Salads and Diabetics

Salads

Salad should be a part of your lunch menu if you have diabetes. You can create a different salad every day of the week by varying your toppings. Try grilled chicken, shrimp, or fish, but avoid heaping on a lot of fattening ingredients, such as bacon bits and heavy cheeses.

Salads with lots of raw vegetables are best, including carrots, cucumbers, radishes, celery, and spinach. Sprinkle nuts or seeds on top, add a few dried cranberries, and garnish with some avocado chunks to give it zip. Always choose low-fat or fat-free salad dressings or, for a change, flavored vinegars.

Broccoli Salad

1 bunch of broccoli
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup white raisins
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

Dressing:
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbl. sugar

Wash and cut broccoli into flowerettes. Add bacon, raisins and sunflower seeds. Make dressing by beating mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar. Add dressing just before serving.

This is a lightly sweet salad that is oh so good and refreshing. It's simple to make. The dressing can be made ahead and refrigerated. You can use pre-cooked bacon to cut time. You can also use chopped nuts such as pecans and walnuts or almond slivers instead of the sunflower seeds. For those dieters, use a sugar substitute instead of real sugar.

Broccoli Salad

1 head of broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup salted cashews, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
2 slices bacon, crisp cooked and crumbled

Dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbl. vinegar
2 Tbl. sugar
pepper to taste

Combine broccoli, onion, cashews, raisins and bacon. In a small bowl, whisk all dressing ingredients together until smooth. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Refrigerate at least 2-3 hrs. for flavors to blend. It's even better if made the day before you plan to serve.

Changes - mix 1/2 and 1/2 broccoli and cauliflower. Use almonds or peanuts instead of cashews.

Cottage Cheese & Pineapple Jello Salad

2 pkg. lime jello
1 pkg. lemon jello
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup pecans, chopped

Mix lime and lemon jello using only 2 cups of water. (Use 1 cup of boiling water to dissolve jello. After dissolved add 1 cup of cold water. Pour jello into a 8 x 8 dish and refrigerate until firm. Mix together pineapple, cottage cheese, mayonnaise and pecans. Cut jello into 1/2" squares and place into a bowl. Fold in cottage cheese mix. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Changes - change the jello flavors.. orange, cherry, etc. When ready to serve, scoop into serving dishes, top with whipped topping and a cherry for a really pretty dessert.