Low Calorie/ High GI Carrot and Apple Salad

This salad originated in the High Rustenburg Health Hydro and is packed with low calorie/high GI ingredients. The sweetness of the fruit makes it delicious with any spicy food. It’s also a great addition to take along to a barbecue – no one else will have anything like it, children love it, and it’s delicious with sausages. Of course it’s also ideal for a ladies luncheon along with poached chicken or fish. Enjoy.

Serves 8.

4 carrots
2 bananas
2 apples
4 stalks celery
2 cups thinly shredded iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup yoghurt
1 Tablespoon honey
3 Tablespoons lemon juice

1. Grate apples, carrots and celery. Using the grate attachment on a food processor makes short work of this.
2. Place in a large flat salad bowl or platter. Mix in sliced bananas. Toss with lemon juice until mixture is well coated to prevent the apples and bananas going brown. Mix in lettuce.
3. Add honey to yoghurt. Drizzle over salad to taste. Toss and serve.
4. This salad does not keep well. Eat immediately.

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Lentil, Smoked Salmon and Preserved Lemon Salad

A lovely light lunch for warm spring days, a starter for dinner or even a side salad with chicken or fish. This is easy and quick to throw together so add to your standard repertoire. You may want to take a page out of my daughter, Bianca’s, book and make your own smoked salmon. Here is the link to her blog outlining how to do this.

Serves 2 for lunch or 4 as a side salad.

1 cup green puy lentils, boiled till tender
1/2 preserved lemon, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3 Tablespoons finely chopped mint
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 handfuls baby rocket
125g(4oz) smoked salmon, finely sliced
lemon juice & olive oil to dress

1. Mix drained lentils with salt and pepper and remaining ingredients excluding salmon in a large bowl.
2. Toss everything together and dress to taste with lemon juice and olive oil.
3. Serve as a side salad or add finely sliced salmon for a light lunch.

Rocket, Chickpea and Pancetta Salad

This is one of my favourite salads in recent times – it goes beautifully with grilled white fish, a barbecue and is delicious on its own as well.  The cannellini beans add balance to the peppery rocket and hint of chilli whilst the pancetta adds crunch. The feta rounds it all off.  The salad keeps overnight and the leftovers make a delicious lunch the next day.

Note: This salad is a little salty from the feta and pancetta so be careful not to add salt – if the salad is too salty for you replace the feta with ricotta.  You can replace the pancetta with very thinly sliced bacon in times when the flat pancetta is difficult to find.

Serves 6-8.

1 long red chilli, finely chopped or 1 teaspoon sambal oelek
200g flat pancetta, thinly sliced into strips
2x340g cans of cannellini beans, drained
200g rocket leaves
200g Danish feta or ricotta
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil

1. Layer rocket in a large flat salad bowl or plate.
2. Combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, Dijon mustard and lemon juice in a cup and mix well with a fork or teaspoon to combine.
3. Cook chilli or sambal oelek in 1 tablespoon olive oil in medium sized frying pan over medium heat.  Add pancetta slices in a single layer and fry till crisp. Remove and drain on paper towel when done.
4. Add drained chick peas to frying pan, reduce heat and cook stirring frequently until chick peas are heated through.
5. Sprinkle warm chick peas over rocket. Drizzle with mustard dressing. Top with crumbled pancetta and top with crumbled feta or ricotta.
6. Serve. Yum!!!

Zucchini and Basil Salad

A fresh healthy salad with a new way to use zucchini (courgettes). It has everything – currants for sweetness and texture, paprika, spring onions and garlic for spice, and zucchini which wears flavours so well. Enjoy.

Serves 8.

70g currants soaked overnight in 80ml verjuice
8 zucchini cut lengthways into 4mm slices
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
125ml olive oil
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 ml Spanish smoked paprika
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 spring onions, thinly sliced

1. Combine olive oil, paprika and garlic. Divide in two.
2. Stir vinegar, spring onions, currants, and any remaining verjuice into one half of olive oil mixture
3. Brush zucchini with remaining half of olive oil mixture.
4. Grill zucchini on high in a single layer for two minutes on each side until golden.
5. Layer grilled zucchini in a dish. Scatter with basil .
6. Drizzle currant and spring onion dressing over zucchini.

Cannellini Bean and Beetroot Salad – Ideal for a Barbecue

Low GI beetroot and cannellini beans are freshened up with crunchy snow peas and spicy rocket. The smooth avocado, tasty feta and crunch walnuts add textural elements. Easy to make with pantry ingredients and different from the usual green salad, this is an excellent accompaniment to any barbecued meat. The salad keeps well with leftovers delicious the next day.

Serves 4-6.

Large handful baby rocket leaves
50g(2oz) snowpeas, topped and finely shredded
1x1lb can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1x1lb can baby beetroot, drained, cut into wedges
1 avocado, peeled and cut into generous chunks
100g (4oz) Danish Feta
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tablespoons olive oil whisked with 1 Tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

1. Place rocket, snow peas and cannellini beans in the bottom of a large shallow salad bowl.
2. Top with beetroot and avocado.
3. Drizzle over olive oil/balsamic dressing.
4. Dot with crumbled feta and walnuts.
5. Serve.

Chicken Pasta Salad with Chilli Lime Dressing for those Hot Summer Days

This is a light healthy meal in one dish that serves equally well for lunch, a light dinner or a picnic. Leftovers are perfect for school lunch boxes. Using a bought barbecue chicken saves time.

Serves 4-6

3-4 cups (300g) spiral pasta
1 cooked chicken, broken into bite size pieces
½ red capsicum, finely diced
125g (4 ounces) button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, grated
1 Tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 Tablespoon basil, chopped
1 small oak lettuce
¼ cup grated parmesan

Dressing (mix together):
2 teaspoons sambal oelek chilli paste
1 clove crushed garlic
2 Tablespoons lime juice
¼ cup olive oil

1. Boil pasta following packet instructions until just tender. Drain and cool.
2. Arrange lettuce in a shallow serving dish.
3. Add cooled pasta and remaining salad ingredients excluding parmesan.
4. Toss with half the dressing.
5. Sprinkle with parmesan and remaining dressing.

Jen’s Green Salad with a Twist

A curry dressing with the addition of lychees, mandarin segments and toasted almonds adds flair. The butter lettuce and english spinach combo of greens work best. The salad looks spectacular in a large shallow bowl or a large flat plate. It tastes wonderful with ham, a barbeque or a quiche. Eat the same day.

Serves 6 as a single salad or up to 12 if combining with 2-3 other salads.

1½ butter lettuces
1 bunch English spinach or 2 handfuls baby spinach loose leaves
1 avocado, sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice
1x484g tin lychees, halved
1x340g tin mandarins
1 punnet cherry or mini roma tomatoes
2 lebanese cucumbers, optional
½ cup toasted slivered almonds

1. Layer butter lettuce in a large shallow bowl
2. Place spinach leaves in the centre of bowl
3. Dot with avocado, lychees, mandarins, tomatoes and cucumber if using
4. Pour dressing over just before serving. Top with toasted almonds

Curry Dressing – Mix well:
¼ cup(60ml) olive oil
30ml brown vinegar
1 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons spring onions, chopped
1 teaspoon soya sauce
1 teaspoon curry powder

Cabbage Salad with a Soya Dressing and Dukkah Topping

This is an unusual salad that works really well,  particularly with Ham. It is important that the cabbage is really finely sliced. The topping and the dressing are enough for a whole cabbage or 16 – 24 people. Make the topping and dressing at least the day before as they need to be cooled before use and do keep for two weeks. Incidentally the topping is delicious as a snack on its own or used as a Dukkah.

Serves 6-8 depending on total number of salads served.

¼ green cabbage

Topping
½ cup slivered almonds or pine nuts
½ cup sesame seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
1x30g packet Mamee Noodles,BarBQ flavour, crushed. See Note.

Dressing Simmer for 2 minutes. Cool.
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup brown vinegar
¼ cup soya sauce
¼ cup sugar

1. Toast almonds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds on 120°C until brown, checking frequently.
2. Cool and add crushed noodles – store in an airtight container like a Tupperware until required.
3. Slice cabbage very finely and place in large shallow bowl.
4. Toss with a quarter of the dressing once it has cooled.
5. Sprinkle with a quarter of the nut/seed mixture just before serving.

Note: Mamee Noodles are a fried noodle snack for school lunch boxes found at most supermarkets. If substituting instant cup-o-noodles, then crush, sprinkle with paprika and bake with rest of topping ingredients. It’s strange but a great addition for texture. Of course you can omit this ingredient.

 

Thai Pasta Salad is a Perfect Match with Christmas Ham

Chilli, lime juice, mint, basil and fresh coriander – A spicy salad that goes beautifully with ham or can stand on its own if you are a vegetarian.  Serve cold. It literally takes minutes to make, goes far and keeps in the fridge for 2 to three days – a fabulous standby over a few days during the festive season. 

Serves 8 -12 depending on total number salads

500g spaghetti

Dressing
¾ cup olive oil
1/3 cup nam pla (fish sauce)
2 tablespoons Kecap Manis (sweet Indonesian soya sauce)
juice of 2 limes
3-4 red birdseye chillies, finely chopped or use 2 long red chillies if you prefer a milder flavour
½ bunch each of fresh mint, basil and coriander

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water according to packet instructions until al dente.
2. Drain and refresh under cold water and drain again.
3. Process all the dressing ingredients and toss through the pasta.
4. Salad can be kept several days in the refrigerator.

Tuna Salad – Quick and Easy for a Light Lunch or Supper

Use a quality canned tuna like Sirena and, with the simple ingredients and fresh flavours, you can’t go wrong. This version of a Tuna salad takes minutes to put together, is really healthy and will be loved by the whole family.

Serves 4

125g baby English spinach leaves
1x375g tin cannellini beans
1x384g tin Sirena tuna in brine, drained
1 lebanese cucumber, sliced into wedges
3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1. Layer baby spinach in a shallow salad dish
2. Add remaining salad ingredients
3. Combine oil and lemon and spoon over the top of the salad
4. Grind over some black pepper and serve with crusty bread

Liz’s Waldorf Salad with a Difference

The addition of  banana, raisins, canned peaches and a yoghurt dressing makes this a little different from the normal Waldorf. The salad goes particularly well with a christmas ham or any dish that has a little spice. It is a particular favourite with my son, Sven, and his dad. 

Serves 4

3 sticks celery, sliced ½ cm thick
1 large green apple, cored and sliced
juice of half a lemon
½ cup raisins
1x484g tin halved peaches, sliced
1-2 bananas, sliced
½ cup walnuts, halved
¼ cup yoghurt
1ml curry powder

1. In a deep glass salad dish layer celery, apple sprinkled with a little lemon juice, raisins and peaches.
2. To make dressing add curry powder and a little juice from the peaches to the yoghurt.
3. Just before serving add layer of bananas to salad.
4. Drizzle with dressing and top with nuts.