{"id":362,"date":"2009-02-18T22:19:58","date_gmt":"2009-02-18T22:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=362"},"modified":"2009-02-18T22:19:58","modified_gmt":"2009-02-18T22:19:58","slug":"healthy-eating-tips-small-plates-big-vegetable-bowls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/healthy-eating-tips-small-plates-big-vegetable-bowls\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Eating Tips: Small Plates, Big Vegetable Bowls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nutrition experts have discovered another trick to combat overeating:\u00a0 Smaller plates.\u00a0 You’ve probably heard about the research from Cornell University showing that smaller plates lead to smaller portion sizes.\u00a0 Great idea, but I think there needs to be an exception for vegetables–salads in particular.\u00a0 In fact, there needs to be not just an exception but a reversal<\/em> of the rule.<\/p>\n

In other words, follow the small plate approach for the meat and starch portion of your meals.\u00a0 But inasmuch as only one in ten of us eats the recommended daily quota of vegetables, stick with a BIG plate (or at least a separate small plate) for vegetables.\u00a0 If small plates lead to small portions, then it stands to reason that big plates will lead to bigger portion sizes.<\/p>\n

In the case of salads, consider using a big bowl<\/em> instead of a plate.\u00a0 That way, you can adequately toss salad and dressing.\u00a0 I discovered this trick when a Mad Greens restaurant opened nearby.\u00a0 It is like a restaurant-controlled salad bar.\u00a0 You pick out the ingredients of your choice and the staff assembles it.\u00a0 But here’s the key:\u00a0 the salad is assembled in a BIG metal bowl, so it can be easily and thoroughly tossed.\u00a0 In the end, every piece of the salad is perfectly coated, and it tastes superbly flavorful, even with a only a couple squirts of dressing.<\/p>\n

Eating my Mad Greens salad was an “ah ha” moment.\u00a0\u00a0 The low-fat 90s had taught me to avoid the globs of dressing restaurants ladle on salads.\u00a0 Instead, I always ordered my dressing on the side.\u00a0 At home, I never dressed the entire salad so the leftovers could be stored for the next night or two.<\/p>\n

So I grew accustomed to pouring a little dressing on top of my salad and then semi-mixing it in, since it is impossible to properly toss a salad on a tiny salad plate or piled next to meat and potatoes.\u00a0 Salad would end up all over the table.\u00a0 So for years I made do with a semi-dressed salad: \u00a0Some bites would have mouth-puckering amounts of dressing; some would have none.<\/p>\n

Mad Greens introduced me the taste of a well-dressed salad-and happily, it isn’t dependent on GLOBS of dressing, just proper tossing–and for that a big bowl is the key, just like it’s the key to eating a goodly portion of salad.<\/p>\n

So in a happy coincidence, I could achieve two good things with one simple change.\u00a0 I first began serving my salads in a round plastic storage container.\u00a0 A mixing bowl will also work.\u00a0 But today, I found a very lovely yellow bowl (probably a small casserole dish?) \u00a0at The Peppercorn, our local kitchenware store extraordinaire.<\/p>\n

\"Depth
Depth is a key characteristic for a good salad eating bowl. This one does a perfect job containing a salad of winter vegetables topped with canned tuna steaks, sun-dried tomatoes and raisins. My current dressing favorite is shown, too. Annie's Shitake & Sesame Vinaigrette. Lots of flavor, no fake stuff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Depth is the most important thing to look for (besides being cute and coordinating with your current dishware, of course.) While there are plenty of salad serving bowls, most are too shallow and\/or flared to contain a feisty salad.\u00a0 In the picture, I included a regular soup bowl for a point of comparison.<\/p>\n

If you are looking for a good bowl on-line, I happened upon one at Silvermark’s site:\u00a0 http:\/\/silvermk.com\/product_detail.cfm?id=16.\u00a0 You can also find all sorts of other great salad-making apparatuses there.<\/p>\n

Caution:\u00a0 Hazards Ahead!<\/strong><\/p>\n

As with anything, watch out for imbalances.\u00a0 In the case of salads, the imbalances can come in a couple forms:\u00a0 Non-vegetable ingredients and salad dressings.<\/p>\n

First, keep in mind that big bowls are a trick for eating more vegetables<\/em>, not oversized amounts of ham, cheese, smoked turkey, \u00a0pasta salad and myriad other non-vegetable toppings in a typical salad bar.\u00a0 Homemade salads aren’t usually overburdened with high-calorie additions, since who has the time to prepare them?\u00a0 But faced with a salad bar spread of enticing toppers, all cut and ready to go, it’s easy to overload.<\/p>\n

Second, we know that the calories in dressing can often outweigh those in the salad itself!\u00a0 Big bowls are a way to strategically spread the dressing so it is put to effective use.\u00a0 This way, it’s possible to dress a larger portion of salad vegetables with the same amount of dressing.\u00a0 Watch out that you don’t end up doubling the dressing as you increase salad size!\u00a0 If it helps, measure out the dressing before adding.<\/p>\n

If your salad could still use a little kick after it moderately dressed, here’s another trick:\u00a0 Instead of ladling on more salad dressing, sprinkle on some extra vinegar (e.g., brown rice or balsamic), some freshly squeezed lemon juice, a few grinds of pepper or a shake of cayenne.\u00a0 Even salt (just a little) can help bring out the flavors without a lot more calories.<\/p>\n

Happy vegging!<\/p>\n

Here’s a recipe for Tuna Salad with Homemade Balsamic Dressing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smaller plates are supposed to be good for keeping our eating impulses under control. But are there times when big plates and bowls are best? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,29],"tags":[156,179,268,498,499,531,592],"class_list":["post-362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-what-is-healthy-eating","category-weight-loss","tag-daily-recommendations-for-fruit-and-vegetable-consumption","tag-eating-vegetables","tag-green-salads","tag-salad-dressing-calories","tag-salad-dressing-tips","tag-small-plates","tag-tossing-salads","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}