Ahh, the humble salad. Long forced upon dieters as the only way to lose weight and sustain their good health, salads are usually sad affairs of roughly torn lettuce, topped with a few scant vegetables and drowned in a torrent of dressing.

When they are a side dish, they are ignored, and when they are the main course, they are scorned. But salads do not have to be this way. A good raw food diet will help you to lose weight and stay in good health, and salads can play a big role in that – but only if you enjoy eating them.

So, how can you take the simple salad, and make it an exciting part of your meal plan?

For starters, don’t always reach for the same type of greens when you make a salad. There is a whole world of different choices, and a great way to keep things interesting in your salad is to swap the base ingredient.

Try baby spinach, kale, or just another variety of lettuce. Don’t worry about what is “supposed” to go into any given type of salad – experiment, and find flavor combinations that you like. Mixing your greens will also give you different benefits – spinach has more iron, for instance, than regular iceberg lettuce.

When it comes to diet salads, you might think dressings are a no-no. But with a little bit of thought and preparation, you can have a dressing on your salad, without drowning it in high-fat ranch. For instance, you can mix up your own oil and vinegar combination, or make a light citrus dressing with your favorite fruit. Add your favorite spices as well, as a dash of cinnamon can really bring out new flavors in your dish. Want a raw Caesar dressing? Mix your own out of a nut milk like almond.

Another way to make your salads more interesting is to incorporate interesting and different food items into it. Don’t settle for lettuce, tomatoes and onions all of the time. If you want some spice, add some sliced hot peppers in with some crunchy green and red bell peppers. If you want something sweet, mix in some strawberries with a spinach salad.

For something savory, try a little pumpkin with some nutmeg in your salad. And if you want something creamy, add half an avocado – either sliced thinly, or mashed down into a freshly made guacamole.

And don’t think that, without croutons or bacon bits, your salads will go topping-less. Instead of baked chunks of stale bread, try some coarsely ground nuts. Walnuts can give your salad a wonderful, woodsy flavor, while almonds can be slivered to give crunch.

And if you really want bacon bits, make your own raw ‘bacon’ bits by dehydrating thin sliced of eggplant, dusted with chilli powder, kosher salt and paprika. The resulting strips can be crumbled over your salad, and even the biggest bacon fans will have a hard time telling the difference.

The key here is to keep it raw, and keep it interesting. That way, you won’t be tempted to leave the salads, and go back to the fatty and unhealthy food choices.

=> Got any other ideas? Please share in the comments.