Now that warmer days are here, lighter meals like soup and salads can make a return to the menu. This fresh and tasty salad provides you with several portions of fruit and vegetables. Thanks to its high protein and fiber content, you won’t get hungry in the mid-afternoon, and it’s light enough to serve as a side for dinner. Toasting the nuts yourself will really bring out the flavor and crunch, but you can buy roasted nuts if you’re short on time.
Ingredients (to serve 4):
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1/2 cup of green olives, pitted
- 1 romaine lettuce
- 1 1/2 cups of fresh spinach or similar leaves
- 1 cup of baby tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- A small bunch of fresh basil
- 2 tins of butter beans
- Salt and pepper, for seasoning
- 1/2 cup of toasted nuts
Instructions:
- Carefully slice all of the olives in half.
- Slice all of the tomatoes into halves or quarters.
- Shred the fresh basil and mix this into the olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper.
- Remove the stones from the avocados, mash the flesh with a fork.
- Drain the beans and rinse them under cold running water.
- Finely shred the lettuce and tear around half of the spinach leaves in half (don’t worry about being too precise).
- In a large salad bowl, mix the spinach, lettuce, beans and tomatoes. Pour over the oil and mix again.
- Serve the salad into bowls or plates, then top with a quarter of the mashed avocado and a quarter of the nuts.
