Unbeleafable

As you might have guessed by my awfully punny title, this post is all about salad. Now up until about two years ago, my reaction to "we're having salad for lunch!" was this:

I just found them so bland and boring and would have much rather eaten something rich and/or cheesy.

I'm not entirely sure when my opinion on salad changed but definitely in the last year or so it's one of my favourite lunches, and occasionally as a guilt-free midnight snack - but I totally get why some people would still see them as plain.

I wanted to post an update just showing the real variety of salads you can make from just a basic tupperware box of lettuce leaves, and maybe to try and win over a few of my veggie-phobic friends. Salads don't have to be boring!

 

I almost always have a tupperware box of lettuce leaves on the go - this week I have a sweet salad mix, some spinach, and some rocket leaves. Spinach is a great source of iron, particularly in a vegetarian diet, and you can add rocket (or arugula) leaves to almost anything: pizza; pasta; jacket potatoes; inside a sandwich. It all works. I find keeping my lettuce leaves in an airtight container really helps prolong the shelf life, and I'll be eating salads well into next week.

 

At this point what you add to your salad is totally up to you. From the food above you genuinely could make so many different variations: with the cucumber and feta you've got a simple greek salad; add the pepper, quorn chicken and thai dressing and you've got sweet chilli chicken. Don't like sweetcorn? Have grated carrot instead, or make your own dressing with a small splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Something I really enjoyed last summer was a strawberry salad, with spinach and feta cheese, but you can add whatever you want.

One of my favourite salad staples is a twist on an English favourite: Nandos. I simply add any vegetables I can find in the kitchen (today it was peppers, cucumber and sweetcorn) to a bowlful of salad, top with Quorn roast chicken pieces and drizzle over some Nando's Peri Peri sauce. If I have some I add parmesan too, and a full bowl won't even top 100 calories. It's not the same as eating a Nandos, but it's far cheaper and healthier too. Depending on how many different vegetables you use you can find yourself easily getting your 5 a day in just one bowl.

 Salad doesn't have to be bland if you're willing to experiment, and it's far more filling than you'd think - go ahead and try my Nandos Salad and let me know in the comments what you think of it!