Serve a Super Summer Salad

Fast-food outlets and many other restaurants have embraced the idea that salad is the future. Some salads are better for you than others, but choosing a menu item with more vegetables is a good start.

"If your salad has lots of flavor, colors, textures, and shapes, you're going to eat more of it," says Katherine Tallmadge, R.D., L.D., a Washington, D.C., spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

That's a good thing, Tallmadge says, because it takes a lot of different foods to get all the nutrients you need. Today's salads offer a variety of greens, often with fruits, nuts, cheese, seeds, roasted or grilled vegetables, and beef, chicken, or fish.

Eating salads out is fine, but you can build a better salad at home, even if you buy a lot of the ingredients already cut. Today's most important feature is convenience, says Tallmadge.

First, decide what you want your salad to be. Is it a meal or a side dish? Second, when do you want to eat it? Americans largely prefer the salad before the entrée; Europeans take it after.

"It's not the French way, but studies show a nice salad before a meal does help people regulate calorie intake," Tallmadge says. "It makes you feel full, so you eat less."

Special salad ideas

• Shop well. Get the freshest vegetables and fruits you can find for color and crunch. Washed greens are a good choice for a quick meal. Spring mix offers a gourmet assortment of baby lettuces.

• Dress it lightly. Pouring on high-fat dressing can undo your salad's health benefits. But you can enjoy the taste of dressing if you choose low-fat or fat-free varieties.

• Accessorize. Add interest with artichoke hearts, beets, or roasted peppers. 

• Change the shape of your salad. Instead of a tossed salad, build up layers of colorful ingredients in the ring of a spring form pan. 

• Add protein. This is important if the salad is your meal. Hard-boiled egg, ham, turkey, chicken, and tuna are among the staples. A little pungent cheese—think gorgonzola or aged provolone—can enrich your greens. Go easy on saturated fat. To turn up the nutritional value, include beans or soy.