Salad bars are tricky.
With so many toppings & choices available, by the time you’re done creating your salad masterpiece it’s likely super high in calories.
Use this checklist to make better salads…
Salad Bar Checklist
✔️Is this a meal or a side salad?
MEAL = lots of veggies + 3 toppings.
SIDE = lots of veggies + 1 topping.
✔️Right size your toppings.
Choose your favorite toppings in the right sizes. Here are some guidelines…
1/2 cup: Salmon, chicken, turkey, egg, black beans, chickpeas, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, quinoa, corn, brown rice, avocado.
1/4 cup: almonds, pecans, walnuts, hummus
3T: sunflower seeds, cheddar cheese, blue cheese, feta cheese, dried fruit
2T: salad dressing*
*Pro-tip: Instead of dressing I often mix 50% plain salad greens + 50% of a pre-dressed salad. Or I opt out of dressing and choose cheese + vinegar as my “dressing”.
✔️Shake, toss, or chop.
The trick to the best tasting salads is to mix it all up. Put all the ingredients into a salad bar container & shake it. OR you could use a big bowl & toss it with these OR chop it up with salad scissors.
BONUS: Help! I don’t feel like cooking.
HERE are 5 fast meals using supermarket salad bar shortcuts.✂️