Salad anyone?

Here's a couple of tips on how to improve your diet, be healthier and possibly trim your waistline.

Satisfy your cravings on a salad. Dying for some Buffalo wings? Put some buffalo chicken tenders, blue cheese crumbles and some chopped celery on a big bed of lettuce.  Grill the chicken, then dip in hot sauce.

The greener the lettuce the higher the nutritional content, but if your palate only likes iceberg then start there with maybe a handful of baby spinach leaves added in.  When you use salad greens for your base instead of bread, pasta or whatever, you are getting fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals along with less fat and calories.
Some salad combos that I make are:
- Very thinly sliced grilled steak with bleu cheese crumbles, sliced red onion and arugula. Add leftover asparagus, roasted potatoes, roasted red peppers, beets.. Make your own vinagrette by shaking up some olive oil with vinegar, a clove of garlic and a dab of dijon mustard. If you like it more subtle add a little water.
-Dried or fresh fruit with goat cheese or gorgonzola, pecans or walnuts and a raspberry vinagrette.
-Add some beans to your salad for a heartier meal. Chickpeas, red beans. Add seeds for added crunch: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and even chia seeds for an antioxidant boost.
And then of course, there's your old Taco Salad...
Get creative.

Instead of having chips with your lunchtime sandwich have a side of leftover veggies.

Buy a big box of organic baby spinach when you go grocery shopping and add a handful to every thing you eat. Just throw a layeron your plate first, the heat from your food will wilt the spinach. Put it on sandwiches instead of lettuce. Put a handful into your berry yogurt smoothie- you won't even taste it!

And of course, the most basic, simplest tip of all: fill your cupboards with healthy food and when you're hungry prepare it and eat it!!

By boosting your intake of nutrient rich produce you are not only feeding your stomach, but all your organs and your skin, hair and nails. And you are improving your chances of avoiding disease as you age.