Build Better Salad

Do the endless options at the salad bar have you stumped? Lettuce show
you the way with this detailed guide

Salad Starter: Lettuce

The darker the leaf, the more vitamins it contains. Look for spinach,
romaine, arugula, and chicory to get the most folate and beta-carotene
— an antioxidant that helps rid your body of disease-causing chemicals
in addition to protecting your eyes and skin. Love your iceberg? "Mix
dark greens with lighter ones to tone down their bitter taste," says
Jackie Newgent, R.D., a nutritionist and culinary instructor at the
Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.

Produce Junction: Fruits and Vegetables

The more colorful your mix of vegetables, the more nutrients you'll
consume. Fill your plate with these nutritional superstars first —
they offer the most vitamins and minerals per bite. Cherry tomatoes
are rich in lycopene and may help ward off cardiovascular disease in
women. Broccoli boasts vitamin C, beta-carotene, fiber, and calcium.

When you face a rainbow selection of peppers, green means stop: Red
and yellow peppers contain more than twice the amount of vitamin C
than the green ones, which are really just unripe versions of the more
colorful varieties. You can never go wrong with carrots, one of the
best sources of beta-carotene.

All fruit is not created equal. With no water to take up space, dried
fruit packs a high caloric punch, especially if you're using a big
serving spoon. Avoid large portions of dried cranberries (108 calories
for 1/4 cup) and raisins (92 calories for the same size portion).

Stick with fresh fruit like berries, pears, or orange slices. These
treats will sweeten your salad without too many calories (oranges have
22 calories for 1/4 cup), and their high water content will help keep
you full.

Fat Facts: The Extras Add Up

Limit yourself to one healthy, monounsaturated fat per salad (aside
from the dressing), such as nuts, seeds, olives, or avocado. Ten
olives or 1/4 cup of nuts (the size of a golf ball) are surprisingly
satisfying.

Cheese is high in saturated fat and sodium and is not the best source
of calcium for the calories, says Lisa Young, Ph.D., R.D., an adjunct
professor of nutrition at New York University and author of The
Portion Teller. If you can't lose the cheese, limit it to 1 ounce
(about four dice worth) and go for lower-fat versions like goat or
mozzarella instead of cheddar or blue. Or mix half low-fat with half
regular cheese. "In our study, women didn't taste any difference when
we combined low-fat cheese with regular," even though the calorie
count was cut almost in half, says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., professor of
nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University and author of
The Volumetrics Eating Plan.

Dress to Impress: Salad Dressings

Watch the serving size when you hit the dressing: Even honey-mustard
dressing weighs in at more than 200 calories per 1/4 cup. One ladle
(about 1/4 cup) of full-fat ranch or Caesar packs 300 calories. Two
ladles are the equivalent of two hot-fudge sundaes. If you choose low-
fat dressing, you can double that. A plastic takeout dressing
container holds about 2 tablespoons, so fill accordingly.

Walk right past that fat-free French. A recent study found that people
who ate salads with fat-free dressing absorbed fewer essential
nutrients than those with fat in their salads, and that reduced-fat
dressing boosted absorption of good-for-you nutrients like beta-
carotene and lycopene compared with fat-free. A little fat is
necessary to help your body process vitamins.

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