Salad vegetable is an edible plant, used in salads to be eaten raw and tossed, with or without a salad dressing. This typically includes the stems, leaves, and roots of a plant. The vegetables include lettuce, green and red cabbage, cucumber, beetroot, carrots, onions, celery, parsley, green, and red peppers, and tomatoes.
Eating and Serving
Not all salad vegetables are served in the same manner. Carrots and cabbages, may be grated or shredded for easier consumption, however, cucumbers, carrots, and tomatoes are usually sliced. Some salad vegetables may also be chopped and diced. Parsley is generally used to garnish the vegetables.
The vegetables are eaten raw with added spices, popularly with salt, and pepper to make them taste better. Some dressing oil may be used or a basic creamy sauce can complement the dish.
Nutritive Value
Lettuce: 70 gm of Lettuce has only 10 calories, with 3% of vitamin C, and 2% of Iron.
Cabbage: Half a cup of cabbage consists of only 10 calories, 30% of Vitamin C, 2 gm of carbohydrates, 1 gm of protein.
Cucumber: 100 gm of cucumber contains 15 calories, with anti oxidants like a-carotene, b-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin A, and leutin. It also contains vitamin K.
Beetroot: Beetroot is very low in calories, and rich in sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc. It has high levels of vitamins, micronutrients, and minerals.
Onions: 150 gm of onions consists of 64 calories, 20% of vitamin C, 2% of iron, and 4% calcium.
Celery: 110 gm of celery consists of 18 calories, with 4% of sodium, 10% vitamin A, 6% of Vitamin C, and 1% of Iron.
Parsley: 60gm of parsley consists of 22 calories, with 1% of sodium, 1% of total carbohydrates, 133% of vitamin C, 101 % of Vitamin A, 21% of Iron, and 8% of calcium.
Tomatoes 150 gm of tomatoes consists of 7% of dietary fibre, 25% of vitamin vitamin A, 32% of vitamin C, 1% of calcium, and 2% of Iron.
Health Value
Apart from the nutrient content, salad vegetables are healthy because of several other reasons. They are healthiest when grown organically, and are dark in colour. They add roughage to diet which regulates bowel movements. Most of them, particularly lettuce, have alkaline, and are very good for persons with acid reflux or gastric problems. With that, people with intestinal disorders go easy on anything uncooked, be it salad vegetable or fruit.