5 ways to shop for prepared meals

Many supermarkets now dedicate a larger amount of floor space to their salad bar and prepared meals sections, a welcome alternative to frozen foods when there's no time to cook. Here are a few tips to help you pick the right kind.

• How are you going to get vegetables into your meal? If you don't want to cook, fill a salad bar container with raw veggies, but stay away from too many marinated veggies.
• And, of course, those pre-washed mixed greens make salad preparation about as complicated as finding a bowl. But remember that it's always better and tastier to prepare your own from fresh.

• Then add the beans to the salad bar selection you've just bought.
• You'll save money (because beans are so filling) while still adding valuable fibre and other nutrients to the salad.

• If you can see that there's mayonnaise pooling around the chicken, tuna, seafood or pasta salads, skip them.
• Mayonnaise is a combination of eggs and oil – primarily fat.

• Options include black-bean soup, lentil soup or minestrone. Little fat is added to these varieties.
• However, avoid creamy or cheesy soups such as broccoli and cheese or cream of asparagus. If you're not sure, check the composition of the soup stock.
• The best soup base is vegetable broth, followed by chicken broth, then beef stock and, finally, cream.

• Of course, some soups are far healthier than some salads. But, in general, you're better off with a salad of mixed greens and raw vegetables, coupled with a light, healthy dressing.
• You'll get more fibre and thus more filling for your calories, not to mention the healthy dose of disease-fighting antioxidants found in raw vegetables.
• Many soups are very healthy, but the cooking process can diminish some of the ingredients' nutritional value.