Salad Tips: Here Are Some Tips To Help You Make Fantastic Salads

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UNIT 7
salad tips
Here are some tips to help you make fantastic salads.
 When choosing your lettuce, make sure it’s the freshest that you can get. There should be no
blemishes, bruising, or yellow on the leaves.
 To get a head start on making the salad, clean the greens, wrap them in a clean, dry kitchen
towel, and place the towel in a plastic bag. Leave the bag open and refrigerate. The leaves keep
for up to one week.
 Drying salad greens can be a chore, but a salad spinner can make quick work of the job. A salad
spinner is a piece of equipment that is really quite handy. If the spinner makes preparing salad
more attractive to you, why not invest in this moderately priced kitchen tool? Or better yet, put
it on your holiday wish list
 Tearing greens is preferable to cutting them. It’s easy and gentler on the greens, and it looks
better too. If you use a metal knife when cutting your salad, your greens will ‘rust” sooner than
if you use a plastic knife or just tear them with your fingers.
 Need an easy way to “core” a head of lettuce?—-Just grab the head of lettuce firmly on either
side and smack it on the countertop. Then turn it over and pull the now-separated core from the
head of lettuce. You may need to wiggle it a bit, but it should give pretty easily. Takes about 3
seconds, no more trying to cut out the core of the lettuce.
Tips on Washing Fruits and Vegetables
Is it necessary to wash the vegetables??
Bacteria such as Listeria, Salmonella, and E.coli may all be lurking on your produce whether they are
organically grown or conventionally grown. These bacteria all cause food-borne illness, and need to be
washed away.
 Start by keeping your kitchen countertops, refrigerator, cookware and cutlery clean.
 Always wash your hands before preparing meals and handling fruits and vegetables.
 Wait until just before you eat to prepare your fruits and vegetables to wash them. They have
natural coatings that keep moisture inside, and washing them will make them spoil sooner.
 Wash all pre-packaged produce. Sometimes we think just because it is package that it is clean,
that is not the case usually.
 Clean the whole thing – even the parts you don’t eat. Bacteria can live on the rinds or skins of
foods like bananas, potatoes or rutabagas. Though you may peel them away and toss the coverings
in the trash, the bacteria can be transferred from the rind to the knife; then on to the part you
are cutting.
 Gently rub vegetables and fruit under running water. Don’t use any detergents or soaps. These
chemicals will leave a residue of their own on your produce.
 Leafy lettuce and greens are best when submerged in a bowl of cold water to ensure all grit is
removed off the leaves.
 You can buy commercial sprays to wash your fruit and vegetables but it isn’t really any better
than cleaning thoroughly with plain water. It is better to save your money, than waste it.
 For lettuce and cabbage heads, tear off the outer leaves and rinse the rest of the vegetable.
 Rinse berries and other small fruits thoroughly. Allow them to drain in a colander.
 Remember, when preparing your meals and using a cutting board, NEVER use the same tools to
cut meat or poultry with when preparing your vegetables and fruit. You have to properly wash
and rinse off all residues, because hidden bacteria can stay present. It is safest to use a
different cutting board for meat and one for vegetables.
vegetable nutrition
Eating a salad everyday is a good lifelong habit to produce. It is an easy way to get in a few servings of
fresh vegetables packed full of vitamins and nutrients.
Most people do not get enough fresh fruits and vegetables into their diets. We need to be eating more
dark green and orange vegetables. If you do eat more green salads, you will likely have a higher amount
of antioxidants—vitamin C and E, folic acid, and alpha- and beta- carotene. Antioxidants are
substances that help protect your body from damage caused by harmful disease.
Even experts agree that there is a direct link between eating lots of fruits and vegetables and lower
risks of many diseases, particularly cancer.
Eating leafy salads also gives you much needed fiber in your body. Think of fiber working like sand. It
grips and grinds out bad bacteria in the body.
Eating salads can also help us eat less by filling you up with good foods so that you eat less of the
cooked meal. Be sure to make your own salad dressing, or use low calorie dressing.
What are the best choices for vegetables?
 Green leafy vegetables, such as kale, chard, collard greens, spinach, parsley, and dark
green and red leaf lettuce are high in carotenoids, and best eaten raw in salads. Head lettuce
is fine to eat occasionally, but it offers very little nutrition. If you need that extra “crunch mix
your salads with head lettuce and some leafy lettuce like spinach to help adjust your taste buds
to new textures.
 Broccoli—both the green flower heads and stalks are nutritious.
 Red and green peppers are a good addition to salads.
 Garlic and onions are nutritious eaten raw. Mix up a batch of homemade salad dressing and add
these ingredients into it for an easy addition to your health.
 Tomatoes—which are actually a fruit, are good in salads. Cherry or grape tomatoes are a great
and easy addition to salads.

 Carrots are sweet and high in carotenoids. They are super when grated into any kind of salad.
 When preparing your salad, make the majority of it vegetables, and keep it light for the extra
toppings like cheese, eggs, nuts, and salad dressing.
 items high in iron that you can add are chick peas (garbanzo beans), kale, beets, and almonds
tips to building a healthy salad

1. Start with dark, leafy green lettuce — stick with a mix of spinach, arugula, and romaine. If you must have the “crunchy”
kind from iceberg (head lettuce), then add this along with the dark, green leafy lettuce.
2. Add shredded carrot. This adds much needed nutrition as well as color to your salad.
3. Slice up tomatoes or add a handful of grape small round ones– they are sweeter.
4. Add avocado. Avocado does contain a higher fat content–but it is a necessity fat that we need. To avoid weight gain, use
avocado in place of another high-fat topper, such as cheese
5. Add a variety of beans for extra protein. You can add some canned garbanzo, black, or kidney beans. Make your own by
cooking and freezing into containers or buy just plain canned in water and salt.
6. Think color when choosing other vegetables–colored peppers, shredded beets, and purple onions.
7. A hard boiled eggs adds extra nutrition to salads as well, Just choose one per salad.
Adding the extra’s like cheese, croutons, thick creamy dressings, and crunchy toppings add extra calories and
unnecessary stuff into our bodies. It is fine for doing the occasional salad or even just to try and get our families to eat
them. But, we should focus on just enjoying the flavors from the variety of vegetables. You can retrain your taste
palette to like anything, but it takes a few times. I used to only enjoy iceberg lettuce, shredded cheese, Baco’s, and ranch
for my salad. I thought I was doing myself a favor eating that, but now I know it was not the healthiest choice to
consume. When going to make your salad, think basic–simpler—closest to nature, when choosing your toppings
hands on lesson preparing a salad

This unit, you will be making a salad to add to your meal. You can choose from the following:
Italian salad
Greek salad
layered salad
Antipasto salad
grilled chicken salad
mesclun salad with chickpeas and dried cranberries
BBQ chopped chicken salad
berry mandarian Spinach salad
chinese cabbage salad
taco salad
Create your own salad
Making your own croutons

It is very easy to make your own croutons. Plus it has much less fat, because they are not deep fried
like commercial brands.
1. Take slices of bread, day old bread works best.

2. Spread with butter on both sides, or you can brush on olive oil.
3. Sprinkle with a variety of spices—garlic salt, basil, oregano, and Parmesan cheese are good choices
4. Bake at 300 degrees until crispy –about 20 minutes
5. When cooled, cut into cubes
Making your own salad dressing
It is easy to make your own salad dressings as well. Take a look at the ingredients listed on the back of
a salad dressing bottle — there are many. Try mixing up your own in the blender. Try any of the
following combinations. Remember it will take some time for the flavors to blend together in homemade
dressing. Be sure to mix these up, and let sit for at least an hour or two so the flavors combine
together.
Italian dressing
french dressing
southwestern dressing
light cream dressing
ranch dressing

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HOME ECONOMICS

Tips on Washing Fruits and Vegetables

Is it necessary to wash the vegetables??

What are the best choices for vegetables?

and easy addition to salads.

tips to building a healthy salad

hands on lesson preparing a salad

grilled chicken salad

mesclun salad with chickpeas and dried cranberries

BBQ chopped chicken salad

berry mandarian Spinach salad

chinese cabbage salad

Create your own salad

Making your own croutons

1. Take slices of bread, day old bread works best.

5. When cooled, cut into cubes

Making your own salad dressing

light cream dressing

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