I’ve been so busy recently I feel like I’ve really slowed down on my food posts! So I thought I’d hit you up with three recipes to make up for it!

Salad jars have been around for a while but they are still one of my favourite, most delicious ways to eat well while you are ‘on the go’. Also you can make them in advance and take them to the office, in the car on a picnic and so on. If you don’t have jars obviously these are delicious salads that can be eaten straight away or in any container really!!

I tried to include three recipes which are quite different from one another so that you get a good variation!

If you are doing any of these for meal prep just be mindful of what can go off and what can go soggy (i.e prawns and avocado are best prepared fresh). Also I would leave the dressing to one side if you are going to be eating it more than a day later. Each of the recipes are measured for individual portions….just multiply the ingredients according to how many meals you want to make.

Please check the notes for some different options if you have specific dietary requirements 🙂

Prawn, watermelon, feta and mint with an ACV dressing

You will need:

6-8 cooked prawns, tails off and chopped into big chunks

30 – 50g Goats Feta, cubed

1 cup of watermelon, chopped

6 – 12 sprigs of mint

1/4 red onion, finely sliced and soaked in cold water

1/2 a small lebanese cucumber, chopped into big cubes

2-3 cos lettuce leaves roughly chopped

1/2 an avocado, sliced into big chunks

Dressing:

1 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp olive oil

zest of 1/4 lemon

2 tsp of Apple Cider Vinegar

Method:

• Start by making the dressing. Mix all of the ingredients into a bowl or high-speed blender. I blend mine as I find it creates a better consistency.
• If you are eating this the following day place the dressing into the bottom of the jar (otherwise leave to one side until the salad is ready to be dressed, the same goes if you are using a container as you don’t want to distribute the salad dressing all over the ingredients until you are ready to eat it!)
• I layered my salad in this order: cucumber, watermelon, lettuce, red onion, mint, black beans, prawns, feta, avocado.
• When you are ready to eat it give it a good shake and eat straight from the jar or in a bowl.

Notes:

• I would prepare the avocado on the day I was eating this and make sure the prawns are fresh.
• If you don’t eat seafood this is a lovely fresh salad without the prawns. You could add in any other vegetables for example spiralised courgette/zucchini would work really well.

Salmon, kelp noodle, edamame with a tamari sesame dressing

You will need:

75g hot smoked salmon

1/4 cup of edamame beans seasoned with chilli flakes and a sprinkling of salt

3-4 cos lettuce leaves, roughly chopped

1/2 carrot, grated or spiralised

1/2 a small lebanese cucumber

1/4 avocado

1/4 cup of kelp noodles

Nori squares, cut into slices

Sesame oil

Tamari

Chilli Flakes

Sesame seeds

Dressing:

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of tamari

1/2 tbsp sesame oil

grated ginger (1 tsp)

1/2 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp hot water

Method:

• Start by dressing the kelp noodles. Add them into a bowl with 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 tsp tamari, sprinkling of chilli flakes and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Leave to one side.
• Next make the dressing. Add all of the ingredients into a bowl or high speed blender to combine. I use a blender for best results.
• Either add the dressing into the bottom of the jar or leave to one side (see above recipe for details on this)
• I layered my salad in this order: cucumber, lettuce, carrot, kelp noodles, salmon, edamame, avocado, nori

Notes:

• I would prepare the avocado on the day I was eating this to ensure it is still nice and fresh.
• You can also use cooked salmon fillets or smoked salmon broken into pieces instead of hot smoked salmon.
• Kelp noodles are renowned for having high amounts of iodine and for the average person and while this is fine for the average person they should be enjoyed in moderation especially if you experience thyroid problems.
• If you are looking for a different noodle you should try mung bean fettuccine or edamame noodles – dress them as the recipes states.
• I would happily eat this salad the next day or the day after. In the same respect this is a good one to make a large batch of and enjoy over 2-3 days if you like it.
• This tamari dressing is my favourite…I always make extra to dunk my crudités into and to have on hand in the fridge when I’m looking for a creamy japanese flavour.
• If you don’t eat salmon you could try tofu in here which would be delicious.

Roasted Beetroot, Freekeh and pomegranate salad with a garlic and herb dressing

You will need:

1 1/2 cooked beetroot (I roast mine for 45 minutes in tin foil in the oven)

1/4 cup of freekeh

1/2 cup of pomegranate

1/4 red onion, finely sliced and soaked in cold water

1/2 an avocado

pepitas

1/2 cup of parsley, chopped

1/2 cup of coriander, chopped

Dressing:

1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)

1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 lemon, squeezed

2 tbsp walnuts

2 tbsp hot water

2 tbsp olive oil

rough handful of dill

Method:

• Start by making the dressing. Combine all of the ingredients into a high speed blender and blend. If you are not a fan of garlic feel free to omit (as it is quite potent).
• Either add the dressing into the bottom of the jar or leave to one side (see the first recipe for details on this)
• I layered my salad in this order: beetroot, parsley, coriander, fresh, pomegranate, avocado, pepitas

Notes:

• Prepare the avocado fresh on the day you are eating this.
• If you are gluten free try using quinoa or 1/2 cup of roasted sweet potato instead of Freekeh.
• If you can’t get hold of Freekeh you can use brown rice instead
• This would also be delicious with other roasted vegetables such as carrots, brussel sprouts, onion, garlic and so on

I hope you enjoy these recipes! If you have any feedback or comments I would love to hear from you and if you would like to see more please let me know x x x

**All medical opinion is provided and endorsed by DR. Trevor Tingate a practicing GP and health expert based in Sydney.