RATING: 7 out of 10

User's comments:
"This was what I had for lunch – it's a salad with chicken strips (smothered in sweet chilli sauce and spices), lettuce, cherry tomatoes, sprouts, onions and green pepper. More chilli sauce on the side!"

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Expert's comments:
Salads can often fall under the guise of a healthy food choice and if not approached cautiously, can result in a calorie and fat-packed meal. It's important that you practice your selection wisely.

Also bear in mind that most salad ingredients will not adequately replenish your energy stores if you are physically active and it would be wise to ideally combine the salad with brown or whole-wheat bread, pasta, rice or couscous when exercising regularly.

Your salad has grilled chicken pieces as well as sweet chilli sauce, making it a great low-fat option. The salad is packed with immune-enhancing vitamins and phytonutrients. You may want to include a slice of wholewheat bread with the salad. This may help satisfy you for longer if you tend to feel ravenous a few hours after eating a salad.

A few tips when ordering salad:

• Ask for the dressing on the side
• Choose vinaigrette-type or low-fat dressings rather than creamy or mayonnaise-based dressings. Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar make a great, healthy dressing alternative.
• Beware of Caesar salads which are often calorie dense dishes with deep-fried croutons and fried, crispy bacon, smothered in blue cheese or a mayonnaise-rich dressing.

At home you could even make a dressing without adding any oil, e.g. a combination of Balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and mixed Italian herbs, or buy low-oil salad dressings, e.g. Royco Lite range. Fat-free or low-fat chunky cottage cheese (different flavours available) is also really tasty on fresh greens.
 

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