When planning your meals for the week, chances are, you may decide to include salad one night.

Salads are a good choice, and if we choose the right lettuce, they make our meals more nutritious.

Unfortunately, many consumers choose iceberg lettuce as the base of their green salad. Iceberg lettuce is traditionally cheaper than greens, but it contains little nutritional quality. Leafy greens such as romaine, green leaf and red leaf lettuce, are good sources of vitamin A.

A basic salad of lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion and radishes contain few calories, but they may add vitamin C, folate, iron and magnesium. As an added bonus, they're low in fat and provide fiber.

When you add croutons, bacon bits, cheeses, ham, boiled eggs and salad dressing, you start to pile on the calories. Most vegetables have only 25 calories per half-cup serving. But many salad dressings can add up to 100 calories per tablespoon. And remember that a tablespoon is about the size of a matchbook. Many low-fat dressings can be added for about 15 calories per tablespoon.

Preparing a salad is easy.

Wash salad greens before storing. Tear greens into bite-size pieces. Never cut with a knife, since this will cause a brown color on the leaves. Cut salad vegetables into bite-size pieces. When mixing salad, toss the salad ingredients, don't stir. Stirring can break down some of the softer vegetables.

Dressings are used to moisten and season foods. Too much dressing takes away from the flavor of the vegetables and adds additional calories and fat.

If you buy your salad greens pre-packaged, look for packages with romaine, green or red leaf lettuce, or spinach greens for the most nutrition. These are sold cleaned and packaged, but they should still be rinsed under cool running water and drained in a colander. Add other vegetables of choice.

Whatever you're preparing, food safety is important. Wash your hands before you start preparing the salad and as needed during preparation. Make sure the kitchen counter and cutting board are clean. If you're adding meat or protein, it's especially important to clean your cutting board and utensils between uses.

Salads should be kept cold. If you're fixing a salad for a cookout or picnic, it should be kept cold or on ice in a cooler. After the meal, return leftovers to the cooler or throw it out if left out too long. They should be at room temperature for no more than two hours or one hour outside.

For information about food safety, contact your county Extension agent or visit Extension's website at www.uaex.edu. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.