Heather grew these beautiful herbs in her garden and used them in this summer salad recipe! Herbs are a fantastic source of polyphenols which have been shown to have immune-modulating function.
These plant compounds also have anti-microbial substances which help regulate your gut bacteria.
Serves 4.
Cooking time 40 minutes, hands on time 15 minutes
Summer salad ingredients
1 small butternut squash, cut into thin wedges (no need to peel)
½ tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
Any green leaves and herbs that you like
½ red onion, finely sliced
Tin chickpeas, drained
Handful pomegranate seeds (optional)
Handful sunflower seeds / walnuts, lightly toasted is desired
2 tbsp. orange juice
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
¼ red chilli, finely sliced (optional)
5 tbsp. walnut oil or extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 200C
- Place butternut squash in a bowl and toss with olive oil and smoked paprika
- Place in oven and roast for 30 – 40 minutes, until well cooked. Allow to cool
- Place leaves, onion, chickpeas on a serving platter. Top with roast squash wedges and sprinkle over pomegranate and sunflower seeds and season.
- Mix orange juice, vinegar, chilli and walnut oil to make a dressing and drizzle over salad
Health benefits of some of the ingredients
- The butternut squash, spinach, red onion and pomegranate are all good sources of beta carotene and vitamin C as well as fibre
- The sunflower seeds are rich in vitamin E
- Walnuts and walnut oil contain omega 3
- Chickpeas are a good source of fibre to support gut health
