by Joan Mccord

Created on: November 18, 2011   Last Updated: November 21, 2011

Color and contrast are the keystones of an appetizingly healthy and appealing salad. Even the simplest salad can be spruced up and loaded with interesting and nutritious colors, textures, and flavors.

Here are some ideas for building a healthy and exciting salad from the greens up.

Salad greens

Use an assortment of greens. Vibrant colors are usually indicators of abundant nutrients and disease-fighting antioxidants. Bitter greens (or stronger-flavored greens) like radicchio, arugula, and mache are often more enjoyable when mixed with sweeter varieties like Romaine, Bibb, and Boston lettuce.

Herbs like chervil, chives, marjoram, cilantro, mint, parsley and oregano spruce up the flavor of the greens when either whole leaves or larger leaves torn in pieces are tossed into the mix.

The salad bowl

Always mix your salad in a bowl; even a small mixing bowl will do for a single serving. Rub the bowl well with the cut side of a clove of garlic and a light sprinkle of sugar. This brings a nice whiff of garlic to the salad without the punch of raw garlic in the dressing.

Fruit

Fresh fruit in almost any variety can be combined into a chopped fruit salad. It is a tradition in many Jamaican households to store a bowl of fruit salad in the refrigerator for snacks throughout the day. Once you try this, you will wonder why you did not think of it earlier.

Dried raisins, cranberries, blueberries are wonderful additions to green salads. So are fruits like watermelon, star fruit, and strawberries which are usually best when added at the last minute.

Vegetables

Use fresh, uncooked vegetables whenever possible. Spicy radish sprouts, bean sprouts, asparagus, peppers in bright colors, broccoli, either baby or uncooked whole kernel corn, early peas, and mushrooms are some nutritionally advantageous additions to a green salad.

Flowers

Nasturtiums, roses, daylilies, and the blossoms of most herbs are lovely edible additions to salad greens.

Cheeses

Small portions of cheese, like blue, feta, or mozzarella are special flavor boosts when combined with fruit in green salads.

Beans and peas

Black beans, green beans, lentils, and snow peas are sources of vegetable protein that contribute beneficial vitamins and minerals and often tend to make a salad seem more filling and satisfying.

These sautéed chickpeas are a special treat sprinkled over a tossed green salad.

Seeds and nuts

Walnuts, almonds, flaxseeds, pine nuts sprinkled on top, are good finishes for a salad. When you take a minute to toast them with a sprinkle of spice, they are especially good stand-ins for croutons.

Additional protein

Just off the grill shrimp, chicken, salmon, steak transform a simple salad to a main meal.

Cooked or canned fish, like salmon, sardines, and tuna are good sources of Omega-3 fatty acids. A scoop along side the greens brings a good contrast of flavors and textures if you make them into a quick small salad with a bit of low-fat mayonnaise and some pickle relish.

Boiled or deviled eggs, fried tofu cubes, soybeans, strips of lean ham, pork, and poultry spruce up the vitamin and mineral content of your salad.

Dressings

Always make your own dressing. Your favorite herbs and flavorings to compliment the salad, combined with a bit of citrus, plus extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned to your taste, make a healthy and delicious "house dressing".

Finally

These are only a few suggestions for sprucing up a healthy salad. It would be impossible to list all the nutritious food that would fill the bill. Everything depends upon your tastes and imagination.

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