Healthy Eating: Food and Health with Healthy Eating Recipes by Lucy Hyland at Food For Living

Thursday 30th

Check out my article in todays Cork Independent for the many ways you can create variety with your salads over the summer:

http://corkindependent.com/stories/item/2646/2011-26/Food-for-Living—Pimp-up-your-salads

Pimp up your salads

Last week I talked about the dressings and just how easy it was to create a different dressing every day, if you wanted to! Once you have the basic formula, you can create any taste or flavour you want. I also noticed, however, that many people bring the same veggies and make up the same salads everyday for work. Again, variety is the spice of life so here are some ideas to create a range of salads.

First remember that Irish grocery stores and markets are filled with a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, which can either be eaten raw or cooked for your salads. Try something new each month, for example, radishes or kohlrabi can provide a great crisp and flavour. You can also create variety by grating one day, thinly slicing or roasting and steaming the next. Remember that fruit is also great in salads, with grated apples, sliced pears, segments of orange or grapes being very tasty.

If you are going to have your salad as your whole meal, remember to add some of protein. Tinned or fresh fish, lean meats such as leftover chicken or beans or lentils provide a perfect start. You can also add some grains to complete the meal, such as left over brown rice and pasta, or roasted buckwheat or quinoa.

To create more difference, try different herbs or spices each day, the dried type keeping the cupboard for months.

Carrot, chickpea and toasted cashew salad

60 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 medium carrots, washed and grated
Half a bunch of coriander
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
60 g of cashews (i.e. a handful)
400 g tin of chickpeas, well washed and drained
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the grated carrots in a bowl. Wash coriander, and roughly chop and add to the bowl.
Dry roast cumin seeds in a fry pan for a few minutes on a low heat, until they begin to smell. Remove from heat, and add whole or grind in a grinder or pestle and mortar and add to bowl.
With the same fry pan, dry roast cashews for a few minutes to just heat them slightly. Roughly chop and add to the bowl. Make dressing with Olive oil and the juice of the lemon, and stir through salad. Season with salt and pepper.

Wheat free, gluten free, sugar free and dairy free