There is nothing like delicious and healthy salads to keep up your nutrient levels during summer. If you are trying to stick to a diet, cooking meals at home is surely an arduous task. You would be looking at fat free versions of every ingredient, trying to put in minimal oil in the skillet and so forth. How about chucking all that and simply using boiled ingredients with the right dressing to create unique tasting salads? These are easy to whip up and delicious to taste, ensuring that you can stick to a diet plan and follow the right intake of nutrients at all times. Here are some more Diet Recipes to try.

Potato salad

Do not cringe from this salad recipe, as boiled potatoes, in skin, offers a lot of necessary minerals along with other ingredients that incorporate healthy fat and other necessary nutrients.

Ingredients to use

  • A pound of red potatoes, quartered
  • ½ pound of bacon strips which are chopped
  • ½ cup of mayonnaise
  • 1/4th cup of Caesar salad dressing
  • 1/4th cup of ranch salad dressing
  • 3 tablespoons of sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
  • 3 small green onions, chopped
  • 1/4th cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
  • Salt and pepper for seasoning

5

How to make?

Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover the same with water. After bringing to a boil, reduce the heat and cover. Allow to cook for 15 to 20 minutes till the potatoes are tender. Cook the bacon strips in a skillet till they turn crisp. Drain and reserve the drippings. Drain the potatoes and add in the bacon along with the drippings. Toss and refrigerate. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by combining the salad dressings along with mustard, seasoning and sour cream. Pour in the potato mixture and coat. Add in the cheese and onions. Season as per your taste.

Broccoli and cranberry salad

Ingredients you need

  • 8 cups of broccoli florets, fresh
  • ½ cup of dried cranberries
  • 1 bunch of green onions, sliced thinly
  • 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of canola oil
  • 1/4th cup of sunflower kernels
  • 2 bacon strips, crumbled after cooking

How to make?

As in all salad recipes, the key lies in getting the ingredients together and in the desired form rather than the method of preparation. This part hardly takes much time. In this salad recipe too, all you need is a bowl where you whisk in vinegar, sugar and oil and blend. Add over the mixture of broccoli along with bacon and sunflower kernels. Refrigerate the salad before you serve.

6Points to note

Every salad usually includes essential fruits, vegetables or protein sources in boiled form. The absence of fat from salads make them healthier. However, the use of salad dressings needs to be done in moderation. Replacing store bought salad dressings and mayonnaise will help increase the nutritional value of the salads. Try using vinegar based dressing, sour cream and seasonings to dress your salad ingredients that fat lined dressings.