Anyone who orders a salad instead of pasta for lunch with colleagues will certainly receive a few respectful glances – because many people inevitably associate the green leaves with a low-calorie, healthy and disciplined diet. The fact that this is not always true is due to various fattening foods, which turn what is actually a healthy meal into a real calorie bomb when used as toppings or dressings.
But where exactly are the salad traps lurking? You should avoid these five ingredients in your salad.
1. The dressing
Salad dressing can without question be described as the number one hidden fattening agent. Ready-made salad dressings, for example those that come with packaged salads from the supermarket, can contain up to 10 grams of fat (per 30 grams) and countless calories.
The reason: The sauces are often based on mayonnaise or crème fraîche, which means that even a small portion of lettuce becomes a fat bomb. When visiting a restaurant, it therefore makes sense to order the dressing separately so that you can measure it yourself or to order the salad with just vinegar and oil.
Instead of buying ready-made sauces in the supermarket, you should definitely use your own dressing shaker when trying to lose weight. So you know exactly what’s inside. Making your own delicious salad dressing is much less complicated than many people think.
The classic vinaigrette, for example, is low in calories and easy to prepare – and tastes really good too.
2. Violation
In itself, bread is a good filling accompaniment to salad. However, you should pay attention to a few things to avoid falling into a calorie trap.
White bread doesn’t fill you up for as long as whole grain bread – and contains far fewer nutrients. It is therefore better to choose the whole grain version as a side salad. Dips or butter with bread are also not recommended if you want to keep your salad as low in calories as possible.
It becomes even healthier and fresher if you simply bake the whole grain bread yourself. Whether gluten-free, with chia, protein bread or sourdough – only those who bake themselves really know what’s in it.
3. Meat
A leaf salad with grilled chicken or turkey breast is actually a great lunch: the meal not only provides vitamins, but also a lot of protein. However, if you are trying to lose weight, you should definitely make sure that the meat is not breaded.
Because the breadcrumb coating provides a good load of unnecessary extra calories. A large Caesar chicken salad in a fast food restaurant, for example, has 406 calories – around 100 more calories than a cheeseburger.
4. Cheese
Cheese is included in many of the most popular salads: Greek salad (sheep’s cheese), Chef’s salad (Gouda), Caesar salad (Parmesan) and tomato salad with buffalo mozzarella. However, these types of cheese can quickly catapult the calorie content of the salad.
For example, 100 grams of Gouda has around 350 calories and 30 grams of fat. Buffalo mozzarella has 375 calories and just under 31 grams of fat. You should therefore definitely keep an eye on the amount of such fatty cheeses in the salad.
For all cheese lovers who don’t want to do without it completely in salads, there are special low-fat cheeses that are a healthier alternative. Grainy cream cheese or cottage cheese are also suitable.
5. Fertig-Croutons
Small croutons, lots of calories: You wouldn’t believe it, but 50 grams of croutons have around 240 calories – and 20 grams of fat. The reason: The small bread cubes are usually fried in plenty of oil.
It is therefore better to avoid them in the restaurant – and when preparing them at home, it is better to use homemade crispy cubes instead of garnishing with ready-made ones from the supermarket.
This is how you can make your own croutons:
Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on around 150 grams of wholemeal baguette. Either fry the bread in a pan or bake it in a preheated oven at 200 °C (fan oven: 180 °C) until golden brown. Spices can be added if desired. Thyme, for example, is a delicious addition.