Fresh Summer Salad

Gone are the days where a salad is a bit of iceberg lettuce with tomato and a token slice of cucumber.

Personally I love a salad which mixes sweet and savoury as I find it keeps it interesting.

I eat this salad a lot for lunch or as a side salad to a main dish when I have people over.  It keeps well in the fridge so I make two days worth at a time to save prep time.  If doing this you might want to leave the apple cider vinegar until serving as it will make the spinach soggy otherwise.

Fresh Summer Salad

1 x handful of spinach
1/2 x green apple (Granny smith is my go to as it adds a nice tang)
1/2 x carrot
1/2 x avocado
1/4 x pomegranate
1/4 x beetroot
1/4 x tin chickpeas
1 x tablespoon of apple cider vingegar

Optional topping of tofu or prawns if you are using as lunch rather than a side salad.

1. De-seed pomegranate.  Top tip is to bash the skin with a wooden spoon prior to cutting as this will loosen the seeds.  Also the more ripe the pomegranate the easier it is to de-seed.

2. Grate the beetroot and carrot.

3. Cut apple and avocado into chunks.

4. Open tin of chickpeas and rinse with cold water.

4. Add all ingredients on top of spinach and drizzle (oh yeah) apple cider vinegar over the salad just before serving.

Bored of sandwiches…Let me assist!

One really easy way to control what you eat is by preparing your own food.

It also makes it easier to resist temptation to eat something unhealthy when you are starving if you have something ready to go.

Ditch the big fat sandwich and crisps for lunch and try these instead.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Preparation time – 10 minutes (so you can’t even make the excuse that you are too busy)
Makes – 4 (I would eat all 4 as one lunch as I am a fatty and don’t think it is possible to be too full on healthy food)

Ingredients:

4 x Spring roll wrappers
1 x avocado
1 x packet of tofu (or try prawns if you are tofu opposed)
1 x carrot
1 x beetroot
1 x handful of spinach

Method to the madness:

1. Grate or slice the carrots and beetroot.  Slice the avocado and tofu.

2. Pour warm water on a plate.  Take one roll wrapper and soak until moist (good word) – about 10 seconds.

3. Lay your wrapper on a chopping board and layer your spinach, then avocado, then tofu and carrot and beetroot on to the wrapper.

4. Fold the edges and wrap like you would a fajita.

5. Dip into soy sauce and eat in a park (this part is necessary)

Top tip – If you are making for lunch I recommend double wrapping them with another spring roll wrapper and then wrap individually in baking paper so they do not stick together and break open.

A few people have contacted me saying they are struggling to find the spring roll wrappers in their local supermarket.  Try a health food store or bulk buy here: