This is just the kind of early summer recipe I adore since it straddles easily those days that vacillate between being very warm and deceptively chilly – and we’ve had a few of those recently. I am looking straight down the lens at summer at the moment and currently very much enjoying this kind of food.
Yes, it’s a salad, but the hot-spiced chickpeas give this recipe a delicious warm twist. It contains fruit, veggies, nuts and feta to provide you body with a well-balanced, nutritious meal.
If you wish to make it a vegan meal, replace the feta with some tofu (or simply leave it out).
SUMMER GLOW SALAD
Ingredients
METRIC/US
1 pear, peeled, cored and chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped (I used Pink Lady)
2 tbsp lemon juice
low-fat cooking spray or mist
400 g/14 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
40 g/generous ¼ cup whole almonds
¼ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
½ tsp ground cumin
80 g/3 oz mixed salad leaves
2 cooked beetroot/beets (vacuum-packed not in vinegar), chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper
50 g/2 oz light feta cheese, crumbled
Method
- Toss the pear and apple in half of the lemon juice and set aside.
- Spritz a frying pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist, heat, add the chick peas and cook over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the almonds, turmeric, chilli flakes and cumin, mixing well. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes, stirring often and then allow to cool.
- Share the salad leaves, beetroot/beets and chickpea mixture between two (or more) serving plates. Scatter the pear and apple chunks on top.
- Mix the oil with the remaining lemon juice, mustard and salt and pepper to taste to make a dressing. Drizzle over the salads.
- Serve sprinkled with the crumbled feta cheese.
SERVES 2
WLS PORTION: ½
V suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans (see intro)
CALORIES PER PORTION: 463
PROTEIN: 21 g
CARBOHYDRATE: 39.5 g
FAT: 24.2 g
Image courtesy of http://www.beautifulcountrybeautifulfruit.com