Making a Healthy Choice with Lettuce & Other Salad Greens
A green salad is often part of a healthy dinner, and although many vegetables may be used in it, lettuce is by far the most popular ingredient. According to a recent government survey, lettuce is the nation’s third ranking vegetable crop; in fact, Americans now consume an average of 30 pounds of lettuce a year, a fivefold increase since 1900.
Two basic reasons account for this rise in consumption: health-conscious Americans are consuming more fruits and vegetables; and low-cost lettuce and other fresh salad greens are now available year round, thanks to modern refrigeration and food transportation.
Weight watchers are especially partial to salads - they are low in calories yet filling, since they are high in fiber. Unfortunately, a large green salad that contains only 50 calories can quickly become more fattening than a steak if it’s drowned in a creamy high-fat dressing. There are, however, many tasty low-fat alternative dressings - herb vinegar mixed with a little olive oil, a sprinkling of herbs and lemon juice, or nonfat yogurt combined with garlic, chopped parsley, and lemon juice.
Some types of lettuce and other salad greens contain high amounts of beta carotene, folate, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and potassium, but the amounts vary considerably from one variety to another. In general, those with dark green or other deeply colored leaves have more beta carotene and vitamin C than the paler varieties. Romaine and Boston lettuce, for example, have three times as much vitamin C and much more beta carotene than iceberg lettuce.
Such salad greens as arugula, chicory, escarole, mache, and watercress are all more nutritious than lettuce; many people also find them more flavorful, and they are becoming readily available in restaurants and markets. Some, such as chicory, escarole, and watercress, are slightly bitter, yet they provide an interesting flavor and texture contrast when added to a salad of lettuce and other types of greens.
Arugula, a member of the same plant family as broccoli, cabbage, and other cruciferous vegetables, has a tangy, peppery flavor when grown during the cool spring and fall months, and a stronger, mustard-like taste if harvested during the summer. This is one of the most nutritious of all salad greens: 1 cup provides 2mg of beta carotene, 45mg of vitamin C, 150mg of calcium, and 0.5mg of iron - all in a serving that has only 12 calories!
Watercress, another cruciferous vegetable, is also a nutritional winner: 1 cup contains a mere 5 calories, yet it provides 1.5mg of beta carotene, 15mg of vitamin C, 60mg of calcium, and 0.5mg of iron. Deeply colored lettuces and greens are also high in bioflavonoids, plant pigments known to work with vitamin C and other anti-oxidants to prevent cancer-causing
cell damage.
Lettuce and other greens can be mixed or combined with a broad spectrum of raw fruits or vegetables, cold pasta, or chunks of chicken or tuna to make a low-calorie, highly nutritious
main dish. Raw spinach is often used as a salad green; although cooking makes some of its nutrients a bit easier to absorb, a spinach salad still provides good amounts of beta carotene, folate, vitamin C, calcium, and iron.