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Photo:Leigh Beisch
Leigh Beisch
On the days I go into the office, I usually pack asalad for lunch. It’s an easy way to get a wide variety of veggies (and sometimes fruit) into my midday meal, and it’s also my favorite way to repurpose leftovers and minimize food waste. Pluseating salad is good for you—and since I’m working on making healthier choices to helplower my cholesterolbefore I go in for my annual physical later this year, I’m all in.
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To avoid salad-bowl boredom, I vary the ingredients I put in my salads. I switch betweenspinachand salad greens as the base. If we have tacos or burritos for dinner, I’ll use any leftovers to make ataco saladfor lunch the next day. I have no problem diverting that one last spoonful of roasted veggies from the compost bin to my salad bowl, or toasting and tearing up that last staling hunk of bread to make “croutons.”
I try to vary the protein source in my salad as well. As a woman who found herself in menopause in her 40s, I’ve been focusing on getting moreprotein. This nutrient is key to keeping our muscles strong,especially as we age. So many proteins work well in a salad—from crumbled feta and baked tofu to bits of pepperoni and leftover roast chicken. But one of my go-tos is always in my freezer.
Your freezer?you might be asking yourself. Indeed! Frozen peas are absolutely a freezer staple at my house. With a respectable 4.5 grams protein per half-cup serving, they are my secret weapon when I want to add protein to a dish—particularly salads.
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Peas obviously shine beyond salads too. If I’m throwing together a simple dinner of spaghetti with marinara sauce, I’ll add a handful to the pot of pasta during the last minute of cooking before draining it for a boost of protein. One of my family’s favorite cold-weather dinners—Chickpea & Potato Curry—uses ingredients I typically have on hand, including frozen peas. And peas can be transformed intotasty fritterstoo!
So, next time you are tossing together your salad, open up your freezer and break out a bag of peas! And while you’re there, take a look around … you never know what other tasty salad ingredients you might find lurking in there besides that bag of frozen peas.
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SourcesEatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.USDA Department of Agriculture. FoodDataCentral.Peas, green, frozen, unprepared.
Sources
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.USDA Department of Agriculture. FoodDataCentral.Peas, green, frozen, unprepared.
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
USDA Department of Agriculture. FoodDataCentral.Peas, green, frozen, unprepared.
