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
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.
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