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Eat
Summer salad recipes are here!
With summer here and the opportunity to eat al fresco, try these healthy summer salad recipes. Salads are a great way to help meet your five-a-day. They’re lighter and easier to eat during hotter weather, and don’t have to be boring! All these seasonal ingredients should be easy to find at your local shops or on your supermarket shelves.
Chicken salad with mango, lime and pomegranate
(Serves 2)
A refreshing and zesty summer salad, which you can tailor to your spice taste. Chicken provides a great source of protein. The mango, pomegranate and lime switches up the flavour to keep things interesting.
Salad
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 large handful spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 mango, peeled and chopped into chunks
- 1 handful of pomegranate seeds
- 2 spring onions, chopped finely
- 1 avocado, peeled and sliced
Dressing
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
Method
- Cook the chicken by cutting into small chunks and adding to a frying pan with a splash of olive oil. Fry for about 10 minutes until it’s no longer pink in the middle and the juices run clear. Season to preference. Leave to cool.
- Roughly chop the spinach and combine with the spring onion, mango, pomegranate and avocado. Add in the cold chicken.
- Mix the lime zest and juice with olive oil and a few chilli flakes, depending on how spicy you like it. Drizzle over the salad.
Based on Nigella's recipe.
Sweet potato chickpea salad (vegan)
(Serves 4)
This salad contains lots of fibre, has a rainbow of colours and is suitable for vegans. The chickpeas provide an excellent source of veggie-based protein. The fibre in the sweet potatoes is good for your digestive health.
Salad
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 handfuls mixed leaves
- 150g beetroot, cut into chunks
- 2 avocados, cut into chunks
- 1 sweet red pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 200g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp flax seeds
Dressing
- Balsamic vinegar
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Turn your oven on to 180°C. Cut up the sweet potato into 1cm chunks, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika. Put on a baking tray.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with paprika. Put on the baking tray and bake alongside the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes. The potatoes should be lightly browned and crispy when cooked.
- Prepare the salad by combining the leaves, chopped beetroot, peppers and tomatoes. Add in the avocado.
- Dress the salad with balsamic and olive oil.
- Leave the potato chunks and chickpeas to cool or add to the salad whilst warm depending on preference. Sprinkle chia and flax seeds on top.
(Own recipe)
Salmon salad with a Mexican twist
(Serves 2)
Salmon is an oily fish. For a healthy diet, recommendations are to eat two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily. The wholegrain tortilla wraps can be substituted for gluten-free tortilla wraps if necessary – making this dish gluten free and coeliac friendly.
Salad
- 2 wholegrain tortilla wraps
- 2 salmon fillets
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 little gem lettuces, broken into leaves
- 1 x 200g can sweetcorn, drained and rinsed
- 300g pack cherry tomatoes cut into halves
- Handful of chopped coriander
Dressing
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
Method
- Heat your oven to 200°C. Cut the tortilla wraps into triangles and drizzle them with oil and ground coriander. Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes until nice and crisp, turning halfway. Leave to cool. Set grill to high temperature.
- Place the salmon on a lined baking tray. Mix the yoghurt with paprika then spoon over the salmon. Put under the grill for 8-10 mins. The fish should be black in places and flake easily into big chunks.
- Prepare the salad while the salmon cooks. Combine the lettuce, sweetcorn, chopped coriander and tomatoes.
- Mix olive oil and lime zest and juice for the dressing. Toss into the salad.
- Serve on a plate, topping with the salmon chunks alongside the tortilla chunks.
Based on a recipe from BBC good food.
Banana ice cream dessert
After a healthy lunch or dinner, try out some of these sugar swaps. Banana ice cream makes a delicious dessert!
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Sources
- US Department of Agriculture (2019): FoodData Central. fdc.nal.usda.gov, accessed 4 June 2020
- Slavin J and Green. Dietary fibre and satiety. British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin 2007. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-3010.2007.00603.x
- A quick guide to the government’s healthy eating guidelines. Public Health England. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, published September 2018
- Dietary fibre. British Nutrition Foundation. www.nutrition.org.uk, last reviewed January 2018
- Chicken. BBC Good Food. www.bbcgoodfood.com, accessed 5 June 2020
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