My Love/Hate Relationship with Salad

I confess - I spent a lot of years hating salad. I thought I had to pile on cheese and ranch dressing to make it taste good, but I still felt deprived and ended up eating even more. When I finally realized how much fat and calories the salad contained, I ended up ditching salads all together. Our little garden is what finally changed my mind. Adding fresh herbs made such a huge difference. I also forced myself to try things that I thought I hated by giving myself a new food of the week challenge. It turns out my mind was getting in the way a lot more than I realized. Once I survived a few new taste experiences, a whole new (and healthier) world opened up. So don't let a bad experience with brussell sprouts as a kid keep you from trying it as a 50 year-old. Try not to think of healthy eating as being deprived. Instead, you are adding a whole lot of new options that you just might find surprisingly enjoyable.

While we're talking salad, here is a cheat sheet so you don't fall into the same trap that I did. Salad does not always equal healthy.