Diet: Gluten Free, Nut Free, Pescatarian, Soy Free, Vegetarian
Serves: 2
Total Time: 5 minutes

Description

This easy salad is infused with flavour, thanks to a heap of fresh vegetables mixed through with a delicious lemon and balsamic dressing.

It’s true that plant foods need to be made more exciting but easy to put together. That’s why this salad, in all of it’s understated simplicity, is proof positive that eating real, whole foods doesn’t have to be a complicated affair when simplicity and deliciousness radiates from the whole ingredients it is made with.

You will find just over 9g of dietary fibre from the chickpeas in each serving (Nutrition Data Self, 2018), which is just under one third of what the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) recommends per day for adults.

The BNF advises adults to consume at least 30g dietary fibre per day (British Nutrition Foundation, 2018), so eating this delicious dish will keep you on track for your daily requirements, if you aim to obtain around 10g of fibre from your other two daily meals as well.

Fibre helps to keep our digestive system healthy and keeps our bowels regular. Not only that, fibre has been shown to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes (Wang et al. 2016), cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) (Threapleton et al. 2013) as well as colorectal cancer (Aune et al. 2011).

A fibre-rich diet has also been shown to increase the beneficial bacteria in our gut, as certain types of fibre can provide a food source for friendly bacteria to increase, as well as facilitating their production of beneficial substances such as short-chain fatty acids.

So let’s all aim to get more fibre in our diet through these amazing plant foods; they are super yummy and beneficial for our wellbeing!

Ingredients

• 240g chickpeas (drained)
• 1 red onion (diced)
• 1 avocado (chopped)
• 200g cherry tomatoes (quartered)
• 70g rocket
• 100g pomegranate seeds
• 60g feta (chopped into cubes)
• 1 handful chopped mint leaves

Dressing

• Juice of half a lemon
• Balsamic vinegar, a generous drizzle
• Sprinkle of Himalayan salt

Method

1. Add all of the main ingredients into a large salad bowl.
2. Add the lemon juice into the bowl and drizzle in some good quality balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of Himalayan salt.
3. Give it a good mix and its ready to serve!

 

References:

Aune, D. Chan, D.S.M. Lau, R. et al. (2011). ‘Dietary Fibre, Whole Grains, and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies’, BMJ, 343, pp. 1-20, BMJ [Online]. Available at: https://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d6617 (Accessed: 16 August 2018).

British Nutrition Foundation. (2018). Dietary Fibre. Available at: https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/basics/fibre.html (Accessed: 16 August 2018).

Nutrition Data Self. (2018). Chickpeas. Available at: https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4326/2 (Accessed: 16 August 2018).

Threapleton, D.E. Greenwood, D.C. Evans, C.E.L. et al. (2013). ‘Dietary Fibre Intake and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis’, BMJ, 347, BMJ [Online]. Available at: https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6879 (Accessed: 16 August 2018).

Wang, P.Y. Fang, J.C. Gao, Z.H. et al. (2016). ‘Higher Intake of Fruits, Vegetables or their Fibre Reduces the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis’, Journal of Diabetes Investigation, 7 (1), pp. 56-69, NCBI [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4718092/ (Accessed: 16 August 2018).