Super Salads

WHILE some of us may be more carnivorous than the rest, Dennis Lee, one of the founders of Chai Bar believes you can have salads every day.
It is about making a conscious decision in investing in your food which in turn is investing in your health.
"Start small; try to do salads for lunch once a week and then a few times a week. Our body adapts and when you start eating healthy, your body will start telling you this is good for me and you will feel better.
"I kid you not; you will feel hungry just having salads but it is not because you are hungry, but because your body is not used to not having carbohydrates in its system. Persevere and by the second or third week you will feel amazing," he said.
Lee stressed that it is a vicious cycle to depend on your stomach on what to eat. Malaysians typically have rice for lunch and they feel lethargic after that, slowly losing energy and by the time they get home, they are at their lowest point.
With salads, you feel hungry but energetic – that is what it does for you. There are notions of eating healthy versus eating clean.
A lot of things fall under the umbrella of eating healthy. It basically means not eating too much processed food – it could be fried or steamed but as long as it is cooked without artificial ingredients.
"People who eat clean eat with a purpose. They want to lose weight or gain the right kind of weight. When you want to eat clean you have to go for lower carbohydrate options. Red rice or brown rice maybe healthy, but eating clean means taking that out and eating more vegetables and poached, boiled or steamed chicken instead of fried," Lee said.
Chai Bar gives people a choice and doesn't tell you to eat healthy or clean. They have some fun ingredients and also not-so-healthy ones.
Lee said they don't just have pure healthy salads and thatappeals better to customers. He himself likes grilled chicken with fun ingredients such as cheese, tortilla chips, soba noodles and beef bacon with basic ingredients like cucumber, onions, tomatoes, baby spinach and quinoa.
Lee wants people to make healthy living a part of their lives and have a balance between having fun food and healthy eating – and how he does that?
"In terms of practicality, we try to suggest to our customers to try to have healthier versions of what you currently like. That is why we come up with our salad of the month. We had the Nasi Lemak Salad and now it is the Tandoori Chicken Salad. We want to tell people they can still have Malaysian local food but a healthier version. You don't have to sacrifice completely," he said.
Lee believes you don't have to change the world, you just need to change yourself first and that starts with fuelling your body with the right food.
It sounds grand to want to change the world one salad at a time and he doesn't want to sound corny, but Lee believes if you eat right magical things happen.
"Eating healthy every day is going to be a chore and it is difficult to have clean food all the time. You need to have a break; a day to eat what you want, but the beautiful thing is that once you start eating clean you have less cravings. Your body adapts; you need to empower your mind first and your stomach follows," he said.