Everyone wants to eat healthy, but let’s be real – constantly eating the same old salads gets boring. That’s why it’s important to switch things up by including ingredients that are bursting with flavor and add different textures. This will keep your taste buds interested and help you stick to your diet. Who knew you could actually be excited to eat a salad?! Check out these 10 ideas for improving your salads!
One: Sensational Seasonings
Something as simple as adding fresh crushed black pepper or salt can add some extra oomph to your salad. But – why not go further? Throw in fresh basil, lemon zest, garlic salt, cumin, mint, cilantro, parsley, and more to take your salad to the next level. Here are a couple of recipes that use seasonings to make a salad Blue Ribbon worthy!
Two: Vary your Veggies
Lettuce doesn’t have to be the only vegetable in your salad. Feel free to toss in asparagus, broccoli, onion, cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, and other yummy vegetables to amp up the healthy and taste of your salad. Check out these yummy salads that add veggies to make them brimming with flavor and texture.
Three: Fabulous Fruits
Adding fruit to salad isn’t anything new, but making it the real star of your salad is. By focusing on the bright, crisp, and sweet fruit, you won’t even realize you’re eating your greens. Strawberries, blueberries, apples, blackberries, oranges, peaches, avocados, bell peppers, and other fruits make every bite of your salad bursting with flavor. Get inspired with these recipes:
Four: Dress it Up
Homemade dressings are not only a flavorful way to make your salad better, they’re often healthier for you! Make these homemade dressings ahead of time and store them in your fridge to make salad prep even easier.
Five: Make Meat the Star
One of the best ways to boost the flavor of your salad is by putting the focus on the meat. Chicken, steak, pork, salmon, shrimp, and other meats are tasty additions to a boring salad. With marinades, sauces, rubs, and spices, these full-flavored meats are perfect to top greens. Other proteins work too – hard-boiled eggs, tofu, beans, rice, and quinoa are great to add to salads.
Six: Get Nutty
Sometimes it’s as easy as adding a new texture to your salads. The crunch from flavorful nuts can do just that! Pecans, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, pistachios, and more are tasty toppings to bring your salad to life. Here are some delicious ideas that do just that:
Seven: Change Up the Cheese
It’s no secret, we love cheese. So why not add it to salads? Crumbled feta, goat cheese (gasp: one of these recipes includes fried goat cheese), mozzarella, blue cheese, Parmesan, and more are beyond welcome additions to our salad any day of the week. Check out these cheese-centric salad recipes that take it to the next level:
Eight: Recreate Your Favorite Foods
One of the hardest parts of dieting is losing out on our favorite foods…but do we actually have to? Use salad as the base of your favorite meals. Taco salad, burger salad, BLT chopped salad, Caprese salad, and so many others are easy to recreate in a salad. Not to mention, it really helps make eating lettuce a treat!
Nine: Spice Up Your Life
A spicy salad will never be a boring salad. It’s just that simple. With a little sriracha, buffalo sauce, or chili paste, you are bound to have a salad chock-full of flavor!
Ten: When in Doubt, Bacon
When all else fails to spark your interest in eating yet another salad, add our favorite go-to topping – bacon. Including crumbled bacon on your salad isn’t going to ruin your diet, in fact, it might help cure the craving. So go ahead – add that bacon!
