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DeterminedOne37
DeterminedOne37 Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Is there a healthy alternative to salad or is there a way to keep salad lasting longer in my fridge?

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  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    Healthy alternative to crunch water....?? They’re vegetables. Unless you’re ordering a very high calorie salad which is what most restaurants usually have, there’s not much you can make healthier about a salad
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited July 2018
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    What kind of salad? You can mix anything and call it a salad. What do you mean by healthy? Foods provide nutrition, different foods have different nutritional profiles. A healthy diet is balanced and varied. Foods in each category, also vegetables, are interchangeable to some extent, depends on what you like and what you're eating them with. I don't use salad greens often, but when I do, I prefer whole heads, and I just tear off what I need and put the head back into the fridge.
  • OHFlamingo
    OHFlamingo Posts: 239 Member
    edited July 2018
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    Bagged salad lasts about two days in my fridge,; nevermind that the date says it'll last a week! Bagged spinach lasts maybe a day longer. I keep canned artichoke hearts, and pickles, fresh mini carrots, cucumbers, and green peppers on hand, as they last longer and I love to eat raw crunchy veggies I hate having to put wasted veggies in my compost pile instead of eating them! I put my bagged salad in a freezer bag; it seems to help a little to keep it fresh.
  • kam26001
    kam26001 Posts: 2,799 Member
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    Slip a paper towel or two in the bag.
  • AmyOutOfControl
    AmyOutOfControl Posts: 1,425 Member
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    I usually get 3 lunches out of each recipe batch.

    Cold "salad" #1
    Prepared quinoa (about 1 cup or so)
    1 can chickpeas
    Raw baby spinach
    Chopped dried apricots
    Almond slivers
    Chopped red onion
    1 chopped yellow or orange bell pepper (I sometimes use zucchini)
    Any kind of lemon /olive oil vinaigrette salad dressing (I use this one from HEB https://www.wish-bone.com/products/evoo-lemon-herb-dressing/ )

    Cold "salad" #2
    1 cup cooked rice
    1 can black beans
    1 chopped tomato
    1 small can corn
    1 chopped green bell pepper
    Chopped yellow onion
    Chopped fresh oregano (I sometimes use fresh basil – or both - whatever you prefer)
    Salt and pepper
    Cilantro
    Italian salad dressing or some type of vinaigrette dressing. Whatever you prefer.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,763 Member
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    There are lots of healthy alternatives to salad. Lean meats, fish, cooked veggies, legumes, frozen bagged veggies you can steam and eat, grains, dairy foods, veggies you oven-roast in big batches on the weekend and eat warm or cold (with or without a dressing) all week . . . lots.

    As someone mentioned, some types of greens keep better than others: Whole heads of lettuce, rather than loose leaves. Certain types, like romaine lettuce, keep very well. For me, locally grown farmer's market greens (even cut greens) keep much longer than supermarket greens. If you dress a salad then refrigerate it, it will wilt quickly because of the salt in the dressing. The "canning jar salad" recipes normally layer the ingredients in a way that they'll keep better, so you can make them ahead, then you mix up the ingredients right before eating. You can make salads without greens, using beans, other firmer veggies like carrots, whole grains, etc. You can make a salad with vinegar dressing that's supposed to be softened by the dressing, such as cucumber and onion slice in vinegar dressing, or coleslaw in vinegar dressing. There's fruit salad, maybe with a yogurt dressing.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    What specifically do you mean by salad, and healthier?
  • strongwouldbenice
    strongwouldbenice Posts: 153 Member
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    I usually keep a whole bunch of crunchy veg in the fridge and then chuck them on a plate with some tzatziki or hummus, a protein and maybe some bread/bagel/Lebanese bread.. more exciting than a salad but I get those 5 a day
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Salad has no unique health benefits. It's just vegetables and you can eat vegetables in many different ways. I do love greens and I typically eat them within the first couple days of buying them. I then eat the vegetables that store a little longer. My meal planning is structured around when I shop and how long fresh foods typically last.

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