Ideally, the salad is eaten entrance. Get into the habit of starting a meal with raw vegetables : the vitamins, minerals and enzymes in vegetables will promote good digestion. Whether you eat protein or carbohydrates afterwards, your stomach will be well prepared. For people who have intestinal problems, the meal will preferably start with a freshly squeezed vegetable juice.
When the salad is composed, it can be a good alternative for an easy dish to prepare (for a lunch at work, for example) or to serve as a quick dinner to prepare after a difficult day.
Be careful, if you opt for a single dish salad, it must contain the three main components of a balanced meal:
- raw vegetables or steamed vegetables,
- proteins: animal (meat, fish, shrimp, egg, goat or sheep cheese) or vegetable (quinoa for example)
- already with starch : potatoes, pasta, legumes such as lentils, cereals or, failing that, a slice of bread). Starch is very important because it will allow the fats and amino acids, essential for our health, to penetrate into the cells.
Which vegetables to choose for a mixed salad?
What would a good mixed salad be without vegetables? Excellent ingredients for our health, full of nutrients, vegetables are the best friends of our summer salads. Of course, we think first of all to favor the seasonal vegetables they are picked when they are ripe, both because they are tastier and more ecological:
- In the winter : green salads of all kinds, avocados, celery…;
- In summer : tomatoes, green beans;
- Not forgetting the growing ones almost the whole year : beetroot, carrot or cabbage.
In any case, it varies the pleasures… and also the colors: a colorful plate it whets the appetite and provides different health benefits. The Red food rich in lycopene protect the skin and promote digestion, greens are antioxidants and good for eye health, whites are allies against cholesterol…
Which meat to choose for a mixed salad?
If vegetables are essential in a good mixed salad, meats are also part of the recurring ingredients. They provide taste, texture, and above all proteins!
the chicken is an essential star of the mixed salad, and the chicken breast in particular, a meat “skinny” especially appreciated for its very low caloric intake, just like turkey breast
the beef, with its delicious flavor, it will give a gourmet side in your salads: we especially think of the Marinated Beef Salad (below), the Asian-style Italian Beef Salad with Potatoes… Pork is very popular in saladsespecially in sweet and savory salads: Thai pork loin salad, pork and peach salad… We think less often about the lambbut very tender (Moroccan lamb salad), or beef (beef salad with lentils).
Be careful though, the caloric intake of a salad can add up quickly if the salad consists of red meat, such as beef, pork or lamb. We will still favor, especially in summer, a light recipe, salads with lean meat : chicken breast, turkey breast…
How much mixed salad per person?
If the amount varies according to appetite,the composition of the salad or the food context (integrated into a rich meal, the only food in the meal, etc.), in general, there are approx. 250 gramssalad per person
The good vinaigrette is the one that combines both omega 3, 6 and 9essential nutrients for the proper functioning of the brain and cardiovascular system:
- The ideal is to mix a few tablespoonsolive oil withwalnut or rapeseed oil. Even for those on a low-calorie diet, two tablespoons of balanced oil daily will be beneficial;
- For the vinegar, try balsamic, cider or rice vinegar. The latter is ideal for a salad with starch, as it facilitates digestion;
- Don’t forget to add some aromatic herbs fresh, freeze-dried or frozen, walnuts, pine nuts or gomazio (grilled sesame rich in calcium), salt and pepper.
Do it in quantity and put what you have left in a small half liter bottle. Then store this vinaigrette cool to prevent it from going stale.
Mixed salads: our healthy tips for a successful starter
- To add vitality sprinkle your salad with a few sprouted seeds or edible flowers (violets, zucchini flowers);
- Grate and peel the vegetables at the last minute, if you can, of course. To wash them, just run them under running water, but don’t leave them soaking. Vegetables could lose some of their vitamins;
- Use a stainless knife not to damage the ingredients;
- If you don’t eat the salad right away, keep it in an airtight and cool box. And add the seasoning right before you eat it.
8 balanced, original and easy summer salad recipes
The 100% fresh mixed salad
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ingredients for 4 people:
1 watermelon
2 cucumbers
200 g of feta
mint
lemon
Sal
pepper
Dice the watermelon and slice the cucumbers, which are themselves quartered. Place in a salad bowl. Add the crumbled feta and chopped mint. salt, pepper Pour in the lemon juice. Enjoy fresh.
The balanced but hearty mixed salad
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients for 4 people:
250 g of green lentils
200 g of feta
20 cherry tomatoes
sherry vinegar
parsley
Sal
pepper
Cook the lentils as directed on the package. Pour into a salad bowl. Add the crumbled feta and halved cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with sherry vinegar. Add a few parsley leaves. salt, pepper
The amazing mixed salad
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Ingredients for 4 people:
400 g of fresh spinach
200 g of strawberries
2 logs of fresh goat cheese
40 g of walnuts
sesame seeds
Olive oil
balsamic velvet
Sal
pepper
Place the salad in a large salad bowl. Add the washed and halved strawberries, crumbled goat cheese, walnuts and sesame seeds. salt, pepper Mix the olive oil and the vinegar. Pour at the time of serving.
Sweet and salty mixed salad
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Ingredients for 4 people:
400 g of fresh spinach
4 nectarines
20 small balls of mozzarella
chives
Olive oil
1 lemon
parsley
Sal
pepper
4 Swedish rolls
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Wash and cut the nectarines into quarters. Place them on a rack and bake for 10 minutes. Place the salad in a large salad bowl. Add the nectarines and mozzarella balls. Add the chopped chives. Prepare a vinaigrette with olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour at the time of serving. Serve with Swedish rolls.
Salad with marinated beef
Preparation time: 15 minutes
600 g of loin
2 tablespoons to the. by Nuoc Mam
2 tablespoons to the. rice vinegar
1 C. c. sugar
1 C. c. chilli powder
200 g of fresh spinach
200 g of red oak leaves
1 red onion
20 cherry tomatoes
Sal
pepper
Pour the Nuoc Mam sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and chili powder into a bowl. To mix together. Cook the meat to your liking. When cooked, cut into very thin strips. Put the beef slices in the sauce and let it marinate.
In a salad bowl, toss lettuce, sliced red onion, halved cherry tomatoes and meat. salt, pepper
Salad with rice
Preparation time : 10 minutes
1 can of tuna (natural)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Vinaigrette (homemade or industrial)
Cook the rice in a saucepan with boiling water, with a little salt. When cooked, rinse with cold water. Gently pour the eggs into a boiling saucepan. Remove them after 8 minutes as soon as they boil again. Cool them under running water and remove the shells. Cut the eggs into strips and the tomatoes into cubes, add them to the rice. Add the olives, corn and tuna flakes. Store in the fridge and serve cold.
Salad with endive and apple
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Ingredients for 4 people:
3 tablespoons to the. olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- Put the endive leaves, washed and peeled beforehand, in a salad bowl. Dice the apples. Add them to the salad with the nuts. Mix the oil, lemon juice and vinegar in a bowl to make the vinaigrette. salt and pepper
- To mix it all up. great book Taste.
Pear fries with Roquefort on a mix of salads, to enjoy in any season
- Clean, chop and dry a mixture of lamb’s lettuce, arugula, purslane and spinach. Coarsely grate two carrots;
- Prepare the vinaigrette with two tablespoons of walnut oil, one tablespoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Add a teaspoon of wild garlic, a finely chopped shallot and a teaspoon or two of kelpamare (organic soy-based vegetable broth, replaces salt);
- Cut the pears in half, peel them and seed them before cutting them into strips and garnishing them with lemon;
- Spread four slices of bread with Roquefort cheese and put them under the grill for a few minutes. Then arrange the pear slices on top;
- Toss the salad with the dressing. Scatter the grated carrots on top and top with the chips. Serve immediately.