Summer is the best season for healthy, fresh salad, packed full of yummy ingredients.
Adding ingredients like nuts to your meals is a great way to up the protein and healthy fat content, both essential when trying to lose weight and follow a healthy eating plan.
There is a common misconception when it comes to salads that you need to include meat based sources of protein to make a filling meal.
While lean meat is a great addition to your leafy greens, other non-meat sources of protein can be just as good. Legumes like chickpeas and kidney beans and raw, unsalted nuts, like walnuts are all fantastic additions to your salad bowl.
Walnuts in particular are being touted as one of the new ‘super foods’ due to all the health benefits that are squeezed into this nifty nut.
Scientists have recently found that adding as little as 7 nuts a day to your diet can help lower cholesterol and ward of disease, due to the high levels of vitamin E and the powerful antioxidant polyphenol. All the more reason to serve up this delish salad on a regular basis!
This super quick, super fresh salad combines iron rich baby spinach and creamy, fatty acid rich avocado with crunchy walnuts and sweet mango.
This mish-mash of flavours is an absolute winner when it comes to taste and texture as well as being a taking out a medal in the low calorie, low fat eating stakes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts (skin on)
- 1 cup baby spinach leaves
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 1/2 mango, diced
- 1/4 red onion, finely sliced
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C
- Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper and spread nuts evenly across tray
- Toast nuts for approx 5 min till golden in colour
- Roughly chop nuts so that they end up in bite sized pieces
- Combine spinach, red onion, avocado, mango and walnuts in a large salad bowl
- In a small jar or cup, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and mustard
- Drizzle dressing over salad and serve immediately
Makes 6 servings – Cal per serve – 145
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