Three Delicious Salads
Author: Panos Platritis Clinical Dietitian Nutritionist BSc,MSc, Registered with GE SY Member of BDA, ESPEN, CYSPEN, SEPI
The Importance of Salads for a Balanced Diet
Salads pack vital nutrients into every bite. Leafy greens and fresh vegetables provide fiber, vitamins, and minerals that support digestion and immunity. Colorful ingredients like tomatoes and carrots supply disease-fighting antioxidants. Adding lean proteins builds muscle, while nuts or olive oil boost heart health. Low in calories but rich in nutrients, salads help maintain a healthy weight. Eating them regularly reduces risks of diabetes and heart disease while keeping you hydrated and energized. Quick to prepare and endlessly versatile, salads make healthy eating simple and satisfying. Including them daily ensures a delicious path to lifelong wellness.
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Diet Salad with Sweet Potato with less than 350kcal
Three delicious salads, the dietician recommends for a perfect diet to help weight lost. Easy to prepare and very economical.
Ingredients (Servings 4):
3 sweet potatoes boiled with the skin and cut into cubes
4 fresh green onions sliced
2 celery stalks sliced
70 g chopped walnuts
1 green bell pepper sliced
200 ml light cream
2 tablespoons white wine
vinegar
Method:
Place all ingredients in a salad bowl and mix well. Serve the salad as a side dish.
The dietician recommends
Always buy orange sweet potatoes – those with the red skin, as the white ones contain much lower amounts of beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes are not only a cost-effective, delicious, and readily available food, but they also offer particularly significant health benefits.
Although they are not as popular as regular potatoes, sweet potatoes are a highly nutritious food that we can consume in various ways. They contain a large amount of carotenoids and vitamins, as well as other important micronutrients.
Low-Calorie Salad with less than 350kcal
Grapefruits reduce cholesterol and boost the immune system. They are considered the friend of people on a diet, not only because they are low in calories but also because they can accelerate weight loss by lowering insulin levels, which is one of the factors that makes us feel hungry.
Ingredients:
1 grapefruit cut in half
200 g Belgian endive
1 peeled avocado, cut and pitted
2 tablespoons of orange juice
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
Himalayan salt and pepper
Method:
Cut the inside of half a grapefruit into pieces, removing the seeds. Mix it with Belgian endive and avocado. Then mix the orange juice, olive oil, soy sauce, and the juice of the other half of the grapefruit, and pour it over the salad, adding salt and pepper.
Important information:
Grapefruit juice may affect the action of certain medications, according to a warning issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Antioxidant Kale Salad with less than 350kcal
Purple kale, in its beauty and texture, is a vegetable that definitely rises above the ordinary. And this salad is rich in health-acclaimed purple pigmented, anthocyanins.
Ingredients:
300g kale without stems
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp coriander seeds
¼ of a small lemon (with peel)
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 red chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Method:
- Place the kale in a large bowl and drizzle it all with lemon juice. Gently spread the juice over the leaves with your hands. Let the kale soften for 30 minutes.
- Place the coriander seeds and a quarter of the lemon in the blender and blend briefly. Add the avocado, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and blend until it becomes a paste.
- Transfer to a large bowl, add the chopped chili and garlic, and mix everything well, ensuring all the kale leaves are thoroughly coated. Set aside for 15-30 minutes to fully release the flavors and allow the nutrients to be absorbed more easily.
Kale also contains sulphur, making it ideal for detoxifying the body, and is known to lower levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol in the blood.
Conclusion
Make a note of these three delicious salads, add them in your menu for a healthy diet and control weight lost.
