Caveat, Eater! Beware the Super-Sized Healthy Salads

By , SparkPeople Blogger
Salad bars can be calorie landmines. That's old news.

We all know how to survive: Avoid the fat bombs (croutons, bacon bits, crunchy noodles), go easy on the healthy fats (olive oil-based dressings, avocados, low-fat cheeses), and load up on the good stuff (dark leafy greens, a rainbow of vegetables, lean proteins).

Now, as it turns out, there are two new, waistline-sabotaging trends on the salad bar: Supersizing and "healthy" salads, the New York Sun reports.

The Sun singles out Whole Foods, that mecca of healthy, organic food, for its large (compostable) containers and wide array of well-intentioned, seemingly healthy side dishes, such as Chicken Provencal, Vegan Chicken Delight, Spinach Orzo Feta Salad, Southern Sweet Potato Salad, and Vegan Peach BBQ Tofu Salad. Whole Foods (and competitors) offer two sizes of salad containers: 36 fluid ounces and 54 fluid ounces! That's huge!

The Sun sent a few of those Whole Foods side dishes for analysis at a lab and found them to be teeming with fat, sodium and calories.

I've committed the same food sin. On weekends, I often take the little girl I mentor to Whole Foods for lunch. She loves the DIY aspect of the salad bar, and I love topping romaine and spinach with a sampler of side salads. (The salad bar is a great way to introduce kids to new foods.) Quinoa, chickpeas, lentils and tofu in organic sauces and marinades seem like healthy choices. But four or five heaping spoonfuls quickly add up! I'd usually end up taking half the salad home or throwing it away. (At $7.99 a pound, it's not exactly a cheap lunch.) Now I have a plan to navigate the salad bar safely!

Here's my plan for slimming down my salad bar meals:
  • Walk around the salad bar once before you pick up a tray and container. You'll survey the offerings, decide what you want and plan ahead.
  • Choose a plate instead of an oversized box. (For takeout, choose the smallest container.)

  • Start with a good base. I combine baby spinach with mixed greens and some romaine for crunch. I try to fill my plate about 2/3 full with greens. Limited space means fewer extra calories.

  • Pick a theme. Think about what kind of salad you're craving. Select a few ingredients to create a base for your salad. If you're creating a Greek salad, you can steer clear of the ingredients that don't fit your "theme." You'll feel less overwhelmed. (Try recreating a salad you've had at a restaurant if you need inspiration.)

  • Allow yourself two splurges. If I'm making a Greek salad, I sprinkle on some feta (for calcium) and a few olives (for heart-healthy fats and minerals), then I bypass the other half-dozen kinds of cheese, fancy composed salads, and crunchy toppings.

  • Alternately, use those side dishes to flavor your entire salad. Go ahead and take a serving of the spinach-feta orzo salad or the curried chickpeas. Toss those rich dishes with your greens, and voila! Flavor in every bite!

  • Cut up rich, caloric toppings. A standard serving of cheese is one ounce, or the size of a pair of dice. That's just two feta cheese cubes, which will be gone in two bites! Cut them into small pieces and you can flavor your entire salad. Use the same tactic with sundried tomatoes, marinated artichokes, grilled chicken strips, olives, etc.

How do you survive the salad bar? What's your favorite salad combination?