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Easy Main Dish Green Salads

Alice Henneman, MS, RD, UNL Extension in Lancaster County

Any way you toss it, a main dish green salad is an easy, nutritious meal -- especially on a hot summer's night. Here's one example and several more tips.

• Hard cook some eggs when you have a few extra minutes and use them for salads (and sandwiches) for the next week. Learn how HERE.


• Add extra flavor (and nutrition) to salads with ingredients such as the toasted sunflower seeds, sliced kalamata olives and shaved Parmesan cheese used in this salad. Learn how to toast sunflower seeds, pit olives and LOTS MORE quick tricks for kicking up salad flavors HERE.


• Go easy on the salad dressing -- it just takes about 1 tablespoon per 1-1/2 to 2 cups of greens. Get additional tips and recipes for salad dressings HERE.


• Color your salad appealing AND healthy with a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables. For more ideas of fruits and vegetables to toss in your salad, click HERE.


• Eggs are an easy-to-fix protein source for your salad. Others include: cooked dried beans, such as garbanzo beans; canned tuna or salmon; and sliced meat or poultry from a previous meal.


• Serve your main dish salad with whole grain crackers or rolls and end your meal with a cool serving of low-fat or fat-free vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt topped with fresh fruit or your favorite canned fruit.