Another Chicago-area fast-food salad option

Regular readers of my blog know that McDonald’s salads, without the high-salt dressings, were a mainstay of my lunch diet over the years. But in 2023, those salads disappeared from McDonald’s menus. victim of Pandemic-related menu changes.

I’ve been searching for a quick-salad alternative ever since, trying Wendy’s and a chain called Zupas among others. I’m adding another option now, a salad at Chicago-area chain Buona Beef, its Tuscan Harvest Chicken salad.

Priced at $11.19, the salad has a nice mix of chicken, cranberries, apples, spinach and romaine lettuce. Eat at a Buona’s and it comes in a real bowl, not a plastic container, a civilizing touch absent at other outlets.

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February 11, 2025 0

You can cook like Julia Child, at least when it comes to salad dressing

Cooking icon Julia Child was a hero of mine when I was a kid. Her PBS shows kindled my love of cooking, and of experimenting when I cook.

But I’ve never attempted her recipes, even though I’ve owned some of her books over the years. They all seemed more complicated than I could handle.

Another Standard Market Grill salad offering. — *Top your salad with a little piece of Julia Child’s food legacy.*

If you’ve felt the same way, take heart. I found one of her recipes you and I can easily make, and enjoy, since it seems relatively heart-healthy too.

It’s in this piece, Julia Child’s Timeless Vinaigrette Helped Me Fall in Love with Salad on Eatingwell.com.

Start with these ingredients:

2 tablespoons wine vinegar or a combination of vinegar and lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and/or salad oil, such as grapeseed oil
1 1/2 teaspoons minced shallot or scallions and/or ¼ teaspoon dried herbs, such as tarragon or basil
Big pinch of freshly ground pepper

I’d omit the salt and stick with olive oil. But even if you use the salt, it’s still a relatively small amount given the amount of dressing you’re creating.

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February 13, 2024 0

Looking for a Mediterranean Diet Plan? Here’s a 7-day one

One of the fun things about doing this food blog for more than 10 years is that now people send me food story ideas all the time. Most don’t apply to eating less salt, fat and sugar, but some do and I try to share as many as possible of those with you. The website Total Shape recently sent me a 7-day Mediterranean Diet plan, for example.

“Research found that the Mediterranean diet supports prevention of cardiovascular diseases, increases lifespan, and healthy aging. Also, when used in conjunction with caloric restriction, the diet may also support healthy weight loss,” a Total Shape nutritionist says.

The diet plan:

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January 19, 2024 2

A healthy salmon recipe for the New Year

Happy 2024 everyone! Now that the year-end holidays are out of the way, it’s time to get back to healthy eating. Here’s a tasty recipe to start with, Sheet-Pan Roasted Salmon & Vegetables.

Here are the ingredients with my notes on what to change to cut salt content and help in other ways as well:

1 pound fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise (red potatoes are better if you’re worried about sugar and diabetes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon sea salt (omit this, fish has enough of its own salt)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 5 to 6-ounce fresh or frozen skinless salmon fillets
2 medium red, yellow and/or orange sweet peppers, cut into rings
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 ½ cups chopped fresh parsley (1 bunch)
¼ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved (substitute low-salt regular olives to cut salt)
¼ cup finely snipped fresh oregano or 1 Tbsp. dried oregano, crushed
1 lemon

Directions are fairly straight-forward:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place potatoes in a large bowl. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp. of the oil and sprinkle with garlic and 1/8 tsp. of the salt and black pepper; toss to coat. Transfer to a 15×10-inch baking pan; cover with foil. Roast 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, thaw salmon, if frozen. Combine, in the same bowl, sweet peppers, tomatoes, parsley, olives, oregano and 1/8 tsp. of the salt and black pepper. Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil; toss to coat.
Rinse salmon; pat dry. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp. salt and black pepper. Spoon sweet pepper mixture over potatoes and top with salmon. Roast, uncovered, 10 minutes more or just until salmon flakes.
Remove zest from lemon. Squeeze juice from lemon over salmon and vegetables. Sprinkle with zest.

Salmon is great if you’re looking for a substitute for red meat main dishes. It has body and flavor to it, and supposedly some of the good fat we’re supposed to eat.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

January 3, 2024 0

Give iceberg lettuce a break — it’s ok to like it

Iceberg lettuce tends to get a bad reputation in foodie circles as not as nutritious and healthy as greener types of lettuce like Romaine. But it still has its benefits and so shouldn’t;t be written off, states this article from Eatingwell.com.

My wonderful salmon salad. — *My salmon salad, made with leftover salmon. A salad is my lunch daily these days.*

“Iceberg lettuce also has a lot to offer when considering the roster of vitamins and minerals it contains. From immune-supporting vitamin A to bone health-supporting magnesium and calcium, it would be a stretch to claim that this lettuce is nutrient-free, as some folks on the internet claim,” the article states.

I tend to buy whichever lettuce I can get on sale during any given week. Iceberg has been featured quite a bit this summer as a sale item by several supermarkets. I buy it because I like it too, and because too many leafy greens mess with the blood thinner I take for a heart issue.

If you can, mix it with greener, leafier types of lettuce in a salad to add texture and a needed crunch to the mixture. If you have to eat a salad every day for lunch as I do, at least make it fun. Enjoy!

September 2, 2021 0

Shopping news: Kroger offers reduced-sodium olives

A daily lunch salad has become a mainstay of my low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet since my first stent was put in back in 2012 (a second followed in 2017). I’m always looking for items to add to my salad for some variety.

Black olives are a childhood favorite that I always include. But canned olives can be high in sodium, as can so many other possible additives for my salad such as artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, palm hearts and roasted peppers. Thankfully low-sodium olives are available. I’ve written about using low-sodium olives before.

The Kroger reduced-salt olives
and a low-sodium olive from Lindsay.

Only a few stores in my area normally carry them, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a reduced-sodium Kroger store brand canned olive at my local Food 4 Less.

Food 4 Less is a Kroger semi-warehouse concept store the mega-chain operates in the Chicago area.

The six-ounce Kroger cans were on special at two for $3, a good price.

Is it worth monitoring the salt in your olives, some might ask? I say emphatically yes, the salt content might not seem high in olives alone, but salt is in every packaged product and can quickly add up in a salad without you even suspecting.

February 3, 2020 2

Tag: salad

Another Chicago-area fast-food salad option

You can cook like Julia Child, at least when it comes to salad dressing

Looking for a Mediterranean Diet Plan? Here’s a 7-day one

A healthy salmon recipe for the New Year

Give iceberg lettuce a break — it’s ok to like it

Shopping news: Kroger offers reduced-sodium olives

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