Summer Time

There's never a greater abundance of fresh produce in the markets than in the summer months. If you're trying to lose weight, fruits and vegetables give you a lot of nutritional bang for your calorie buck; essential vitamins and minerals, cancer and disease fighting antioxidants and lots of fill-you-up fiber. Some of these nutrient dense powerhouses are super low calorie. When you "need"to feel full, work in more fruits and vegetables. A bowl of lively lettuces is the perfect host for a healthy supper.

At only 20 calories a cup, lettuce is a real health bargain but not all lettuces are created equal. Iceberg lettuce has few nutritional virtues but dark leaf lettuces are a good source of folate and contain useful amounts of beta-carotene as well as vitamin C, potassium and certain phyto-chemicals.

Salad Don'ts
Pile on full fat dressings, gobs of cheese a mound of croutons and the calorie count could rival that of a hearty steak supper. To create culinary interest and boost nutrition, work in as many different lettuces as you can. Baby lettuce mixes are widely available year round but try mixing in other dark and red leaf lettuces too.

Zero Prep Salad Toppers & Their Caloric Virtues Strawberries, 1 cup, 35 calories Blackberries, 1 cup, 75 calories Blueberries, 1 cup 81 calories Grapes, 1 cup 114 calories Raspberries, 1 cup 61 calories Grated carrots, 1 cup, 60 calories Peas, 1/2 cup, 59 calories

Herb-a-licious
Cilantro, chervil, thyme, oregano, basil, parsley and mint add drama to any salad meal. If you're not sure which herbs to use make a mini version of your salad in a tiny bowl using a few leaves of the herb you think will work, a few lettuce leaves and a few drops of dressing. Taste, evaluate and move on. If you need to make this decision in the grocery store, don't tell anyone I told you to do this, but tear a tiny leaf away from the bunch and taste it right there in aisle one. I've never seen anyone arrested for tasting the grapes. Surely no one's going to jail for tasting basil!

If you have a sunny spot in your yard, lettuces aren't that hard to grow. At the very least, you'll be outdoors, working up an appetite. So far, I have four leaves of baby romaine in my lettuce bed. I should have salad for two by September.

Eat a Rainbow
Once you've decided on your lettuces and herbs, challenge yourself to work in as many brightly colored veggies as you can; red, yellow and orange bell peppers, bite size pieces of blanched cauliflower and broccoli, blanched green beans, yellow wax beans, sweet peas, fresh corn cut right off the cob, leftover chopped grilled vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, Portobello mushrooms and onions are all great additions.

Legal Fruity Pebbles
Can't meet your daily quota of fruit servings? Layer them into your salads. Try mango, papaya, pineapple, watermelon, peaches, nectarines, plums, pitted cherries, kiwi, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.

Chop-An-Onion Easy One Minute Salad Toppings: Cantaloupe, 1/4 of 1 medium, 48 calories Cherries, 1 cup, 84 calories Honeydew, 1/4 of 1 medium, 88 calories Mango, 1 cup, 107 calories Orange, 1 medium, 62 calories Peach, 1 medium, 42 calories Pineapple, 1 cup, 76 calories Asparagus, 5 spears, 18 Beets, 1/2 cup, 30 calories Broccoli, 1/2 cup, 12 calories Corn off the cob, 1/2 cup, 66 calories Cucumber, 1/2 cup, 7 calories Red, Yellow, Orange or Green Peppers, 1/2 cup, 20 calories Zucchini, 1/2 cup cubed, 9 calories Tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped, 19 calories

Smile and say cheese…
Besides canned beans and the obvious lean proteins; chicken, pork tenderloin, thinly sliced beef and grilled, broiled or pan seared fish, if you mind your portion size, there's no reason you can't incorporate a little cheese into your salad too. Use stronger flavored cheeses such as Maytag blue cheese, feta cheese, goat cheese, parmesan or sharp cheddar and measure the amount you use so you're not consuming more than you need to.

Spinach, cucumber and chick pea salad is one of my favorite all-you-can-eat type salads. If you can get your hands on sumac, sprinkle it over the salad just before you serve it. Sumac is a fruit that's dried and ground into a reddish powder. It's often combined with salt when you buy it so taste it before you add it. If you're watching your salt intake, skip the sumac altogether.

Recipe Bonus!
To make this delicious spinach, chickpea and cucumber salad: In the bowl you'll serve the salad in whisk together 1/2 cup lemon juice, salt to taste, 3/4 teaspoon of cumin and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add 4 thinly sliced scallions, 1 peeled, seeded and sliced English cucumber, 1 pint of cherry or pear tomatoes cut in half, 1 15 ounce can of rinsed and drained chickpeas, 1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley and 1/2 cup roughly chopped mint. Toss to combine. Add 1 10 ounce bag of pre-washed baby spinach and 2 six inch pitas that have been toasted and broken into pieces. Toss to combine, taste and adjust seasonings. Serve immediately.

If you need to please A meat eater or if "salad" JUST isn't enough, top with very thin slices of broiled or grilled steak. It's also delicious with chicken.

Homework Assignment:

If you're not eating 5-8 or up to 10 servings of fruits and veggies a day, challenge yourself to work more in. Can't figure out how to get started? Double up on stuff you love. Pick up fruit you never buy because it's "too expensive"if that's what it's going to take for you to consume more. Why shouldn't you indulge in a tiny basket of just picked berries? If you think it's impossible to work in all the fruits and veggies you need daily, remember a STRATEGICALLY DESIGNED salad can contain almost a WHOLE days worth.

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