Dare to improve your salads with varied and tasty foods to turn them into a five star dish.

The perfect salad is that which provides a good number of nutrients so that our body works perfectly.

6 keys for a healthy and original salad

Lettuce alone does not a salad make. There is nothing to keep us from experimenting in the kitchen, trying new ingredients and making several combinations to create a special touch.

1. Green leaf vegetables. Lettuce or shoots (lamb’s lettuce, rocket or spinach) should be the base. Vegetables must be at least 30% of the dish. The greener, the healthier.

2. Pulses. Add lentils, chickpeas, beans, soy, peas or broad beans, as well as whole grains (oat or spelt) to obtain quality proteins (minimum 25% of the dish).

3. Root vegetables. Add fine strips of onion, tomato, carrot, cucumber, courgette, beetroot… Choose just two of these. Eat them raw to make the most of their properties.

4. Seeds. If you add linseed, chia, pumpkin, sunflower, poppy or sesame seeds, you’ll add extra healthy fats and fibre. It’s best to eat these when they are ground.

5. Veggie ingredients . Include miso (probiotic), wakame seaweed (multivitamin) or germinated sprouts (sprouts from seeds). The intense flavours will improve your salads.

6. Light dressing. Try dressing your salad with pesto (basil, garlic, pine nuts, oil), spicy avocado (tomatoes, jalapeño, lemon, coriander) or with a red berry vinaigrette (vinegar, oil and salt).

For salads, less is more.
Though variety is also important, balance is possible.

This post is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)