Salads

Salads

Salads make an easy nutrient-rich meal. The greens alone have calcium, iron, potassium and B vitamins. Many salad basics, including tomatoes, sweet peppers and the greens, are chock-full of antioxidants. 

Beetroot, Spinach and apple salad

INGREDIENTS 

  • 750g beetroot (uncooked)
  • 60g pumpkin seeds
  • 60g sunflower seeds 
  • 1 large apple (try to use a really crunchy one)
  • 50g baby spinach

Dressing 

  • 60 ml apple juice 
  • 40 ml balsamic vinegar 
  • 2 tsp salt 
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup/agave syrup

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Clean the skin of the beetroot without peeling and grate it all into a bowl. 
  2. Toast the pumpkin and sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan for a few mins, until they start to turn golden. 
  3. Core and thinly slice the apple and add into the bowl of beetroot along with the toasted seeds and the spinach. Mix well. 
  4. For the dressing, mix the apple juice, balsamic vinegar, salt and maple syrup/agave syrup in a cup or jug, using a whisk or a fork. 
  5. Pour the dressing over the salad when serving, as the salad doesn’t last so well once dressed. 

Pomegranate and cous cous salad

INGREDIENTS

  • 200g of couscous (uncooked)
  • 1 red onion
  • 1.5 tsp salt (to taste)
  • ½ a tsp ground cumin 
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 8 tbsp sunflower seeds
  • 1 pomegranate
  • 30g rocket

Dressing 

  • 20g of curly parsley
  • 20g of fresh mint 
  • 20g of fresh coriander
  • juice of ½ a lime 
  • 150ml of apple juice

INSTRUCTIONS 

  1. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4. 
  2. Put the couscous in a bowl, add salt and cumin and mix. Cover the couscous with boiling water (1cm above) and put a lid on the bowl for 5 mins while it soaks up the water.
  3. Peel and finely chop the red onion, transfer into a a small baking tray and mix in the sunflower seeds, balsamic vinegar and honey. Bake in your preheated oven for 15 mins.
  4. In the meanwhile, for the dressing, put all the fresh herbs in the blender with the apple and lime juices, and blend until very smooth. Add this to the couscous. 
  5. Cut the pomegranate in half, squeeze the juice out and put the open end face-down on a chopping board and gently bang the back of the pomegranate until the seeds have all come out. Remove any extra pit (the white bits) from the seeds so that only seeds remain.
  6. Add the baked onion and seed mix into the couscous, along with the pomegranate seeds and rocket, and mix well. Check the seasoning and add more salt, cumin or black pepper as your tastebuds require!

Layer your SALAD LUNCH BOX or SALAD PLATE – anything goes 

  • Spinach leaves 
  • Drain and rinse butter beans or chick peas (or use hard boiled eggs if you would prefer)
  • Drain some sweet corn (optional)
  • Cucumber and sliced vine tomatoes
  • Cooked shredded salmon darn (or cooked chicken or shred pork from the night before)
  • Baby leaf and rocket salad
  • Cucumber chunks
  • Cherry tomatoes (add a few sundried tomatoes) 
  • Peppers ( yellow and red)
  • Green olives
  • Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds 

(add some haloumi cheese – optional)

  • Cook some Cous Cous in a stock cube
  • Roasted peppers  or sun dried tomatoes 
  • Black olives   
  • Cucumber