Salad Season

 Salads can definitely have a place in your diet throughout HA recovery; we just want to make sure there is a source of carbohydrate and fat alongside the protein and veggies [and adequate quantities too!]. Wanting to include lots of colour and flavour in your diet and wanting to choose the salad sometimes is not a bad thing, as long as it's coming from intuition rather than a food rule. It's also important to be mindful of not filling up on too many veggies and this compromising your intake of carbohydrates and fats - which are arguably more important for recovery right now!

Here are some of my fav salad recipes that i've been enjoying recently.  

Mexican Chicken Salad

Serves 2
 
  • 2 X cooked chicken breast
  • 1 X can sweetcorn
  • 1 X bell pepper, diced
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • small bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
  • 2 cups cooked rice

Dressing 

  • 6 X tbsp plain Greek yogurt
  • Juice of one lime
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder

Assembly 

  • Add the rice, chicken, corn, bell pepper, red onion, avocado, and coriander to a large bowl. 
  • Add the Greek yogurt, lime juice, salt, chili powder, cumin and paprika to a bowl and whisk until smooth
  • Pour over the contents of the bowl and toss to combine. Enjoy
 

Bulgur & Mint Salad

I make this dish at least once a week these days as it's so easy to throw together as the base of a salad or on it's own with some feta or other protein source
 
Makes 3-4 servings [or 4-6 if added to other plates]
 
  • 250g dry weight bulgur wheat
  • 1 X stock cube
  • 1 X large cucumber, diced
  • 1 X punnet of pomegranate seeds
  • 1/2 jar of sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • small bunch fresh mint, roughly chopped
  • 3 X tbsp olive oil
  • Juice of 1 X fresh lemon

 

Method 

  • Cook the bulgur wheat as per package instructions with the stock cube
  • Once cooked, add the sundried tomatoes, onion, cucumber and pomegranate
  • Mix through the olive oil, mint and lemon and serve warm or cold
 

Green Grains & Halloumi Salad

Serves 2
 
  • 1.5 cups cooked quinoa or mixed grains [you could also use a microwave pouch of your favourite grains]
  • 1 X courgette
  • 1 X tbsp olive oil
  • 200g halloumi, chopped into chunks
  • a handful of spinach or mixed leaves for serving

Dressing 

  • 2 X tbsp tahini
  • Juice of 1 X lemon
  • 4 X tbsp water
  • 1 small bunch basil
  • 1 X tsp mint

Method 

  • Thinly slice the courgettes and add them to a pan over medium heat with olive oil to grill
  • Add the halloumi and cook until soft
  • In a blender, whizz the ingredients for the dressing until smooth
  • In a bowl, add the mixed leaves, cooked grains and halloumi and toss with the dressing
 
Serve up and enjoy, and this stores well as a lunchbox salad to take to work or for a picnic!