How to create a healthy, energy-boosting salad

A simple formula to create a delicious and nutritious salad each day!

Are you looking for a lunch that will:

⭐️ Tick off 3 of your 5 daily veggie serves?

⭐️ Give you a much-needed energy boost?

⭐️ Keep you feeling full until dinner?

⭐️ Wipe out those 3pm sugar cravings?

The secret to a great salad is to make sure that it contains a balance of quality protein, good fat, healthy carbohydrates and vegetables. And obviously it needs to taste good too! 😋

Here is my healthy salad formula:

🥗 1 cup mixed lettuce - try to include some dark or bitter leaves, e.g. rocket

🍚 ½ cup of quinoa or brown rice

🍠 ½ cup roasted vegetables (I like sweet potato, pumpkin and beetroot)

🥒 ½ cup salad veggies, e.g. tomato, cucumber, capsicum, celery

🥦 ⅓ cup cooked broccoli

🥑 ½ a small avocado

🥚 A quality protein source (choose one of the following options)

- 2 hard-boiled eggs

- 95g tin of salmon in springwater

- ½ a cooked chicken breast

- 1 cup of chickpeas or beans.

🍋 A healthy dressing (no refined oils or added sugar) - the healthiest option is to make your own and it is not difficult or time-consuming. Here are four easy dressing recipes you could try.

🥜 Nuts or seeds sprinkled on top, e.g. chopped walnuts, chopped almonds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds

If you want to make the salad even healthier - and give your liver a boost - try adding some alfalfa or broccoli sprouts!

As always, preparation is key if you’re keen to make healthy salads a daily habit.

I generally advise clients to try to set aside half an hour on Sunday afternoon to do the following food prep:

✅ Boil a few eggs

✅ Roast some veggies

✅ Blanch or steam a few broccoli florets

✅ Cook some quinoa or brown rice (or you could buy pre-cooked brown rice sachets if you are looking for a quick and easy option)

✅ Make a jar of dressing

The good thing about using a “formula” like this to make salads is that you can have a different salad every day and it never gets boring. All you need to do is change the protein source, veggies, dressing and toppings.

So, why not say goodbye to that tired old sandwich and try whipping up one of these amazing salads! 🥗

Every one of your body systems will thank you for it! 💪🌟