Take part with us in the Storehouse Spring Salads Challenge in March and April!

At the tail end of winter, it’s easy to feel depleted and lacking in energy. One way to combat this is to ramp up your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables through a daily intake of fresh, home-made salad.

Some of the benefits of eating salads made from fresh fruit and vegetables( organic if possible!) are increased gut health, increased intake of fibre in your diet, improved heart health and support in your weight loss goals The vitamins, minerals and water from your daily salad will also keep your skin healthy.

Salads can be made from a variety of fruits and vegetables and, if you aim for a mix of colours and ingredients and add in nuts or seeds to your salad, you will optimize nutritional benefits.

Remember to add in protein if the salad is going to serve as your main meal. This could be in the form of chicken, tuna and eggs for non-vegans or lentils, beans, edamame and tofu for vegans.

We’d love it if you would send in your favourite salad recipes to us at hello@penicuikstorehouse.org and we’ll add them to our blog. We’ll also hold a couple of salad workshops – one in March and one in April where you can come in and demonstrate how to make your salad or simply attend to see the

demonstrations and taste the different salads.

To start us off, here’s one of our favourite salads -

Waldorf Salad

Apples, celery, grapes and walnuts are the ingredients for this classic salad, which was first created in the 1890’s by a chef at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.

Here’s the recipe: Ingredients:

• 2 Large Eating Apples (Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Fuji or Gala are all good varieties)

• 1 Lemon

• 300g Red or black seedless grapes

• 4 Celery sticks

• 50g Walnuts

• 3 Tablespoon Greek Yoghurt

• 3 Tablespoon Mayonnaise
  

Method:

1. Dice 2 large eating apples into bite-size pieces, about 1/2-inch cubes. Place in a large bowl and toss in 1 tablespoon lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown.

2. Add in the halved grapes, the diced celery, and the chopped walnuts.

3. In a small mixing bowl whisk together the Greek yoghurt and the mayonnaise until well combined.

4. Pour the dressing over the apple mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.