As the temperatures get warmer, I get more excited about salads.

I love tasting cool, crisp greens, the sweetness of yellow bell peppers balanced by the spiciness of radishes, the bite of red onion and the juicy goodness of sun-ripened tomatoes all in one refreshing meal. To my mind, salads are the perfect summer food.

Eating a salad makes me feel good about my food choices. It’s like earning an A for my health. Salad and healthy go hand in hand, right?

Well, depends on what’s in the salad. If the bowl is full of colorful fruits and veggies, it’s bursting with nutrition. But if the salad is heavy on the top with grated cheese, croutons, bacon and such, not so good on the health scale.

The crunchy pale green Iceberg lettuce is the top American choice for greens, but has very little nutrition. Fortunately for consumers, more colorful, flavorful and nutritious greens are available in the markets.

When compared to the Iceberg, Romaine has 10 times more Vitamin A and seven times more vitamin C. The darker the greens, the more the nutrition, and there’s plenty of choice: spinach, watercress, arugula and more. If your family is wary of the new greens, start slow. Mix Iceberg with other greens. Try new greens one at a time before going for a mix.

Most salads are simple and cheap to make. Use whatever you have on hand. I recently made a great salad using bits and pieces from the fridge: prepackaged mixed greens, apples, blueberries, pecans, red onion, leftover cooked chicken and feta cheese. Yum!

A good salad can be a filling, tasty and nutritious meal. The best thing is you don’t have to turn on the stove.



The Design-Your-Own Salad

Put together a restaurant-style salad bar at home. Here’s one of my favorite sayings: If there’s only one thing you can do to be healthy, eat the rainbow.

No, I don’t mean skittles or M&Ms. I mean go for a variety of colors and tastes. The more colors, the more vitamins, minerals and other good stuff. Go ahead, you’ll enjoy it.

Get the basics: I’ve listed many items, but you can pick and choose as many as you want from each group. Kids eat better when they have choices.

• Greens: romaine, red lettuce, spinach or a mix. The kids can help tear the green.

• Veggies: bell peppers (the different colors have different flavors), chopped tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes if you have them), celery, cucumber, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots (shredded or cut into coins), sliced radishes, grapes, mandarin oranges, apples, cubed cantaloupe, avocado essentially whatever you have and whatever you want.

• Proteins: grated cheese, feta cheese, cottage cheese, diced cooked chicken, turkey or ham, beans — my favorites are chickpeas and black beans (if using canned, drain and rinse) or hard-boiled eggs.

• Toppers: chopped nuts (unless somebody is allergic), pitted and sliced olives, raisins, dried cranberries, or sesame seed.

Making your own dressing is a healthier choice because you’re in control of the fats, salt and/or sugar.



Citrus-Cilantro Dressing

• 1 cup packed cilantro (if you don’t like the scent of cilantro, you can substitute it with parsley)

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil

• ¼ cup orange juice

• ¼ cup lemon juice

• ¼ cup lime juice

• 1 clove of garlic (or more to taste)

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon pepper

• ½ teaspoon cumin (optional)



 If using a blender, purée all ingredients together until smooth. If not using a blender, chop the cilantro fine, mince the garlic and then whisk together all ingredients in a bowl. Makes 1 ¼ cups.



Tabbouleh

(Bulgur Wheat Salad)

• ½ cup bulgur wheat/tabbouleh (you can find this at local grocery stores)

6 to 8 Roma tomatoes, de-seeded and diced

• 8 green onions

• 2 large garlic cloves

• 2 to 3 bunches Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

• 1 to 2 bunches fresh mint

• Juice of 4 to 6 lemons

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Dash or two of allspice (optional)

• ½ to 1 tsp. cumin



Rinse the bulgur wheat in a few changes of warm water, then let it rest in a bowl with enough water to just cover the top of the wheat. Let it soak for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile finely dice the tomatoes and thinly slice the green onion, mince the garlic, chop the parsley and mint very finely (if you have a food processor, then put your parsley and mint into it, pulse to get a fine chop but not mush).

Combine all the ingredients with the bulgur wheat in the serving dish. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, if not overnight. Before serving, stir gently. Adjust seasoning if needed, adding more lemon juice and/or olive oil if necessary.



Sweet and Sour

Leafy Green Salad

This recipe is from Produce for Better Health. Each serving equals 3 ¼ cups of fruits or vegetables

• 5 cups romaine lettuce leaves, torn and lightly packed

• 3 cups spinach leaves, lightly packed

• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced

• 2 oranges, peeled and sliced

• 1 cup pitted prunes, halved

• ½ cup red onion, sliced

• ½ cup nonfat honey-mustard dressing

• ¼ to ½ tsp. black pepper, coarsely ground



Toss all ingredients in a large bowl and serve.