Salads and Salad Dressings

1. Salads and Salad Dressings

2. Salads • Add a nutritional boost to a meal. • Low in fat and high in other nutrients. • High in fiber. • Offer a means for additional complex carbohydrates such as adding additional fruits, whole grains, cooked dry beans and vegetables.

3. But, adding eggs and cheese can increase fat and/or cholesterol; use sparingly.

4. Choose dressings that are low in fat and sodium!

5. Are salads • low in calories? • low in fat and cholesterol? • low in sodium?

6. How many calories are in lettuce? • http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-lettuce-iceberg-i11252

7. How many calories are in Ranch Dressing? • http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-kraft-foods-ranch-dressing-i4115

8. Total Calories • 1 cup of lettuce, iceberg = 8 calories • 2 Tbsp Ranch dressing = 148 calories • How much dressing do you add to a salad? • Reduced Fat Ranch = 45 calories • Fat Free Ranch = 30 calories • Which dressing should you choose?

9. READ

10. You can choose from the following green leaves to make a salad.

11. Leaf lettuce (green or red tip) • tender, delicate, and mildly flavored leaves

12. Iceberg lettuce mildest flavor (neutral) and crunchy texture.

13. Curly Endive • crunchy, slightly bitter leaves are often used to make hors d'oeuvres, but they can also be chopped and added to salads

14. Butterhead lettuces Bibb • buttery texture & sweet. Boston – large leaves

15. Boston lettuce (larger leaves) • soft, tender leaves. 

16. Bibb lettuce (small leaves) • delicate, loose leaves and lots of flavor.  The only downside is that it's usually expensive.

17. Escarole • lightly bitter flavor.  Young escarole leaves are tender enough to add to salads, otherwise escarole is best cooked as a side dish or used in soups.

18. Cress (watercress, upland cress, curly cress, and land cress) • peppery green for salads, sandwiches, and soups; used as a garnish.  Cress is highly perishable, so try to use it as soon as possible after you buy it.

19. Romaine • also called Cos, crisp and full of flavor; used to make Caesar salads.

20. Radicchio • beautiful coloring and slightly bitter flavor, radicchio is wonderful when combined with other salad greens.  Pronunciation:  rah-DEEK-ee-oh 

21. Arugula • peppery and slightly bitter flavor

22. Fresh Spinach • richest in iron, calcium and other antioxidants; slightly bitter and tender.

23. Dandelions = dandelion greens  • somewhat bitter flavor, which Europeans appreciate more than Americans.  

24. Spring Mix • This is a mix of different young salad greens.  Commercial mixes usually include arugula, mizuna, tat soi, frisee, oakleaf, red chard, radicchio, and mustard greens.  Tat Soi

25. Lettuce leaves must be washed thoroughly!

26. Why? • The lettuce you buy from the supermarket came from the ground and you can't just start eating it, unless you've bought the pre-washed kind. • The pre-washed lettuce must be used within a day or two. • But, if you know how to wash and dry lettuce, it really only takes about 4 minutes to wash, dry and store lettuce.

27. You want to kill the amoebas.

28. Domain - Eukaryote • Kingdom – Protist • Phylum – Protozoa • Class – Sarcodina • Order – Amoebida • Family – Amoebidae • Genus – Amoeba • Species - proteus, animalcule, dubia, etc.

29. Free-living Protozoan Group • They inhabit soils and natural waters are extremely diverse, not only in their structure but also in the manner in which they feed, reproduce, and move. • At least 6 forms of amoeba are parasitic in humans. Most important of these is Entamoeba histolytica, which causes amebiasis and dysentery. • Amoebic dysentery is most commonly spread by water or contaminated or uncooked food.

30. How to Wash Lettuce with a Core

31. To wash iceberg lettuce first remove the core with a paring knife.

32. Or hold the head of lettuce in both hands about 6 to 8 inches above a solid surface. Be sure the core end is down.

33. Bring the head down, hitting the core solidly on the surface.

34. The solid hit will separate the core from the head and it can then be easily twisted and pulled from the head.

35. Then break it apart with your hands. (Some heads of iceberg are much firmer than others!)

36. Fill a large bowl with cool water and gently place the lettuce leaves in the bowl giving them a gentle swish as you drop them in the bowl.

37. After about 30 seconds of floating in the water the sand or dirt will sink to the bottom. • Gently shake the water off each leaf and place them one at a time on paper towels or a clean dish towel. • Blot the lettuce dry with some more paper towels.

38. Or • Run cold water into the hole and let the lettuce drain hole side down in a colander.

39. After draining, roll leaves up in paper towels and put them in a plastic bag.

40. When iceberg lettuce is washed and properly stored, it stays fresh in the refrigerator for about 5 to 6 days.

41. How to wash lettuce leaves Without a Core.

42. Romaine: cut off the base

43. Rinseeach leaf.

44. Drainin a colander.

45. After draining, roll leaves up in paper towels and put them in a plastic bag.

46. When lettuce is washed and properly stored, it stays fresh in the refrigerator for about 5 to 6 days.

47. How to Make a Tossed Green Salad • It can be made in one large bowl or individual servings.

48. 1. Wash fresh vegetables and fruits carefully. Drain thoroughly. • Why?The water will thin the dressing.

49. 2. Tear the greens into bite-size pieces. • Why? • Cutting greens with a knife may cause the edges to brown.

50. 3. Cut other ingredients. • You can grate carrots, slice cucumbers, dice green peppers and separate sliced onions into rings.