Summer Salad Ideas

As soon as summer hits the doors are open, the BBQ is on and I’m in the kitchen rustling up a delicious salads. We love salads during the summer months either on their own for lunch/dinner or as a side for a BBQ or garden party. We've pulled together some of our favourites that I just know you'll love.

If you make any of the salads we would love to see your creations, so make sure you tag us on social media or comment below. Or if you have your own salad recipe that is to die for please share with us hello@housecurious.co.uk and we just might feature it on the blog (with your permission obviously).

Superfood salad

This salad is so delicious and healthy it’s one of my favourites. Whenever I serve this salad people always ask for the recipe. It could be a meal on its own and is great if you have vegetarian guests. I borrowed this dish from the man himself, Jamie Oliver. This salad has a wonderful combination of textures and flavours and is such a beautiful dish to bring to the table; perfect with a slow roast lamb or by itself with some fresh bread and hummus.

Summer Skin Food Salad with a Zesty Dressing

The lovely Erica from Naturally Nourished London joined me to create an everyday recipe tailored to promote healthy glowing skin for the summer months ahead. We came up with this very aptly named beauty and really hope you enjoy making it as much as we did creating it! You can follow along on IGTV and the recipe can be found here.

Anna's Black Rice Salad with Green Harissa 

This salad is from the awesome Anna Barnett and goes beautifully with the slow roast lamb or is delicious by itself. This dish looks so beautiful but is also very tasty. The Green Harissa is pretty special too and again its one of those recipes that everyone wants to know.  The great thing about this salad is that you can make it the night before. For all the details just click here.

Tomato and Pickled Ginger Side Salad

Last Summer we cooked up a delicious indian inspired feast with Amandip Uppal, Author of cookery book Indian Made Easy. The tomato and pickled ginger salad is a great side dish or salad for a summer BBQ. For the recipe check out the blog post here and follow along on IGTV.

Summer Skin Food Salad with a Zesty Tahini Dressing

The lovely and multi talented Erica from Naturally Nourished London joined me to create an everyday recipe tailored to promote healthy glowing skin for the summer months ahead. We came up with this very aptly named beauty and really hope you enjoy making it as much as we did creating it! You can follow along on IGTV and all the details are below.

This salad is absolutely loaded with nutrients that are especially beneficial to health of your skin. The broccoli, spinach & strawberries all provide you with plenty of vitamin c, which is essential for collagen production, keeping those wrinkles at bay! The butternut squash gives you a little hit of beta-carotene, which contains UV protective properties and prevents free radical damage caused by pollution and sun exposure.

Not only does this salad give our skin a little extra love, it’s also bursting with flavour and texture. The salty grilled halloumi works especially well with the creamy avocado and sweet tangy strawberries. You can do most of the prep work the day before and throw it all together in minutes.

Brimming with vibrant colours, this salad makes the perfect addition to your summer picnic. You and your skin are going to love this one! Enjoy!

Prep time: 30 minutes    make time: 10 minutes    serves: 4 

INGREDIENTS

1 x 225g block of halloumi ~ sliced

120g baby spinach

140g/1 cup strawberries ~ sliced

200g/1 cup butternut squash ~ cubed and roasted

175g/1 cup broccoli ~ lightly steamed

140g/1 cup beluga lentils ~ pre cooked

1 avocado ~ sliced

½ cup walnuts ~ roughly chopped

Few sprigs of coriander ~ roughly chopped

1 Tbsp avocado oil (can also use olive oil)

For the tahini dressing

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp tahini

4 Tbsp filtered water

1 clove of garlic

½ Tsp Himalayan salt

Pinch of black pepper

METHOD

1.    Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

2.    Toss the butternut squash in the avocado oil in a bowl and season with salt and black pepper. Arrange the squash on a baking tray and roast in a preheated oven for 25 minutes, until lightly brown and tender.

3.    Lightly steam the broccoli florets for a few minutes until they start to turn bright green, remove from steamer and set to one side to cool slightly.

4.    To make the dressing, place all the ingredients into a blender and pulse a few times until it reaches a smooth consistency. You can add more water here to loosen it up.

NOTE: steps 1-3 can all be done the day before for some pre prepping!

5.    In a pan on medium heat, add a small amount of avocado (or olive oil), allow it to heat up a little and add the sliced halloumi. Fry on each side for a couple of minutes until they turn a golden brown colour. Remove and set aside.

6.    Next you can start to layer up the salad. Take a large serving dish and add the spinach, lentils, broccoli, butternut squash, sliced strawberries, sliced avocado, halloumi. Drizzle over the tahini dressing and then add the walnuts and coriander. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve up and enjoy!

SKIN HEALTH BENEFITS

Broccoli, spinach and strawberries are all rich in vitamin c and in addition to it’s antioxidant properties, vitamin c is essential for collagen production in the body. Collagen is needed to keep our skin firm and well supported and overtime it can will breakdown and degrade so it’s important ensure we have optimal levels of vitamin c to provide extra support to synthesise more collagen.

Vitamin C also protects our skin cells from UV radiation and supports skin barrier function

Broccoli is also part of the cruciferous family and can aid in liver detoxification, helping to remove toxins more efficiently from the body. Our skin is also a route of elimination therefore if our liver is a little sluggish and we’re not providing it with the correct nutrients, our skin can pick up the slack!

Butternut squash, spinach and broccoli are rich in beta-carotene, a potent antioxidant and precurser to vitamin A. Beta-carotene has been widely studied for it’s skin protective properties such as:

~ It has photo-protective properties and has been shown to protect against sunburn development by inhibiting free radials and suppressing our cellular and tissue response to inflammation.

~ It also prevents premature aging of the skin. Studies have shown it to prevent wrinkle formation by decreasing the activity of the enzymes (MMP) responsible for collagen degradation.

~ In the epidermis (outer layer of skin), b-carotene is deposited and works to fight free radical damage caused by UV exposure. It is also protective against the development of skin cancer.

Walnuts are a great source of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. These essential fatty acids are incorporated in to the epidermal layer (skins outer layer) and help to lock in moisture and hydration. Omega 3 is also anti-inflammatory and can help with inflammatory skin conditions such as acne and eczema.

Omega 3 also has the ability to inhibit UV-induced skin inflammation and hyperpigmentation. It is protective against photosensitivity disorders and conditions in which abnormal reactions to UV exposure occur.

It can greatly improve skin barrier function and a deficiency in omega 3 can cause increased water loss through the skin causing it to become very dry so if you’re skin is feeling a little on the dry side, omega 3 can certainly help.

Avocado is also rich in fatty acids and vitamin E, which acts as an antioxidant and free radical scavenger, working to slow down aging of the skin.

So if all of the above does not provide you with a good enough reason to make this salad then I rest my case!

Erica x

Naturallynourished.co.uk

@naturallynourished

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References:

Crisan, D. Roman, I. Badea, R. (2015). ‘The role of vitamin C in pushing back the boundaries of skin aging: an ultrasonographic approach’, Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, (8), pp.463-470. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4562654/

Evans, J.A. Johnson, E.J. (2010). ‘The Role of Phytonutrients in Skin Health’, Nutrients, (8), pp.903-928. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257702/.

Khnykin, D. Miner, JH. Jahnsen, F. (2011). ‘Role of fatty acid transporters in epidermis’, Dermato-endocrinology, 3 (2), pp.53-61. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3117002/

Pilkington, SM. Watson, REB. Nicolaou, A. et al. (2011). ‘Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: photoprotective macronutrients’, Experimental Dermatology, (7), pp.537-543. [Online]. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1600-0625.2011.01294.x

Pullar, JM. Carr, AC. Vissers, MCM. (2017). ‘The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health’, Nutrients, (8), pp.866. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5579659/

Souyoul, S.A. Saussy, K.P. Lupo, M.P. (2018). ‘Nutraceuticles: A Review’, Dermatology and Therapy, (1), pp.5-16. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5825326/.