I’m still not a fan of quiche, but I do love salads… and one heck of a manly dude seems to agree with me. John DeVore is a former editor at Maxim magazine and maxim.com and recently wrote a piece for CNN.com titled A ‘dude’ explains why salad is ‘man food’
Go check out his article and then come back here… I’ll wait.
Ok, so now that we’ve established that it’s ok for a dude to enjoy a salad, what about a WLS type dude?
For bandsters, it shouldn’t be a problem. But RNY types should always be cautious when trying something new… same for a bandster after a fresh fill. Eating out on a business lunch is probably not the time to be testing the waters with your first post-op salad.
But if you are ready to try and get some greens in your meals, here’s some tips on getting the most out of your salads.
First of all, don’t forget the protein. There are all sorts of proteins that go great on a salad, and putting them on a salad is a great way to use up that left over bit of chicken or steak from last nights dinner.
Yea, steak. I know a lot of folks have trouble with steak because what happens when you chew a bite of steak 30+ times? Trust me, it’s not a tasty thing. BUT, chew it with a bit of lettuce and it gives it just the right boost of flavor and moisture to make steak a good thing again.
Beans, nuts and seeds; from chick-peas (which still make me thing ‘gerbil brains’ every time I see them) to edamame, walnuts, pecans and pepitas – they all add their own distinct flavor to a salad along with proteins and other good stuff.
Shrimp, maybe some left over from that batch of broiled shrimp or some of those tiny salad ones you can get pretty darn cheap at the store. Seafood is a great source of protein, and it’s high moisture content always makes them easy eats.
Besides meats, there’s also hard-boiled eggs, and don’t forget the cheeses. They can add a burst of flavor and bump up the protein just a bit as well. Just keep the high fat or high sodium cheeses like blue cheese or feta to an occassional treat, not an every day staple.
Go dark. Iceberg lettuce is cheap, easy to get, adds a nice crunch, but it is sort of the bottom of the totem pole as far as leafy greens go. Try to go for the darker greens, Romaine and spinach for example.
Keep it Simple. I’ve always loved salads, and in my buffet days I would do a salad piled high with half-dozen or more different veggies and other things besides the lettuce. You start getting carried away with your post-op salad and you’ll either end up eating much more than you need to, or you won’t get a good balance of protein in.
Get Undressed. Skip the usual salad dressings and go for just a drizzle of a good red wine or balsamic vinegar and maybe just a touch of olive oil. Otherwise, dressings are easy to make from scratch, and you can get some good seasoning mixes to keep on hand (and they’re good for more than just salad dressing).
If you do go with store bought dressings, watch out for the low and no-fat ones. They make up for the missing flavor the fat adds by adding sugars. You may actually be better off getting the regular ones, but extend them a bit by mixing with a good vinegar. I admit, Western is one of my favorite dressings, but I don’t do it straight up. I mix it half and half with either cider or red wine vinegar.
Shake it up. When you pour a dressing over a salad, you invariably end up with a puddle of it on your plate when you’re done. You just plain end up adding much more than you need. So instead, try putting the greens and veggies in a contain with a lid, adding just a teaspoon or two of dressing per serving, close the lid and give it a good shake. Basically a tossed salad. You’ll be surprised at just how little dressing you really need. If you’re in a situation where you can’t “toss” your salad, get the dressing on the side and just dip your fork in the dressing before speaking a bite of salad. Do the empty fork first though, dipping the salad in the dressing will give you way too much dressing.
So yea, salads can be dude-worthy in a post-op life. And if you’re pre-op you can follow these same suggestions, but bulk up on the greens and veggies a bit more. As long as you keep the dressing under control, they’re a good way to help fill you up without adding a ton of calories.
photo credid: saladaday.org
I recently asked one of my favorite nutritional guru’s about nutritional value of different greens, and here’s what he said…
http://smallbites.andybellatti.com/?p=5357
also, some more info on spinach
http://smallbites.andybellatti.com/?p=5391
I had been keeping spinach on hand, but now am thinking I will be switching to romaine. I like that spinach keeps pretty long in the fridge. We’ll see how the romaine does.