Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This rainbow salad recipe cost me less than £1.50 per person.
What are the benefits? This dish is loaded with veggies and easily gives you three of your five a day, not to mention it’s a great low-carb meal and vegan option.
I think I’ve probably said before that I’m not really a “salad person”. I’ll be honest – I don’t trust them. I know that sounds a bit weird, but hey, whatever. I just don’t trust salads. I don’t believe a salad will set my tastebuds alight and I’m very suspicious of a salad’s ability to actually fill me up. They’re just not a meal you can rely on, in my opinion.
However, I know that’s mostly nonsense made up in my head and that salads can actually be very tasty filling – if you do them right!
This rainbow salad is something I came up with on Pancake Day, mainly because I knew we’d be eating a mountain of batter loaded with chocolate spread, honey, fruit and basically all the sugar in the world later for dessert and needed something light and nutritious for dinner to offset the upcoming pancake rush.
The best thing about this salad is you can literally swap out any part of it to suit your needs. I made my plate out of veggies I love and ingredients that are easily accessible for me; that might not be the same for you. You want cucumber instead of tomatoes? Cool! Celery instead of sweetcorn? Go for it! Chicken breast instead of sweet potato? Okay, fine! Whatever changes you want to make, you can.
It’s a bright, vibrant plate of food with loads of different flavours and textures and plenty of variety to keep you full and tick plenty of boxes. Love yourself AND what you’re eating without missing out on a thing!
INGREDIENTS
2 Sweet Potatoes
1 Onion, Sliced
1 Bell Pepper, Sliced
1/2 Red Onion, Sliced
1 Avocado, Sliced
1/2 Cup of Sweetcorn (frozen or fresh)
4 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Bag of Prepared Salad
SEASONING
With the onions and peppers, throw in a small pinch of garlic (dried or fresh), paprika, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to give a little flavour to the dish. But that’s about it!
HOW TO MAKE RAINBOW SALAD
1. Heat the oven to 200°C, wash and prick the sweet potatoes and bake them in the oven for around an hour, until soft all the way through. If, after the hour, they’re still a little hard, blast in the microwave for a couple of minutes to finish them off.
2. Meanwhile, in a pan with a very small drop of oil or cooking spray, fry the onions and peppers with seasoning on a low heat for 10 minutes or so.
3. In a saucepan of salted boiling water, chuck in the sweetcorn and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. The last step is really just to bring everything together on the plate. Arrange the salad leaves, avocado slices, red onion and tomatoes on the plate. Pile up the cooked onions and peppers, drain the sweetcorn, and top everything with the sweet potato.
#ThisGirlEats 