If salads were good enough for Julius Caesar, they're good enough for you.
Salads were on the menu back in the days of Ancient Rome, and while they didn't help Caesar much on the Ides of March, at least he looked good in a toga.
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Now we should probably pause here to explain that the Caesar salad was named after an Italian chef named Caesar Cardini and not the Roman ruler, but the fact remains that salads have been around a long time.
Of course, there were no fast food restaurants back in Caesar's day, so people weren't tempted by the various modern-day comfort foods that thrill the taste buds but blast the waistline.
Fast food is generally high in calories, fat, sugar and sodium and a typical value meal can average 1200-1500 calories, according to researchers at Framingham State University.
But just because you walk through the doors of the many quick-service establishments we have in this world doesn't mean you have to cry havoc and let slip the dogs of junk food.
Enjoy Your Salad Days
Among all that nutritionally challenged fare are healthy choices that will allow you to eat like a noble without having to worry about a gang of knife-wielding Roman senators.
How to find these options? Lend us your ears...
The folks over at Eat This, Not That! said that while salads can be filling and taste delicious, they can sometimes be both costly and time-consuming.
Enter the fast-food salad.
The media franchise compiled a list of fast food restaurant salads "that are just as satisfying as a burger."
Here are five examples:
- Wendy's (WEN) carries several salad options, including the recently launched Cobb Salad, which is made fresh daily with applewood smoked bacon, fried onions, and chopped eggs.
- The fast-food chicken chain Chick-fil-A offers three different entree-size salad choices on its menu, including its Spicy Southwest option, which combines roasted corn, black beans, poblano chilies, and tortilla chips.
- Panera's menu is packed with different salad options. Some include its new Southwest Caesar Salad with Chicken, the recently relaunched Strawberry Poppyseed Salad with Chicken, a traditional Greek Salad, a Fuji Apple Salad with Chicken, and a Mediterranean Bowl with Chicken.
- Jack in the Box (JACK) has a Lighter Options section on its menu, which is mostly a list of salads like a Club Salad with Grilled Chicken, which is made with iceberg and romaine lettuce and seasoned croutons.
- Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) offers what it calls Lifestyle Bowls. The Balanced Macros Bowl is filled with chicken, black beans, veggies, and a bit of rice. There's also the vegan Plant-Powered Bowl, which comes with corn salsa and sofritas, which is Chipotle's plant-based protein.
Salads Aren't Always the Low-Fat Option
The Framingham researchers warned consumers that salads are not always the low fat option.
Dressings can be high in fat, while low-fat dressing can be high in sugar and they recommended such toppings as almonds, sunflower seeds and walnuts.
When you enter a fast-food restaurant Good Housekeeping encourages you to start by loading your meal with as many healthy vegetables as possible.
This could include adding extra peppers to your pizza, asking for mushrooms on (or in place of) a burger or scooping some salsa onto your burrito bowl. Vegetables offer plenty of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.
Try ordering salad dressing or other condiments on the side, so you can better control how much you use, Good Housekeeping advised.
And if you're looking for something besides a salad, the publication had some suggestions, including Burger King's (QSR) single cheeseburger, which they said has fewer calories and overall fat than the chicken and plant-based items.
Now you can eat, too, Brute...
