I completely agree! A small serving of salad should in no way harm or impede progress in any diet protocol unless you’re not missing the numbers in terms of your goal calories. From what I’ve learned, you can tweak the smaller factors here and there as per your health goals and preferences as long as you stick your calories and have a hold of the big picture. However, you might be unintentionally killing the nutrients in your veggies depending on the way you cook them.
I learned this quite late and just would like to put it out here. Please don’t cook your veggies on cooktops. vegetables are very easily overcooked and most of the nutrients (especially vit B and vit C) are destroyed. I only microwave my veggies when I make my salads now. Standard microwave works well. Why did I have to specify? Well, because there are types to thesetoo! You need not have a high-end fashionable one with a bunch of cool-sounding features. I got mine for merely 80 bucks and it works like a powerhouse for my personal needs including my meal prep.