Salads are a fantastic way to get lots of lovely plants into your day. With any meal, it’s important to get the right balance of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) so you feel satisfied and sustained until the next time you eat – a big bowl of lettuce just isn’t going to cut it! So here is my rough guide to build your own balanced salad, with ideas for leafy greens, colourful plants, protein and healthy fats . Feel free to play around with this to find what you like!
Leafy greens (1/2 plate):
- Rocket
- Spinach
- Kale (massage with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice to soften)
- Watercress
- Salad leaves
Add some colour – the more variety the better (1/3 – 1/2 plate):
- Red peppers
- Yellow peppers
- Beetroot
- Sweetcorn
- Sweet potatoes
- Squash
- Tomatoes
- Kimchee / sauerkraut
- Radishes
- Black garlic
- Roasted aubergines
- Grated carrot
- Red cabbage
Add your protein (palm-sized portion):
- Pulses (e.g. lentils)
- Beans (e.g. black beans, butter beans, chickpeas, edamame)
- Hummus
- Tofu
- Feta
- Cottage cheese
- Oily fish (mackerel, salmon, anchovies, sardines, herring, trout)
- Chicken
Healthy fats (thumb-sized portion):
- Olive oil
- Olives
- 1/2 avocado
- Avocado oil
- Flaxseed oil
- Seeds (e.g. pumpkin, sunflower, flaxseeds, sesame)
- Nuts (e.g. walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, cashews)
- Tahini
