Tips: How to make quick and nutritious salad

Salads are a great way to refresh ourselves every day. The fact that there is so much we can do with them, adding leafy vegetables, proteins, herbs, makes them extremely versatile. Divya Singh Vishwanath, lifestyle blogger & stylist, shares some tips to nail the art of making salads.

Health benefits of salads are innumerable but the challenge is also to make them interesting and tasty. So how do we do that? Divya Singh Vishwanath, lifestyle blogger & stylist tells us.

Always keep the base as a mix of various salad leaves, like arugula, romaine, Iceberg lettuce and baby spinach. Most of them are easily available in grocery stores or any organic store or vendor. Wash them thoroughly and tear them by hand. Never chop them.

Boil and roast pumpkin and add to the leaves. Grilled or roasted tomatoes work well too. Use any protein and grill it with your favourite spice. Protein could be any animal protein or tofu, soya chunks, cottage cheese, or eggs. To make the preparation easy, the grilled proteins and vegetables can be stored in containers and be used as and when required. You can simply keep them marinated and cook them when serving. Capsicum-red, green, yellow - grilled or fresh add so much taste to the salad.

Extra crunch can be brought with fresh cut cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, onion slices, beetroot or combination of a few. Pickled cucumber and onions add crunch and tang. Try cutting the cucumber and carrots in noodle-like fashion. They are fun to eat.

If you like your salad with a sweet twist, add apple slices, pomegranate pearls, pear, melons or pineapples. Even fresh onions add sweetness. Raisins are good too.

Try carrot, beetroot, olives in your salad. They taste really good.

Herbs are a very important garnish. Use all fresh herbs available. If not dried ones are equally good.

Dressings are what gives the final oomph to your salad. But no point making it fattening. Use olive oil, garlic and lemon. Give it a good mix and add right before serving. You could add mustard paste too. Sprinkle it with sea salt and pepper and chillies if you like the heat (fresh or dried flakes are all good). Add a little natural honey, if you can source them, and are ok with sweet flavouring. Honey and pepper go very well together.

Add cheese. A Small amount of cheese does no harm. It's an additional protein and there are so many available in the market. Crush them with your hands and sprinkle on the salad or grate them and use. You could also chop them into cubes and mix with the salad gently.

Add roasted nuts of your choice if you like them and are not allergic.

Eat them fresh and cool.