Ham, corned beef, smoked turkey -- deli sandwiches made with these meats are delicious served alongside a chilled salad. Cold salads <ahref="http: www.mrfood.com="" deli-salad"=""> </ahref="http:>can round out the nutritional profile of a deli-sandwich lunch without adding unwanted fat and fillers.
Vegetable-Based Salads
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Cold salads built around vegetables offer nutritional benefits as well as belly-filling fiber with little fat. Veggie-based cold salad favorites include coleslaw, three-bean salad, potato salad, broccoli salad and any variety of mixed greens. Generally, you can make any of these salads by combining the main ingredient -- such as shredded cabbage in coleslaw, or garbanzo, kidney and wax beans in the three-bean salad -- with a fat-based dressing such as vinegar and oil or mayonnaise. Adding a protein ingredient such as chicken or fish elevates these cold salads to entree status.
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Tip
Cold salads made with a vinegar-and-oil base last longer out of the refrigerator than salads with cream or mayonnaise bases.
Grain-Based Salads
Pasta salads can add a high number of carbohydrates, so serve smaller portions than you would of vegetable- or fruit-based salads if you are watching carbs. Choices include a basic macaroni salad or any of a myriad of variations on the pasta-dressing combo, including pasta salad with tuna or chicken. Other grain salads can be healthy choices when you are looking for higher-fiber options. These include quinoa, couscous and tabouleh salads. Most of these salads combine the grain with a dressing and incorporate fresh chopped veggies and herbs into the dish.
Fruit-Based Salads
Fruit salads are packed with vitamins and fiber and taste great served with a deli sandwich on a hot day. Mixed fruit salad may include ingredients such as watermelon, oranges, apples, strawberries, grapes, bananas, blueberries and other in-season fruit. Ambrosia salad is a whipped-cream-based salad with fruit cocktail and walnuts, and Waldorf salad is a variation of ambrosia salad that substitutes chopped apples for the fruit cocktail and mayonnaise for the whipped cream.
Warning
When serving fruit-based salad that contain a lot of juice alongside a deli sandwich, use a separate bowl or cup to prevent the bread from getting soggy.