Ensuring that your salad is a healthy meal choice often comes down to the dressing. Salad dressings loaded with calories, sugar and fat, are sometimes overlooked. Yes your salad might be super healthy, but your dressing could be degrading the health value. It doesn't have to be creamy ranch to be loaded with calories; in fact I’ve seen many ‘healthy looking’ dressings with very unhealthy nutrition labels.

Lucky for you, I search for a low calorie food options like it’s my job and that's how I stumbled upon Maple Grove Farms of Vermont's Organic Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette. This dressing is USDA approved ORGANIC and only 5 calories per serving (2 tbsp). It contains only 1 gram of sugar, 2 grams carbohydrates, and 0 grams fat! Not only is the dressing low calorie, it's also quite tasty.

Maple Grove Farms of Vermont offers a variety of organic salad dressings varying in calorie content. From the selection I saw at the grocery store all of them were less than 40 calories per serving, which is great.

CLICK HERE to shop Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Salad dressing!

Sesame seeds are a great way to easily add some nutrients to your favorite dish. Here are some health and nutrition benefits of sesame seeds...

• Sesame seeds contain two unique substances: sesamin and sesamolin. Both of these substances belong to a group of special beneficial fibers called lignans, and have been shown to have a cholesterol-lowering effect. Sesamin has also been found to protect the liver from oxidative damage.

• They are very good source copper.

-Copper is known for its use in reducing some of the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis.

• They are a good source of calcium which has been known to:

-Help protect colon cells from cancer-causing chemicals
-Help prevent the bone loss that can occur as a result of menopause or certain conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis
-Help prevent migraine headaches in those who suffer from them
-Reduce PMS symptoms during the luteal phase (the second half) of the menstrual cycle

• They are a very good source of magnesium which is useful when it comes to...

-Preventing the airway spasm in asthma
-Lowering high blood pressure, a contributing factor in heart attack, stroke, and diabetic heart disease
-Preventing the trigeminal blood vessel spasm that triggers migraine attacks
-Restoring normal sleep patterns in women who are experiencing unpleasant symptoms associated with menopause
-Calcium Helps Prevent Colon Cancer, Osteoporosis, Migraine and PMS

• They are also a good source of iron, phosphorous, vitamin B1, zinc and dietary fiber!

A recipe using Sesame:

Sesame Broccoli: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced

Directions: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté broccoli and sesame seeds for 2 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until pepper is tender crisp.

NOTE: You can also sprinkle sesame on your salad, grilled or sautéed chicken, rice, veggies and pretty much anything! You can find them in the organic section of your local supermarket or you can order them through this website!!!

Source & Source

I love hummus...

-The main ingredient of hummus is chic peas (garbanzo beans). Chic peas are very high in many nutrients such as fiber, magnesium, protein, folate, and iron. To learn more nutritious facts about chic peas CLICK HERE.

- You can make hummus very easily right at home choosing an ideal recipe to satisfy your taste buds. CLICK HERE for a recipe.

- Hummus adds awesome flavor to your favorite snacks such as toast, crackers, veggie platters, wraps, or sandwiches.

- You can buy hummus in a variety of seasonings so that you'll never get bored with one taste. My personal favorite is the chipolte pepper that I buy at Trader Joe's.  CLICK HERE to find a Trader Joe's in your area.

- On a sandwich hummus is great because it only has 50 calories per 2 tbs opposed to 99 calories per 1 tbs of mayonnaise. It may be lacking in calories but is defiantly abundant in flavor.

- Hummus contains all nine essential amino acids for a complete source of protein.

Here is one of my very own recipes including hummus...

Turkey, Hummus & Spinach Sandwich

- Toast 2 pieces of multi grain bread

- after bread is toasted spread one serving (2 tbs) of hummus on one piece of the bread

- put 2 slices of turkey breast over the hummus

- place fresh spinach leaves on top of the turkey

- place the second piece of toasted bread on top to make a sandwich and cut in half

- ENJOY YOUR TASTY SANDWICH!