Raw pomegranate and mint salad... with a pea dip!

I made this salad a few weeks back, took the photos... then promptly forgot about it! 

Even just looking at it now makes me feel light and refreshed.... I've had a heavy few days with sweet recipe experiments so this is a welcome change. I'm even very tempted to pop to the shop and buy a pomegranate right now.

I used my favourite bean and pea dip as the 'sauce' but if you didn't want to whip that up (though it only take minutes, is very versatile and stores well in the fridge), you could try using simple hummus or guacamole.

To make it a little more substantial you could add some quinoa, cous-cous, tortilla wedges or some salad potatoes maybe.

It's a perfect quick light summer lunch as it is or double up the recipe to serve as a side dish at a BBQ maybe? 

I still haven't perfected an un-mesy way to bash out the seeds from the pomegranate hence the messy dressed dish. Ha ha though I think it looks pretty ;-)

Recipe: Pomegranate salad 

Serves 2

 Ingredients:

• 1 large courgette
• 1 small red onion
• 1 cup bean and pea dip (using this recipe)
• 2-3 handfuls of watercress
• handful fresh mint leaves- roughly chopped
• seeds from 1 pomegranate 

Method: 

Spiralise the courgette (or use a julienne peeler) and slice the red onion very finely. Mix the courgette and onion with the dip to create a sauce.  

Pile the a watercress to the serving plate and dollop the courgette mixture on top. Generously sprinkle the pomegranate seeds as garnish. 

Double tomato courgetti spaghetti

Do you have more courgettes?

Well, if so here is another one for you as we hang onto the last of the summer with warm September days but with a little coziness thrown in the for the cooler evenings as the night draws in that little bit quicker.

I actually made this recipe in the height of summer but hadn't written it up on my computer. I happened to be going though some old notes and I found it, definitely one worth sharing with you today. The sundried tomatoes (or dehydrator in my case) really boost the flavour so if you don't want to make your own you can buy some to add.

I made this recipe when my spiralizer was still a novelty (actually it is still novelty!), but use a julienne peeler if you don't have a spiralizer to get nice thin strips of courgette. There would be no reason why a wheat, rice or bean based spaghetti would not be a great alternative. I actually have an awesome bean pasta recipe I want to share with you.... soon!

Tell me, what are your favourite summer to Autumn transition meals?

Recipe: Double tomato courgetti spaghetti

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (or 4 large parboiled cooked chopped tomatoes)

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 small onion- sliced

• 2 medium courgettes

• 1 can red kidney beans

• few leaves fresh chopped basil

• handful of sundried tomatoes*

Method

Pan fry the onion and garlic in a splash of oil for a few minutes until softened. Add the red kidney beans and the tomatoes and simmer for 5-7 minutes to warm through or make sure the tomatoes are broken down and pulpy if using fresh. Add a small handful of chopped dehydrated tomatoes for extra flavour, reserving a couple for the top.

Meanwhile spiralise the courgettes (or use a julienne peeler) and boil/steam for a few minutes until just tender, or serve raw if desired.

Chop some fresh basil leaves.

Serve the tomato mix over the courgetti and sprinkle the remaining dehydrated tomatoes and basil over the top.

---

Recipe: dehydrated tomatoes

Approx. approx 3 cups worth

Ingredients

• Approx, 10 large tomatoes

• 2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp mixed Italian herbs

Method

Cut the tomatoes into quarters and scrape the seeds and pulpy bit out. (reserve for the sauce above if you wish)

Lay on lined dehydrator trays (or lined oven trays) and sprinkled with herbs and salt.

Dehydrate for 2 hours at 60C and then for a further 10-12 hours at 40C until preferred texture achieved.

If over baking, set oven to lowest temperature and bake for approx 2 hours- checking after an hour.

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Curly wurly salad and 1 minute raw dressing!

My holiday in the Spanish sunshine last week was filled with lots of salads and fruit, lots and lots of biiiiiig salads.... something like this...

Ok, so there was oats in there too. I love my porridge, even if it is boiling hot outside. :-)

See the strange looking bar thing in the middle on the left. That was my version of an 'ice cream open sandwich'. My friends bought ice creams and whilst I could have gone ahead and ordered a sorbet, I really didn't fancy the sugar overload but not wanting to feel left out of a sweet treat I came up with this idea. I found the healthiest granola bars in the supermarket (though struggled to read the ingredients in Spanish so I had to guess a bit and hope for the best) and then topped them with mashed banana and a sprinkle of nuts. After a couple of hours in the freezer they made the perfect treats! I will try and make a 'proper' version for the blog soon with a homemade biscuit base.

Anyway back to salads. I got a bit of a taste for them and then when I arrived home my new spiraliser had been delivered. I gave it try on Sunday evening and OH MY GOODNESS... BEST. THING. EVER!!!  (It really does deserve capitals and all those exclamation marks) why didn't I buy one sooner?

Game changer.

Life changer.

Ok let's calm down a little here. Breathe.

I think i'm still i holiday mode and a little more giddy than usual. Well that's my excuse. I hope you don't mind seeing more spiraliser themed recipe around those parts over the next few months. :-)

This was supposed to be a quick experiment but it worked so well it was worthy of the blog, the dressing was amazing too and was a quicker easier version of this raw dressing but equally as tasty. 

Do you have a spiraliser? What have you 'spiralled' and also what doesn't work...let me know!

(If you haven't got one...do it! You wont regret it.)

Recipe: Curly wurly salad

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 small carrot
• 1/3 cucumber
• 1/3 courgette
• 1/2 cup cooked black beans
• 1 tsp sesame seeds to sprinkle over the top

Dressing (a single serving):

Ingredients

• 2 tsp almond/cashew butter
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs water
• 1 tsp liquid aminos
• ¼ cup raw red pepper
• 1tbs nutritional yeast
• ½ tsp paprika (used smoked if you have it)

Method

Spiralise the veggies and pile onto a plate.

Blend the dressing ingredients together in a mini blender and drizzle over salad. Top with sesame seeds and serve.

(note: I was testing out all three blades on the spiralizer hence the cucumber is more of a ribbon effect and the carrot and courgette more like noodles of two different thicknesses.)

I'd love you to join me in other places too!  

Why not sign up for emails in my sidebar where I feature roundups and special offers. If you are new round here check out my 'About' and 'Getting Started' tabs up top. To buy nibbles you can also find me over at Wholeplus.  Day to day you can also find me in these places:

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