blog #96 The breakdown of choosing a healthy, discount salad

Cafe Metro is offering salads with unlimited toppings for $6 this month when you order online. 

Because not all salads are healthy, I took a look at the options to give you my recommendations for a lunch that packs the most nutrition. In the metro cafe online selection process here are the choices:

"favorite greens"

Baby Spinach 

Crispy Romaine 

Organic Field Greens 

All options are good picks, but spinach provides a great deal of nutrients and vitamins such as vitamin A, C and iron. Spinach is very nutrient dense
(check out my nutrient density post.)

Choose A Free Main Ingredient:

Crispy, Thai and Buffalo chicken are loaded with extra calories because of the sauce (and crispy is a more gentle way of saying "FRIED.") If you choose tuna, make sure that there is no mayo. Choose the leanest meat with the least amount of sauce.

Choose Up To Two Additional Main Ingredients:

Unless you are opting out of meat, cheese is not the best option. Also, nuts contain healthy-for-you monounsaturated fats, but they also are loaded with calories. In this section, why not choose egg whites and mushrooms? Or artichoke hearts?

Here’s where the deal comes in...

Pick As Many Toppings As You Like:

I want to preface this section by stating that toppings high in water content like cucumbers and tomatoes will be lower in calories and higher in nutrient density. Choose real fruit and not dried fruit (for less sugar), beans instead of sesame noodles, and fresh veggies instead of something canned (if possible).

Last but not least, the potentially deadly salad dressing options.

Choose a Homemade Salad Dressing:

I will cover this more extensively in another post coming soon, but my favorite general tip is to order dressing on the side (for portion control). Metro does have this as an option. 

Choose wisely and enjoy!

Any readers have tips to share? What are your salad topping picks?