With so many people in the UK not even close to meeting their daily intake needs of fresh fruit and vegetables we were inspired to put together some creative salad recipes to help people who fit that category and enjoy this summertime.

All of our salad recipes below contain a good variety of different ingredients, some of which you may have never enjoyed in this way before. We suggest giving them all a go and you will soon begin to notice how easy and tasty salads made in this way can be.

1) Simple Strawberry Salad

Yield: Serves 1

Ingredients: (organic where possible)

• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup strawberries (tops removed and sliced)
• 1 apple (sliced)
• ½ cup cashews (roughly chopped)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. Mix all fresh ingredients together.
2. Drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar and enjoy on it’s own or as a healthy side dish. Adding salt and pepper if desired.

Nutritional Information Per Entire Dish:

Carbohydrate - 81.52 g

Protein - 17.97 g

Total lipid (fat) - 68.74 g

Iron, Fe - 8.14 mg

Calcium, Ca - 150 mg 

2) Roasted Cauliflower And Pomegranate Salad

Yield: Serves 4

Salad Ingredients: (organic where possible)

• 1 large cauliflower (chopped into small pieces)
• 2 aubergine (chopped into small pieces)
• 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
• avocado oil
• 1 tin BPA free lentils (rinsed // drained) or 1 cup fresh lentils (rinsed // boiled)
• fresh coriander (finely chopped // stems removed)
• 1 pomegranate (seeds scraped out)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons avocado oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons tahini paste
• 1 garlic clove (crushed // peeled // finely chopped)

Instructions:

1. Spread a little avocado oil on a baking tray. Preheat the oven at the same time to 200 degrees centigrade.
2. Place the aubergine and cauliflower on the tray and drizzle a little more avocado oil on top. Oven bake for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are golden brown.
3. Mix the dressing and leave to one side.
4. Mix the cauliflower, aubergine, lentils, pomegranate together in salad serving bowl. If using fresh lentils, allow them to cool down fully before mixing with your vegetables.
5. Top with fresh coriander and the salad dressing, giving it a good mix before serving and enjoying. Adding salt and pepper if desired.

Nutritional Information Per Entire Dish:

Carbohydrate - 257.65 g

Protein - 80.91 g

Total lipid (fat) - 133 g

Iron, Fe - 23.65 mg

Calcium, Ca - 511 mg

3) Blackbean And Butternut Spicy Salad

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients: (organic where possible)

• 4 cups spinach (washed // drained // chopped thinly)
• 1 large butternut (peeled // chopped into cubes)
• 1 tin blackbeans (rinsed // drained)
• 1 teaspoon paprika ground spice
• avocado oil

Instructions:

1. Boil the butternut and set aside to cool once done.
2. Whilst cooling the butternut, gently wilt the spinach in a pan with a drizzle of avocado oil.
3. Now add all the ingredients to the butternut in a salad serving bowl and give it a good mix before enjoying. Adding salt and pepper if desired.

Nutritional Information Per Meal:

Carbohydrate - 82.19 g

Protein - 40.62 g

Total lipid (fat) - 34.38  g

Iron, Fe -29.59  mg

Calcium, Ca -  1151 mg

4) Beetroot And Kale Salad

Yield: 1 meal

Salad Ingredients: (organic where possible)

• 2 carrots (washed // grated)
• 3 medium sized beetroot (washed // peeled // chopped into cubes // cooked)
• 4 cups kale (washed // drained // spine removed // chopped into thin slices)
• sunflower seeds
• 2 cups quinoa (rinsed // drained // cooked)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons avocado oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons tahini paste
• 1 garlic clove (crushed // peeled // finely chopped)

Instructions:

1. If you are not sure how to cook beetroot, simply boil it once peeled and chopped, until it is soft. With enough water to cover the surface of the amount of beetroot in the pan.
2. Then add all the salad ingredients to a salad serving bowl.
3. Make the dressing in a separate bowl by adding all the ingredients together.
4. Serve the salad with a little dressing drizzled on top. Adding salt and pepper if desired.

Nutritional Information Per Meal:

Carbohydrate - 157.34 g

Protein - 44.49 g

Total lipid (fat) - 100.92 g

Iron, Fe - 15.06 mg

Calcium, Ca - 720 mg 

5) Chickpea And Mixed Greens Salad

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients: (organic where possible)

• 4 cups of mixed green lettuce (washed // drained)
• 2 avocados (peeled // seed removed // sliced)
• 1 tin chickpeas (rinsed // drained)
• 6 tablespoons fenugreek sprouts
• 6 tablespoons beetroot microgreens
• half a cucumber (rinsed // sliced)
• extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a salad serving bowl. Adding salt and pepper if desired. Can be enjoyed as is without additional dressings due to the buttery creaminess of the avocado and the hint of olive in the olive oil.

Nutritional Information Per Meal:

Carbohydrate - 148.33 g

Protein - 46.72 g

Total lipid (fat) - 70.82  g

Iron, Fe - 30.86 mg

Calcium, Ca - 393  mg

Enjoy Greens That Work For You

The above salad recipes are great when enjoyed as a side dish with a protein. Also, don’t be shy to remove an ingredient you are not a fan of and swap in something else you prefer. Eating healthy shouldn’t be a chore! But just like stepping outside of your comfort zone in the gym is a must when it comes to achieving your fitness goals, try applying this logic to food also, especially salads and green leafy foods. Life can get so mundane when we eat the same foods day in and day out, so we hope these 5 simple and healthy salad recipes will be enjoyed by you and help you on your way out your ‘food’ comfort zone.