Vegetables in jars and cans add nutritional value to salad when fresh produce is not available
This blog was originally written during my 2 1/2 year tenure as a blogger for Health Goes Strong. The site was deactivated in July 2013, but you can read the original post here.
If you love making salad from the wide assortment of fresh garden vegetables available in the summer months, your wait is almost over. But while you wait, there are many ways to add variety to your plated greens. Just turn to the jars and cans of pickled and marinated vegetables on your pantry shelf. They can offer an endless array of tastes, textures, nutrients and eye-appeal to your meals until that first rosey radish is plucked from the ground.
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Healthy Salad: Artichoke Hearts
Sold marinated or packed in water, both easily drained to lower the sodium content
Calories: 25 in 3 water-packed hearts or 25 per heart packed in oil and drained
Key Vitamins: C, folate
Key Minerals: magnesium, copper, potassium
Other Nutrients: cyanin and silymarin which aid liver function
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Healthy Salad: Beets
Sold whole, quartered or sliced with a no added salt option.
Calories: 35 per half cup sliced, 22 whole per 2 inch diameter
Key Vitamins: folate, C
Key Mineral: manganese, potassium, magnesium
Other Nutrients: betacyanin, which may protect against colon cancer
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Healthy Salad: Baby Corn
Sold whole and in pieces, packed in water
Calories: 6 per ear, 65 per ½ cup pieces
Key Vitamins: folate, B6, C
Key Mineral: potassium, magnesium, iron
Other Nutrients: fiber, zeaxanthin and lutein, which are good for eye health
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Healthy Salad: Asparagus
Sold whole and in pieces, in white or green
Calories: 3 per spear, 20 per half cup pieces drained
Key Vitamins: A, C, K, folate
Key Mineral: copper, manganese, selenium
Other Nutrients: carotenes and cryto-xanthins, which have anti-oxidant properties
Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Better Salad: Olives
Sold in different sizes ripe, cured, stuffed, spiced, and sliced; in single or mixed varieties; pitted or not
Calories: 5 each for medium size, 75 per ½ cup sliced or chopped
Key Vitamins: E, A
Key Mineral: calcium, iron, zinc
Other Nutrients: oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat, needed to form cell membranes
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Healthy Salad: Mushrooms
Sold whole and in pieces; pickled, marinated or in water
Calories: 3 per whole mushroom, 22 per ½ cup pieces
Key Vitamins: D and B-complex vitamins riboflavin, niacin, pantothentic acid
Key Mineral: copper, selenium, potassium
Key Phytonutrients: ergothioneine, an antioxidant which protects the cells
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Healthy Salad: Peppers
Sold grilled and roasted; whole, sliced, strips and diced; red, green, yellow and orange
Calories: 40 calories per whole bell pepper,
Key Vitamins: A, C, folate
Key Mineral: potassium, iron, magnesium
Other Nutrients: beta-carotene, alpha-carotene and lycopene, which can be converted into vitamin A
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Healthy Salad: Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Red or yellow; marinated or in water; whole, halved or sliced; plain or seasoned
Calories: 6 per whole piece in oil and drained; 115 per half cup sliced in oil and drained
Key Vitamins: A, C, B-complex riboflavin, niacin, B6
Key Mineral: potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium
Other Nutrients: lycopene, associated with lower risks of cancer and heart disease
Tomato Products Wellness Council
9 Nutritious Ways to Make a Healthy Salad: Onions
Sold in water, vinegar or “cocktail” style brine
Calories: 5 each small whole (size of grape), 35 per ½ cup
Key Vitamins: C, B6, folate
Key Minerals: potassium, phosphorus, calcium
Other Nutrients: quercetin, helps eliminate free radicals