Mediterranean Salad
A salad recipe? Really? Yes, because I know you think salad is boring! 😛 At Life Diet Health we see salad as a plate full of lots of delicious bits, all brought together and suitable as a main or a side. Usually a salad will contain some raw vegetables and often something cooked and served warm. This salad is a mix of those yummy bits in the fridge that you bought thinking you’d use, then forgot about! There’s sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes and pesto, matched with big butter beans, spicy rocket, creamy avocado, juicy tomato and crunchy green beans. Drizzled with a bit of lemon juice and sprinkled with lightly toasted pumpkin seeds. Delicious! 😀 This recipe was inspired from a recent recipe at Mindful Chef. They are a subscription service in the UK which although relatively expensive can save you time and give you great ideas for meals! We’ve found that they are one of the better delivery services but they are only human and humans make errors – which they do quickly and happily rectify, but it can be a bit annoying when you’re trying to follow a recipe! (If you’re in the UK and want to try Mindful Chef, contact me for a discount code)!
How’s your week been? Have you been watching the World Cup? I’m not really a football fan but I did ‘have’ to watch the England game yesterday! 😀 😀 😀 Anyway, if you’re in the UK are you fed up of the hot weather or still enjoying it? We’re loving having barbecues, eating ice-cream, lazy days in the garden and picking fresh berries from the allotment (strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries as well as red and black currants). We’re not loving having to water everything though and it appears our soil has turned ‘hydrophobic‘ – that is that the soil is repelling the water rather than letting it soak in! The water collects on the surface in little pools and refuses to move- even when holes are made with a fork! When we turn the soil over, we’re getting dusty bone dry soil underneath the water! We’re hoping the plants will still grow although several appear to have not come through at all. We’ll keep trying! 😀
I’m sharing this over at Fiesta Friday this week where I am co-hosting (Laurena @ Life Diet Health) with the lovely Antonia @Zoale.com Please pop over and say hello, have a look around and if you have something to share it’s easy to link up (remember to add all three links on your post for a chance to be featured next week). Don’t forget to have a look around, pin, like and comment… there’s so much to see! 😀
Back to the salad… Here’s the recipe! Let me know if you try it as it is or, if you try making it with the suggestions in the tips! Don’t be afraid to comment, like, share, follow 🙂 Thank you! Speak soon.
A hearty flavoursome salad perfect for lazy Summer days.
- 1 teaspoon oil we used coconut
- 1 x 400g tin butter beans drained or chickpeas
- 1 tablespoon green pesto or red pesto if you have it
- 1 teaspoon tomato puree
- Salt to taste we used pink Himalayan
- Ground pepper to taste
- 150g round green beans trimmed and halved
- 6-8 sundried tomatoes chopped preferably in oil
- 5-6 artichoke hearts chopped preferably in oil
- 1 crunchy firm leaved lettuce such as little gem, cos, romaine
- 2 tomatoes sliced
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1 squeeze fresh lemon juice or lime
- 1 handful rocket
- 1 small handful pumpkin seeds dry toasted pine nuts or sesame seeds also work
Heat the oil in a medium sized frying pan (or wok pan) and add the butter beans. Cook for a minute then stir in the pesto, tomato puree, salt and pepper.
Par boil the green beans for three minutes, then drain (you can cook them in boiling water in the microwave, in a pan or alternatively steam them). Add them to the pan with the butter beans.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes, gently stir through and turn the heat off.
Arrange the lettuce on a plate and add tomato and avocado slices to the lettuce - squeeze lemon over the avocado then throw the rocket over the plate, and top with the warm bean mix. Sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
- Assemble the salad when you are ready to eat to ensure the lettuce and rocket stay crunchy.
- Try using different beans such as borlotti beans or haricot beans.
- Instead of pesto and tomato puree use barbecue relish.
- Vary the amount of sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes or add marinated aubergine, mushrooms or olives.
- Serve as a main for one person, a generous side for two people or as appetisers (fill the lettuce with the bean mixture).
- Instead of green beans, use strips of char-grilled courgettes.
- Add a sprinkling of cajun or chili if you like things a bit spicy!
- Store any left over salad in the fridge for one day (the bean mixture will last for 3 days in the fridge).
- Can be served cold.
