becomes half.
- Then add quinoa, beans, feta, shallots, and pepitas. Toss all the ingredients together and then serve with a sweet potato topping.
2. Add Fresh Herbs
If you think that lettuce is the only leaf made for your salad bowl, you might be wrong. You can spice up almost every salad with fresh herbs, such as snipped chives, basil, and whole mint leaves.
If you want, you can also add multiple herbs to a single salad. Here is a recipe using dill, a popular herb. It gives a mixed flavor and a broader benefit to your salad. It is helpful particularly to people with a herb garden.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of beets, scrubbed
- 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ teaspoon of ground pepper
- ⅓ cup of feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons of fresh dill, chopped
Steps to Follow
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Wrap each beet separately in foil. Then place it on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour until it becomes tender. Once it becomes cool enough to touch, peel and cut in cubes.
- Meanwhile, whisk vinegar, oil, pepper, and salt in a big bowl. Add feta and beet, then toss to mix. Sprinkle with dill before serving.
3. Enhance Your Protein Game
The most versatile and easy protein source used by a majority of the population is Chicken. However, most of the time, people ignore other options, such as fish, shrimp, and steak. They are great to give an extra layer of texture and flavor to your salad.
You can also use refrigerated steamed lentils or canned beans. They are easy to use and do not require any extra preparation. Here is a salad recipe with shrimp.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces of fingerling potatoes
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil and keep 1 teaspoon of olive oil separately
- 1 pound of trimmed green beans
- 1 pound frozen/fresh peeled medium shrimp, thawed
- ¼ cup of shallots, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1 teaspoon of ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 3 tablespoons of fresh Italian parsley, chopped
- 2 tablespoons of pine nuts, toasted
Steps to Follow
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Spread potatoes tossed with 1 tablespoon of oil—a roast of approximately 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, toss 1 tablespoon of oil with green beans. Then spread the beans on the potatoes in a pan. Roast both the ingredients for 15 minutes until the veggies are tender.
- Meanwhile, rinse shrimps and dry them. Heat one teaspoon of olive oil and add shallots and garlic to it. Cook for about 3 minutes until shallots become tender.
- Then add shrimp, honey, sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper. Cook until shrimp are opaque.
- Serve with mixing shrimp mixture with roasted vegetables.
4. Add a Pinch of Weed
You might have heard of cannabis or weed. It is available almost in every form. You can use a topical cream and apply it directly to the skin, or you can go for vapors. You might not know but, you can also decorate your salad with CBD oil.
It might surprise you, but salads are not the only way to mix weed in your diet. Make a regular salad and add a few drops of oil to it. It will give a great flavor to your salad. You can also enjoy the benefits of weed while having a good diet, for the best quality you can choose online weed delivery. You can also make smoothies, candies, and cookies with cannabis oil.
Use Veggie Peeler More
You might use a vegetable peeler to peel vegetables but, you can also make ribbons out of those peelers. Instead of peeling your veggie and then copping it, you can keep it peeling and make a ribbon out of it. It will make your salad look attractive and visually interesting.
These are some great ways to enjoy a salad.
Conclusion
Salad is eaten everywhere in the world. It gives various benefits, such as a nutritious diet, anti-aging effects, fiber-rich, etc. With the above ways, you can make your salad tasty and desirable.
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