French Lentil Salad Forever

Are BBQ sides bad for your health? From pasta salad to potato salad, you may want to watch for sodium and fat at your next cookout

Yahoo

14 hours ago

Yahoo

Are BBQ sides bad for your health? From pasta salad to potato salad, you may want to watch for sodium and fat at your next cookout

These side dishes are tasty additions to summer meals, and you don't always have to skip out on them to meet your healthy eating goals. When warm weather beckons at-home chefs to take dinner outside, lighting up the grill is a no-brainer: From hot dogs and hamburgers to steaks and corn, barbecued food is one of summer's simplest pleasures. The head-scratcher? Choosing a pairing to serve alongside all that charred-and-smoky deliciousness — doubly so if you're trying to stick to your healthy eating goals. As ever, moderation is the key to health, happiness and making the most of a meal without neglecting the needs of your body or feeding into any food neurosis. Below, we recap the nutritional profile of a host of classic BBQ side dishes, helping you get the lowdown on what's really happening on your plate. This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle. Pasta salad The cool and creamy counterpoint to the sizzling heat of freshly-barbecued mains, pasta salad can look a number of different ways: It can be macaroni swimming on its back in a pool of mayo, rotini cuddled up to baby mozzarella and olives in a blanket of vinegary sauce, or a concoction that's equal parts diced veggies and cold pasta. No matter what your platonic idea of pasta salad looks like, there's a reason why it's a classic cookout accompaniment: It's filling, crowd-pleasing and often affordable. And while the recycled Atkins ethos of the moment might make you think twice before adding a scoop of pasta salad to your dinner, Lauren Toyota, a vegan cookbook author and creator of the site Hot For Food, told Yahoo Canada in a recent interview that 'regular pasta is a pretty healthy food, actually: It's fortified with iron and whatnot. I think the cheaper foods sometimes get demonized by the food industry.' Good ol' pasta is also a food featuring fibre, a nutrient that, according to a 2015 study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, less than 25 per cent of Canadians age 19 and older get enough of. That being said, veggie-flecked pasta salads will obviously offer more nutrients than varieties that are just noodles. Moreover, creamy sauces will likely contain more fat and calories than their vinegar-based brethren. Sodium is also something to eyeball here: Health Canada states 72 per cent of children, 90 per cent of men and half of women are eating more sodium than recommended daily. Cheese, cold cuts and commercial salad dressings — all items that could find their way into pasta salad — are high-sodium foods to be enjoyed sparingly. It's worth mentioning here, too, that oftentimes burgers and hot dogs — and the buns they're served on — also contain significant amounts of sodium, contributing to a higher total amount of sodium in your meal if eaten alongside pasta salad. The takeaway: Throw more vegetables into your pasta salad for a boost of nutrients, and cut down on the cheese, deli meats and commercial salad dressings. Caesar salad Bringing crunchy, creamy, punchy addictiveness to every plate it graces, caesar salad is That Girl. But how does it stack up nutritionally? Caesar dressing is high in fat and sodium, sometimes almost as much as 444 mg of the stuff. Again, keeping in mind that burgers and hot dogs can also skew sodium-heavy means that adding caesar salad to your meal could make for a salt-laden meal. Caesar salads featuring kale and croutons made of chickpeas or whole-grain bread will make the dish more nutrient-dense. However, it's worth noting that vegan caesar salad dressings don't always seem to save much sodium compared to their traditional counterparts: A search of popular vegan caesar salad recipes saw many clocking in between 400 and 500 mg of sodium per serving. That being said, this briny beauty is a classic for a reason, offering taste nirvana in every bite. And, the mountain of romaine it's made from — plus the cheese flecked throughout — means it's not an insignificant source of calcium and protein. The takeaway: Watch for sodium in caesar dressings. Try making your own at home instead, while also swapping some ingredients for healthier options like kale and chickpea-based croutons. Potato salad Another legendary BBQ side dish enters the chat. No matter if you're team cubed-and-creamy or if your tastes skew towards smaller potatoes more lightly dressed (sometimes called German-style potato salad), this is a side dish that is so beloved it could steal the show. Fat-free and carrying moderate amounts of fibre and protein (about a gram and change of each per 2/3 of a cup cooked), potatoes are not exactly a nutritional powerhouse. But they also aren't totally devoid of nutritional value, being stocked with potassium and B vitamins. As with creamy versions of pasta salad, potato salad with lots of mayonnaise will carry higher fat, calorie and sodium counts. Vinegar-based dressings will likely clock in lighter on all those fronts, though it's worth noting some German potato salads are dressed in vinegar and bacon grease, adding these factors back into the equation. However, since potato salad carries an important cultural value in various global cuisines, now feels like a good time to remember that nutrition facts alone aren't the only factor that goes into choosing what we eat: Identity and taste are also equally important considerations. The takeaway: Go lighter on the mayonnaise for potato salads, and avoid adding toppings like bacon or the drippings that come out the meat when cooking it. Watermelon salad Nothing is more refreshing on a hot summer's day than cold, grainy watermelon. Whether you're serving a blend of melon dusted in Tajin seasoning (a Mexican blend of lime, chili peppers and salt) or mixing it with feta, it adds a hydrating hit to warm-weather dining. Watermelon itself is a bit of a superfood: It's hydrating since it's 92 per cent water, according to the Mayo Clinic, and also rife with vitamins A, B6 and C. This melon also has the highest amount of antioxidant lycopene found in any fresh fruit or vegetable. Combining it with feta or salty seasonings could, of course, increase the sodium levels of your meal: One cup of crumbled feta can be 100 mg more than the recommended daily intake of sodium. Combined with salt-heavy processed meat like hot dogs and this could create a very high-sodium meal. The takeaway: Avoid overdoing added salt when crafting watermelon salad, and think about the other high-sodium meals you'll likely be eating at your barbecue. Which side is the healthiest? The bottom line Strictly sticking to nutritional facts, it's safe to say a classic garden salad with vinaigrette will likely be the lowest-sodium option on the buffet table. It'll also offer a host of vitamins and minerals from the vegetables therein, as well as some much-needed fibre, making a case for it as the healthiest choice. But it's worth remembering you can honour your cravings and find joy in food, too. Perhaps this looks like a smaller scoop of potato salad alongside some garden salad. Or, maybe it looks like pasta salad today and a more vegetable-rich meal tomorrow. Whatever you decide, here's to making the most of summer fun while it lasts.

Yahoo

a day ago

Yahoo

Are BBQ sides bad for your health? From pasta salad to potato salad, you may want to watch for sodium and fat at your next cookout

These side dishes are tasty additions to summer meals, and you don't always have to skip out on them to meet your healthy eating goals. When warm weather beckons at-home chefs to take dinner outside, lighting up the grill is a no-brainer: From hot dogs and hamburgers to steaks and corn, barbecued food is one of summer's simplest pleasures. The head-scratcher? Choosing a pairing to serve alongside all that charred-and-smoky deliciousness — doubly so if you're trying to stick to your healthy eating goals. As ever, moderation is the key to health, happiness and making the most of a meal without neglecting the needs of your body or feeding into any food neurosis. Below, we recap the nutritional profile of a host of classic BBQ side dishes, helping you get the lowdown on what's really happening on your plate. This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle. Pasta salad The cool and creamy counterpoint to the sizzling heat of freshly-barbecued mains, pasta salad can look a number of different ways: It can be macaroni swimming on its back in a pool of mayo, rotini cuddled up to baby mozzarella and olives in a blanket of vinegary sauce, or a concoction that's equal parts diced veggies and cold pasta. No matter what your platonic idea of pasta salad looks like, there's a reason why it's a classic cookout accompaniment: It's filling, crowd-pleasing and often affordable. And while the recycled Atkins ethos of the moment might make you think twice before adding a scoop of pasta salad to your dinner, Lauren Toyota, a vegan cookbook author and creator of the site Hot For Food, told Yahoo Canada in a recent interview that 'regular pasta is a pretty healthy food, actually: It's fortified with iron and whatnot. I think the cheaper foods sometimes get demonized by the food industry.' Good ol' pasta is also a food featuring fibre, a nutrient that, according to a 2015 study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, less than 25 per cent of Canadians age 19 and older get enough of. That being said, veggie-flecked pasta salads will obviously offer more nutrients than varieties that are just noodles. Moreover, creamy sauces will likely contain more fat and calories than their vinegar-based brethren. Sodium is also something to eyeball here: Health Canada states 72 per cent of children, 90 per cent of men and half of women are eating more sodium than recommended daily. Cheese, cold cuts and commercial salad dressings — all items that could find their way into pasta salad — are high-sodium foods to be enjoyed sparingly. It's worth mentioning here, too, that oftentimes burgers and hot dogs — and the buns they're served on — also contain significant amounts of sodium, contributing to a higher total amount of sodium in your meal if eaten alongside pasta salad. The takeaway: Throw more vegetables into your pasta salad for a boost of nutrients, and cut down on the cheese, deli meats and commercial salad dressings. Caesar salad Bringing crunchy, creamy, punchy addictiveness to every plate it graces, caesar salad is That Girl. But how does it stack up nutritionally? Caesar dressing is high in fat and sodium, sometimes almost as much as 444 mg of the stuff. Again, keeping in mind that burgers and hot dogs can also skew sodium-heavy means that adding caesar salad to your meal could make for a salt-laden meal. Caesar salads featuring kale and croutons made of chickpeas or whole-grain bread will make the dish more nutrient-dense. However, it's worth noting that vegan caesar salad dressings don't always seem to save much sodium compared to their traditional counterparts: A search of popular vegan caesar salad recipes saw many clocking in between 400 and 500 mg of sodium per serving. That being said, this briny beauty is a classic for a reason, offering taste nirvana in every bite. And, the mountain of romaine it's made from — plus the cheese flecked throughout — means it's not an insignificant source of calcium and protein. The takeaway: Watch for sodium in caesar dressings. Try making your own at home instead, while also swapping some ingredients for healthier options like kale and chickpea-based croutons. Potato salad Another legendary BBQ side dish enters the chat. No matter if you're team cubed-and-creamy or if your tastes skew towards smaller potatoes more lightly dressed (sometimes called German-style potato salad), this is a side dish that is so beloved it could steal the show. Fat-free and carrying moderate amounts of fibre and protein (about a gram and change of each per 2/3 of a cup cooked), potatoes are not exactly a nutritional powerhouse. But they also aren't totally devoid of nutritional value, being stocked with potassium and B vitamins. As with creamy versions of pasta salad, potato salad with lots of mayonnaise will carry higher fat, calorie and sodium counts. Vinegar-based dressings will likely clock in lighter on all those fronts, though it's worth noting some German potato salads are dressed in vinegar and bacon grease, adding these factors back into the equation. However, since potato salad carries an important cultural value in various global cuisines, now feels like a good time to remember that nutrition facts alone aren't the only factor that goes into choosing what we eat: Identity and taste are also equally important considerations. The takeaway: Go lighter on the mayonnaise for potato salads, and avoid adding toppings like bacon or the drippings that come out the meat when cooking it. Watermelon salad Nothing is more refreshing on a hot summer's day than cold, grainy watermelon. Whether you're serving a blend of melon dusted in Tajin seasoning (a Mexican blend of lime, chili peppers and salt) or mixing it with feta, it adds a hydrating hit to warm-weather dining. Watermelon itself is a bit of a superfood: It's hydrating since it's 92 per cent water, according to the Mayo Clinic, and also rife with vitamins A, B6 and C. This melon also has the highest amount of antioxidant lycopene found in any fresh fruit or vegetable. Combining it with feta or salty seasonings could, of course, increase the sodium levels of your meal: One cup of crumbled feta can be 100 mg more than the recommended daily intake of sodium. Combined with salt-heavy processed meat like hot dogs and this could create a very high-sodium meal. The takeaway: Avoid overdoing added salt when crafting watermelon salad, and think about the other high-sodium meals you'll likely be eating at your barbecue. Which side is the healthiest? The bottom line Strictly sticking to nutritional facts, it's safe to say a classic garden salad with vinaigrette will likely be the lowest-sodium option on the buffet table. It'll also offer a host of vitamins and minerals from the vegetables therein, as well as some much-needed fibre, making a case for it as the healthiest choice. But it's worth remembering you can honour your cravings and find joy in food, too. Perhaps this looks like a smaller scoop of potato salad alongside some garden salad. Or, maybe it looks like pasta salad today and a more vegetable-rich meal tomorrow. Whatever you decide, here's to making the most of summer fun while it lasts.

41-year-old lawyer relocated to Paris, has no plans of moving back to the U.S.: 'It's where I'm supposed to be in the world'

CNBC

a day ago

CNBC

41-year-old lawyer relocated to Paris, has no plans of moving back to the U.S.: 'It's where I'm supposed to be in the world'

After law school, Adriel Sanders, 41, found work as a corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions attorney. But she didn't enjoy practicing law. "The whole firm knew it. It was not a well-kept secret. I tried to pretend like I wanted to be a partner, but I couldn't maintain that image. I didn't even want to be a lawyer," Sanders, tells CNBC Make It. "I didn't enjoy the work and the expectation to work all the time and I will probably be one of the only attorneys who says it, but I don't think it's that intellectually stimulating." Sanders, who goes by Adriel Felise online, quit that job and eventually went to work as general counsel for a publicly traded company. At the time, Sanders was living in Washington, D.C. and making $286,656 a year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. She lived in a studio apartment and paid about $3,000 a month in rent. "What stereotypically happens to most Black women when they work in corporate America is the type of things I experienced my whole career. You're constantly hitting up against this glass ceiling," Sanders says. "I was deeply and truly miserable at the very depths of my little heart and little soul. I knew that it was not sustainable." While working her 9-to-5, Sanders dreamt of starting her own clothing line. She even pursued photography in her free time as a way to escape the endless grind of her career. "Photography was very much my creative outlet. For me, starting a fashion line is about doing what I should have always been doing and not about leaving a secure career. I feel like I'm stepping into my purpose," Sanders says. In 2017, Sanders and her two brothers went to Paris for the first time. That trip changed everything. When they first arrived in the city, Sanders was a bit disgruntled after having an uncomfortable flight. Her younger brother reminded her to look around and take in where they were. "It instantly clicked. I was like, 'This is your home. This is where you're supposed to be in the world and this is where you will always be," she says. "I knew I had to move to Paris." Sanders traveled back to Paris several times after that first visit. "The moment I stepped off the plane, I felt like I could just breathe," she says. In 2019, she decided she would make the move across the Atlantic. At the beginning of 2020, Sanders quit her job, gave her landlord notice, and started the process to obtain a French visa. She contacted Adrian Leeds from HGTV's "House Hunters International" to help find an apartment and flew to France for a few days while a moving company packed up her belongings and prepared to ship it all overseas. Sanders landed in Paris the day before France closed its border due to the covid-19 pandemic. "The slowness of the world meant that France sped up. We were all operating from the same level of confusion, so the good thing is that I was confused by what was happening, but so was everyone else," Sanders says. "I arrived the day before the lockdown, so there was no one and it was a complete dystopia." Sanders signed a lease for a one-bedroom apartment that cost 1,550 euros, or $1,815 USD, where she lived for two years. She then moved into a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment and signed a three-year lease. The rent was 1,980 euros or $2,319 when she first moved in. It has since increased to $2,540 USD. Sanders lives in what they call an "unfurnished apartment" in Paris, which means she had to purchase her own kitchen cabinets, stove, and washing machine. She estimates that she spent about $5,000 on the kitchen and close to another $10,000 to make the place really feel like home. "Could I have done it cheaper, 100% but my view is that I don't know when I will leave so I want to have things the way I want them," she says. In addition to rent, Sanders spends, on average, about 963 euros or $1,128 per month on expenses, which include household bills like cable, internet, renter's insurance, dry cleaning, electricity and gas, private health insurance, and a Navigo transportation card. She also has an annual subscription to the Louvre, which costs 95 euros a year and a second museum card that can add an extra 50-100 euros a year to her expenses. She also pays 1,069.20 euros or $1,252 annually to a guarantor service, which allows her to continue renting in France. When Sanders first arrived in Paris, she did some consulting as a lawyer but decided it was finally time to bet on herself. She says she had about $200,000 in her business account and $70,000 in personal savings when she quit that job and put all of her focus on creating her fashion brand, Adriel Felise, and becoming a content creator. That money and her income from content creation helps to fund Sanders' new business venture. Her parents are retired and have been able to help her out as well. "I'm grateful for it because it gives me the cushion to do the runway launching for the fashion line and that to me is the most important goal. It gives me the freedom to know that I'm not going to fall and can pursue my dream," she says. Sanders is self-funding the production of her initial samples and prototypes, but hopes to raise at least $2 million and have her 10-piece collection ready for launch in 2026. Sanders says leaving the United States and her corporate law career behind helped her realize she's more resourceful than she thought. "I can use my strategic side that I learned as a lawyer, but implement it in a very creative way." she says. "I love fashion and I'm so happy that I can now just say that and be upfront about it because for so long it was treated as something that made me less serious." When Sanders was working as a lawyer, she used to take walks around her office building and dream about starting a fashion line, and now seeing it come to life still doesn't feel real. "There's still a part of me that strives and pushes for more so I don't know if I'm fully ready to say I'm proud but I feel like I'm actually happy, which I wasn't for so long and that's huge for me," she says. "My goal and desire is to inspire women — particularly black and brown women — to just pursue their dreams and goals. When they do it does not matter. The most important thing is that they be bold, move wisely, and just go for it." Sanders plans to keep Paris as her home base and eventually buy a home in the countryside. Since moving, Sanders has traveled all over France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, and more. She is currently making plans to spend the rest of the summer in the Loire Valley or Normandy in northern France. "I wish I had had the courage to move sooner. I wish I had the courage to do it after my first semester of law school to either drop out or enroll in business school and do something different that would have given me more options and choice to not get pigeonholed into something that I knew from the beginning I didn't want to be," she says. "I know that Americans really love to classify based upon age, race, etc. but I don't want to be classified as anything other than a woman who believed in herself enough to ignore the naysayers and go for her hopes and dreams."

French Lentil Salad Forever

Hashtags

Try Our AI Features

Comments

Related Articles

Are BBQ sides bad for your health? From pasta salad to potato salad, you may want to watch for sodium and fat at your next cookout

Are BBQ sides bad for your health? From pasta salad to potato salad, you may want to watch for sodium and fat at your next cookout

41-year-old lawyer relocated to Paris, has no plans of moving back to the U.S.: 'It's where I'm supposed to be in the world'

French Lentil Salad Forever

Hashtags

Try Our AI Features

Comments

Related Articles

Are BBQ sides bad for your health? From pasta salad to potato salad, you may want to watch for sodium and fat at your next cookout

Are BBQ sides bad for your health? From pasta salad to potato salad, you may want to watch for sodium and fat at your next cookout

41-year-old lawyer relocated to Paris, has no plans of moving back to the U.S.: 'It's where I'm supposed to be in the world'

Get Started Now: Download the App