It is perhaps impossible to calculate how many varieties of salads there are in the world. Any housewife in her kitchen can create more and more new combinations of products at hand. Salads often act not only as a snack, but also as a full-fledged independent dish that you can get enough of, and at the same time fill the body's needs for vitamins and other nutrients. Your task is only to correctly compose the ingredients. Low-calorie salads are an important part of any menu. It is worth mastering their preparation, and you will not think about what to have for breakfast, a snack, or an easy dinner. And for a festive table rich in treats, low-calorie salads will come in handy. Cutting and dressing a light salad is a matter of a few minutes: low-calorie salads do not use products that require complex pre-processing, which destroys all vitamins and useful trace elements. Serve the table with beautiful plates, decorate everything with herbs and vegetables, if possible and with your abilities - and ... voila! Such dishes look very appetizing and beautiful, for the body - a complete benefit, and calories and time spent on cooking - a minimum. We hope that this section of our website will help you get inspired to switch to low-calorie salads. Taking as a basis the recipes given with an exact indication of calorie content, you will learn how to easily navigate the process of preparing such dishes, and stop supplying your body with extra calories.
5 basic rules for preparing low-calorie salads.
More greenery.
Green vegetables and herbs, for example, onions, lettuce, spinach, mustard leaves contain very few calories (no more than 20 kcal per glass of chopped product), while they are sources of valuable substances - folic acid, lutein, antioxidants. So don't be afraid to use these ingredients generously in your salads. Lots of fresh vegetables. Choose vegetables that have a calorie content of no more than 25 kcal / serving. Feel free to combine vegetables when preparing salads. In order to get a variety of nutrients into your body, be sure to switch from one vegetable to another. In this case, your body will receive optimal portions of vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, antioxidants and fiber. But fried and pickled vegetables are best avoided. Also be careful with the addition of sauces and mayonnaise. The most popular products for salads: peppers (yellow, green, red), cucumber, carrots, onions, mushrooms, radishes, broccoli, cabbage. Add some lean meat 1-2 slices of lean boiled meat is enough to make a salad. Protein-containing foods are very important for the body, so you should not refuse them. You can use grilled chicken, boiled egg, shrimp, salmon, tuna, low calorie cottage cheese, black beans, hummus. Avoid anything that is crunchy, requires frying, or is served with a heavy sauce. Use no more than one high-calorie food. In fact, even one product can add over 600 calories to your meal. And although many of the high-calorie foods are rich in nutrients (sunflower seeds, nuts, raisins), they still significantly increase the calorie content of meals. Distribute the amount of added high-calorie foods wisely. And remember: no more than one such product per salad.
Choose light condiments.
For many people, the most favorite thing about salads is dressing. Unfortunately, it is often too high in calories. For information: in 1 tbsp. l. seasonings from vinegar and olive oil contain 50 kcal, and 1 tbsp. l. cream sauce can contain 90 kcal! But who will stop at one spoon!? Consider for yourself what is best for you and your figure: satisfy your hunger with a good salad dressed with vinegar and olive oil, or eat a couple of spoons of your favorite sauce with the same number of calories. The best dressing options are plain olive oil, lemon juice, or vinegar. To season a salad, just add a couple of spoons of the mentioned products to it - and the dish will acquire a unique taste. Basic principles for preparing low-calorie salads. By and large, everything that will be listed below applies to any dish according to the principles of proper nutrition. After all, what kind of weight loss can we talk about if we add golden-skinned chicken fried in butter, rubbed with mayonnaise, to a low-calorie salad, and then seize everything with french fries? No grapefruit or vinegar will save you - too many unhealthy fats and improperly cooked carbohydrates. As for salads, everything here is limited only by the culinary imagination. Countless combinations can provide a varied menu for the whole year, which will allow dishes not to become boring, which means turning every meal into a small holiday. Almost anything is suitable for low-calorie salads, except that you should try not to use potatoes too often. Fruits for low-calorie salads are better to choose unsweetened ones, but there will be no catastrophe in the fact that the salad contains, for example, a honey apple instead of a sour green one. Steamed or boiled lean meat, white fish, seafood should take up no more than a third of the salad. Any nuts can become an addition that gives zest - in a small amount they will not harm the figure. And also greens: parsley, dill, mint, anise - these are the four best fat burners, but the list does not end there. Vinegar, soy sauce, lemon juice are ideal as dressings, let's say low-calorie mayonnaise, which you can cook yourself. What the cross is definitely put on is a variety of canned food (especially sprats in oil), smoked products, store-bought mayonnaise and fatty cheese. If you need to add cheese to a low-calorie salad, then it is better to take tofu, feta cheese or hard varieties with a low percentage of fat content. The principles of making delicious low-calorie salads. There are many recipes for low-calorie salads, the first place among which is occupied by salads from fresh herbs and vegetables, leafy salads. What are leafy salads? These are low-calorie salads that use leafy greens as a base: lettuce, arugula, chicory, watercress, corn lettuce, spinach, cabbage of all varieties, green onions and herbs. The calorie content of lettuce, the most common lettuce we have, is only 15 kcal per hundred grams. There is a recipe for a delicious low-calorie salad with lettuce, which includes only lettuce, herbs, onions and marinade. The marinade consists of sugar, salt, vinegar and vegetable oil. The calorie content of this salad is 35-40 Kcal per hundred grams. For 500 grams of lettuce, there is one tablespoon of oil, which is diluted (up to a volume of 70-100 grams) with water, vinegar and salt (a pinch) with sugar (a teaspoon). Coarsely chopped lettuce leaves with greens (parsley, green onion and dill) are seasoned with this. The main feature of such salads: they must be consumed immediately, they are not stored in refrigerator. You can supplement fresh greens of leafy salads with such juicy vegetables as cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, Jerusalem artichoke, fennel, turnips, zucchini. Also, delicious low-calorie salads are obtained by adding proteins to greens and fiber: lean meat and fish, eggs, shrimp and other seafood. The calorie content of shrimp and mussels is only 98 Kcal and 70 Kcal per hundred grams, the calorie content of chicken breast is 107 Kcal per hundred grams, these are excellent sources of low-calorie protein and useful vitamins and minerals. The rule of thumb for delicious low-calorie salads is that if you add one high-calorie item, the rest, including the dressing (first of all), should be low-calorie. The biggest "suppliers" of calories to the salad are mayonnaise, butter and heavy cream, an immoderate consumption of dressing for the total amount of salad. The second important rule is not to subject to additional culinary processing that which does not need it and not to cut it too finely. So you save more of the nutritional benefits of the product. Low-fat young cheeses will also be useful: cheese, sheep, tofu (soy cheese), mozzarella and other low-fat dairy products. As a dressing, as an alternative to mayonnaise, low-fat yogurt, natural vinegar and acidic juices, a small amount of high-quality vegetable oil are recommended. Vegetable oil is better unrefined, you can choose from a variety of unusual types of oil: pumpkin, walnut, wheat germ, rapeseed, olive, almond, mustard. If you still choose between mayonnaise and sour cream, we recommend low-fat sour store-bought sour cream. Or homemade fermented milk products. Salads are a great scope for creativity. Preparation of food and utensils. Most often, raw vegetables are used to prepare low-calorie salads, which must be thoroughly washed. After that, the products are cut into cubes, slices, straws. If heat treatment is necessary, it is recommended to boil, stew or steam vegetables, since such cooking methods preserve vitamins and trace elements. Frying in oil is not recommended, as this increases the calorie content of the dish. White chicken or turkey meat is thoroughly washed, then boiled or cooked in a double boiler. Shrimp usually boil in salted water for about three minutes. After all the products are prepared, you can proceed to directly cutting them into a salad. From the dishes you will need a standard set: a salad bowl, a saucepan, a cutting board, a grater, knives, a garlic press. You may also need a small bowl to prepare dressing for a low-calorie salad. Satisfying low-calorie foods. The most satisfying are those that contain a complete pure protein. For meals, you can choose from hearty, but low-calorie foods. List of products with a calorie content of 60-120 per 100 grams: Turkey or chicken breast, Low-fat white