Summertime Sunshine Salad

Hello sunshine!

Summer has well and truly arrived.

Long evenings, warmer nights, endless sunshine and most importantly, the food!

Summer food = quick, easy, light and fresh. Nothing heavy or stodgy!

Now you can have never have enough go-to quick, easy meal ideas - especially during the summer when all you want to do is get outside in the sunshine!

So what's nutritious, delicious, quick, light and fresh?

A salad.

Don't groan. I know salads can be a yawn-fest.

But it's time to change it up. Give those salads a well-deserved makeover. It's so easy you'll wonder why you haven't before. Ditch the pre-made supermarket salad bags and get creative!

Tip for adding a bit of va-va-voom to your salads

It's all about clever shopping: a few key buys will turn even the limpest lettuce into something exciting! Think simple ingredients that can turn a boring salad into something a little bit magical, such as mustard, apple cider vinegar, sun dried tomatoes, radishes.

While we're on this dreamy summer vibe, I present you with a summer dish to make you wonder why you ever avoided salads.

What is Halloumi?

Halloumi is a firm cheese from Cyprus that can be made from a mix of goats', sheep's and cow's milk.

If you're dairy-free, swap it with prawns or chicken!

Ingredients

1 onion

250g cherry tomatoes

25g pack flat leaf parsley, stalks finely chopped

[Fun fact: Just 5 sprigs of parsley provides your RDA of Vitamin K, which is thought to keep bones strong!]

25g mint leaves

2 tsps chilli flakes

250g halloumi

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

100g flaked almonds

Two handfuls of spinach

Lemon

Method

Simmer the quinoa in a small pan of salted water with the onion and spinach for 10-15 minutes. Drain well then fluff up with a fork. Add the tomatoes, flaked almonds, cucumber and herbs.

In a small bowl, whisk 2 tbsp oil with lemon zest and juice and chilli flakes.

Season and then toss with the quinoa salad.

In a pan, dry-fry the helium over a medium heat. Fry on each side for 1-2 minutes until golden. Serve on top of the salad.

...and that is it!

Easy peasy.

Enjoy the summer and all that Vitamin D goodness!