Strong and Lean in 2016, Kick start your best year ever.

When the temperature drops, it's all too tempting to indulge in gooey macaroni and cheese, creamy soups, and other fattening favorites. But with ingredients like grass-fed beef, sweet potatoes, and roasted Brussels sprouts, these salads will help you forget about classic comfort foods and instead create healthy, produce-packed meals.

Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato Salad: For tasty texture, top with a tablespoon of roasted, salted sunflower seeds—or indulge with a couple of crumbled slices of cooked uncured bacon.Ingredients: Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, onion, olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, code vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey  Calories: 324

Roasted Fennel and Beet Salad: Instead of two oranges, use one plus a small pink grapefruit or blood orange for even more flavor and color variety.

Ingredients: Fennel bulbs, oranges, Greek yogurt, tahini, radicchio, beets, walnuts, lemon juice, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper, olive oil Calories: 275

 

Roasted Curried Cauliflower-Quinoa Salad: Don't toss the fiber-rich cauliflower stem. Peel, chop and throw into a stir-fry.

Ingredients: Cauliflower, red grapes, quinoa, Greek yogurt, curry powder, cumin, lime juice, cilantro, cashews, rotisserie chicken, olive oil, salt and pepper Calories: 325

Steak Salad With Eggplant, Peppers, and Onion:We like 100 percent grass-fed beef. It's richer in omega-3s and conjugated linoleic acid (a type of fat that may reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer) than conventionally raised meat.

Ingredients: Skirt steak, eggplant, red bell peppers, red onion, ricotta, Parmesan, basil, rosemary, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper Calories: 335

Tuna and White Bean Salad: Roast another head of garlic while you're at it. Spread on crackers, puree into soup or mash with potatoes or squash. Covered, it will keep in the fridge for about 10 days.

Ingredients: Cannellini beans, romaine, tuna, sun-dried tomatoes, anchovies, Parmesan, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, black pepper, flat-leaf parsley Calories: 314