Food, diet and health: Why I have salad lunches

I have salad lunches every day except on weekends. “How can you enjoy salad,” my colleagues ask? True, salad isn’t exciting. Certainly not great on taste. But I try to infuse some flavour and variety by adding strawberries, green apples or even grapes. Cherries too, when it’s cheap and available. Of course, I drizzle lots of oil.

When did I start having salads? I don’t know. I know that I’ve had salad lunches for a very long time. In fact, it’s been the butt of jokes at the office for a while. Eyebrows go up every time I order regular food from the office canteen, and I really have to explain that I didn’t have the time to slice the veggies.

I prefer to make the salad myself. I ensure that I have a good mix of colours and flavours. More importantly, they all have to be sliced uniformly. It should look good too.

How I make my salad

Packing also is crucial to enjoying the salad. The flavours have to be layered. Cucumber slices must be interspersed with bell peppers (capsicum) of various hues, lettuce and carrots. Slip in some pickled olives (pitted, or else it will ruin the experience) or pickled vegetables; a bit of brine helps jolt the tastebuds. Add another layer of veggies and strategically place the cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle some sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds; it feels good when you bite into it. And if there are feta cheese cubes, keep them equidistant from each other; they help break the monotony.

That’s not it. Now comes the crucial part: the dressing. I’m not into a vinaigrette or other blends. And none of the concoctions that come in bottles. I keep it simple. It’s either cold-pressed coconut oil or virgin olive oil. And if I feel like it, I might squeeze half a lemon and drizzle it around. Now the salad is ready.

Why did I opt for salad lunches? I can’t pin down the exact reason, but I guess it has to do with my stomach acidity. I have grappled with digestive issues for a long time and must have turned to salads for relief.

Did it help? Not much, but it helped keep me off spicy food. Since it was light, there was no risk of falling asleep after lunch. Especially at meetings.

Do I like salads? Yeah, I do. Provided it’s made well. I like it, or else, how can I eat it? The trick is to eat slowly, chew it well. You certainly can’t gobble it up.

I know salads are good for health. Now there’s a fringe benefit; it’s a secret. A salad lunch allows me to eat all the delicious and “unhealthy” stuff. The raw veggies help limit my daily calorie intake and prime me to devour samosas, fries, pizzas, jalebis, and doughnuts. So at the end of the day, it sort of evens out, and I wouldn’t have breached my daily calorie requirement.

That’s important since I have a sweet tooth. Which means it won’t be just one jalebi or a doughnut; there’ll always be a second helping or helpings. I’m sure some of you can identify with what I’m saying, and my craving. Blame it on dopamine.

Food, they say, is medicine. Raw vegetables should be good. Isn’t it? Well, some say it’s not. Some veggies have to be cooked to break down the toxins. All I can say is that I haven’t fallen ill from eating salads. Never gave me food poisoning.

I’m not orthorexic (Orthorexia is an unhealthy obsession with healthy foods). I’m not into chia seeds, quinoa, goji berries and stuff like that. Superfoods aren’t my thing.

I may have salad lunches, but I want my upma, puttu or dosa for breakfast. I’m not fastidious about dinner so long as it’s not heavy. And on weekends, I must have a biriyani or a fish curry meal. Parotta and beef fry too would be nice. They will ready me for salad lunches ahead.