Week 20 - a Week's worth of Salads!

Oh yes, my Salad Fetish has returned, and I've found some goodies lately.  Now they may not all be your cuppa tea but I really hope you find one out of all these to give a go.  Raw Food Rocks!  In this season of yucky sickness and flus and germs, raw food is sooooo important to boost your immunity, pump your body full of needed vitamins and minerals and give your gut a good cleanse so it works better. 


DAY 1:  Adzuki Bean salad (thanks to Gillian Mc Keith)

1 400g tin of organic adzuki beans (a jap bean that has great healing qualities and has the least amount of calories, with the most amount of nutrients - minerals & B vits - I get mine in the Organics shop)
1/2 red onion diced finely
1 125g tin of corn kernels
1 handful of parsley chopped
2 tbsp cider vinegar or lemon juice
Add a little olive oil and S & P to taste.

OK, my kids would not eat this but I enjoyed it as it really was a "meaty" salad.  I served it with lamb chops for my dinner (instead of rice) and then had the rest for lunch the next day - very filling.  I could not eat this every day, but really enjoyed something a little different.


Day 2 - Beetroot & Apple Salad (with Grilled Haloumi) - from "Delish" on 7two

1 beetroot (simmered in boiling water till tender - about 40 mins, then sliced into batons;  I'm sure you could use tinned)
1 apple (unpeeled, sliced into batons)
1 handful of parsley, chopped
1/2 cup whole almonds toasted (in a tbsp of s'flower oil in pan)
1/4 cup currants (I used chopped cranberries) - optional in my opinion.
S & P
juice from 1/2 a lemon and olive oil

Mix all together and serve with freshly grilled haloumi (we used 1/2 of a pkt for 2 people).  I cannot tell you how heavenly this salad was - I wanted to eat it allllllll day.  I served this with steak and it was a divine meal.  I finished the rest of it the next day for lunch and it still tasted terrific (with more freshly grilled haloumi). 


Day 3:  Orange and Fennel Salad (thanks to Jamie Oliver)

1 bulb of fennel (very thinly sliced - I used a V-slicer)
2 oranges segmented (very fiddly but worth it if you cut them out between the pithy bits)
1 handful of parsley (boy, you'd want a lot of parsley with all these recipes)
1/2 red onion, very finely sliced
dressed with S & P & olive oil
apple slithers, toasted almonds - OPTIONAL EXTRAS.

This is a very refreshing salad and the sweetness of the orange really compliments the aniseed of the fennel.  I squeeze out the juice of the leftover orange carcass to add to the dressing too.  So simple, but so effective.  Serve with any grilled meat or roast chicken (which is what I had it with).


Day 4:  Brocolli Salad 

1 head of brocolli (cut into florets and lightly steamed or m-waved for 2 mins, still needs to be crunchy) 
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 red onion (finely diced)
2 rashers of bacon (fried till crisp)
Dressing: 1/2 cup of mayo, 2 tbsp vinegar, 2 tbsp honey OR traditional viniagrette (olive oil & lemon juice, tsp mustard, tbsp honey, S & P)

This definately isn't the healthiest of salads but it's an oldie and a goodie in my book!  Not one you'd have every day but nice for a change - the crispness of the brocolli, with the sweetness of the raisins and the saltiness of bacon, is too great a combination to miss out on.


Day 5:  Salad Sushi 

I love a bit of sushi, but I really struggle with how gluggy the rice is and just hate the thought of how hard it must be to digest being so sticky and starchy.  So this is my "better" option:

Instead of rice I use mashed avo with lemon juice, seasoning and a tbsp of horseradish cream (or sweet chilli sauce) spread all over the sushi sheet.  Then, along the centre, goes strips of julienne carrot, cucumber, and capsicum and add some ribbons of smoked salmon, sunflower sprouts (or bean shoots) and coriander leaves.  It gets rolled up as normal but just sliced in 2.  It doesn't need soy sauce either as there is enough flavour in the avo mash.  I saw this done on a raw food dvd (minus the salmon of course), and was skeptical that it would taste as good as normal sushi - but it was great - very satisfying and tasty.


Day 6 - Moroccan Carrot Salad

2 cups shredded carrot
1/3 cup raisins
1 cup chopped oranges
1/2 cup sliced shallots
1/3 cup chopped coriander
Dressing:  1/4 cup olive oil, 1/8 cup lemon juice, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp cumin, pinch cayenne or paprika, salt.

I know this seems to be a recurring theme:  but it really is the season for oranges, and good flavour combination means that sweetness really enhances the goodness of these salads.

Day 7 - Salad in a Smoothee 

1/2 avo
1 banana
1 cup frozen berries
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 cups of cold filtered water
1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1 tbsp cacoa powder
1 tbsp raw honey

Yummy - the avo adds real smoothness and there's plenty of goodness in this with the berries and spinach.  So many things you can do with these recipe - a cup of grated carrot would be yummy too or chopped orange - delicious and so very nutritious.....

I will be interested in hearing if anyone tries any of the above.  Sorry it took so long to finish but will try and blog again a bit sooner!