Lunch To Go: 3 Salad Rainbow
Wow I can’t believe the Easter holidays are nearly over, it all seems to have passed by in a busy blur.
This gluten and grain free Lunch To Go is a great combination of salads. Honey roasted butternut squash with seeds. Roasted chickpeas in a tahini, lemon, goats yoghurt dressing with raw turmeric. And tomato, cucumber and red onion salad with mint. It is also one of the few dishes I’ve managed to capture in the madness and fun of the holidays, in between egg huts!
There are countless articles, and books that recommend we eat a rainbow on our plate and this salad combination is a great and very tasty way to achieve this. And if you follow it up with some seasonal berries for pudding you have an optimal rainbow and a very tasty meal.
These salads are also packed full of wonderful health benefiting properties (see the good stuff below). I’m especially excited to use raw turmeric, which I just adore and as well as being renowned for its healing powers is quite transformational to dishes adding a powerful zingy, almost nutty taste.
lunch to go: 3 salad rainbow
Ingredients
feeds 4 as a main meal or 4 Lunches To Go
Honey Roasted Squash
- 1 x good sized butternut squash (ideally organic) peeled and cut into bite size chunks
- 2 x tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (ideally organic)
- 3 x tablespoons of mixed seeds (I used sunflower, linseed and pumpkin)
ROASTED CHICKPEA IN A TAHNI, YOGHURT, LEMON DRESSING AND RAW TURMERIC
- 800g, 28oz, x organic tinned chickpeas in water (2 x tins)
- Extra virgin olive oil (ideally organic)
- 1 x tablespoon of organic tahini paste
- 2 x tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 x tablespoons of water
- 1 x tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 x tablespoons of plain goats or greek yoghurt (I use St Helen’s live goats)
- 1 x good pinch of Maldon sea salt
- 3-4 inch piece of turmeric peeled and finely chopped into fine matchsticks (be careful where you place the peeled turmeric as it can easily stain surfaces yellow apparently lemon juice is the best remedy)
Tomato, Cucumber, Red Onion Salad Mint Salad
- 500g, 17.5 oz x organic cherry tomatoes cut into halves
- 1 x organic cucumber cut length wise in to strips and then across width wise in to quaters
- 1 x red onion
- 1 x small bunch of mint leaves chopped
TO COOK
HONEY ROASTED SQUASH
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 180c, 450f
- Whisk the honey and olive oil together in a large bowl and then add the squash coating generously before transferring to a roasting dish and placing in the oven for approx. 40 mins
- After roasting sprinkle generously with the seeds.
ROASTED CHICKPEA IN A TAHNI, YOGHURT, LEMON DRESSING AND RAW TURMERIC
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 180c, 450f
- Coat the chick peas in the olive oil and roast in the oven for approx. 40 mins.
- Whisk the Tahini, Olive oil, water and lemon juice together. Coat the roasted chickpeas in this dressing.
- Add a generous pinch of Maldon (or alternative sea salt) to the yoghurt and then coat the chick peas in the yoghurt by spooning the yoghurt over the chickpeas and mixing together.
- Sprinkle the raw turmeric matchsticks over the chickpeas.
TOMATO, CUCUMBER, RED ONION SALAD MINT SALAD
- Mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and chopped mint together.
Notes: These salads will keep well covered in the fridge for up to 3 days
The Good Stuff
Butternut Squash
A great source of healthy carbs, magnesium, antioxidants, and vitamins C, A and B6. It is great at fighting inflammation, lowering risk of heart disease and stroke, maintaining a healthy gut. It is also a very beneficial food for pregnant women.
Seeds
Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of vitamin E and B great for your hair, skin and has anti cancer properties and is good for the protection of cells supporting the immune system.
Pumpkin seeds are high in zinc, B vitamins, magnesium, iron and protein great for maintaining healthy blood vessels, cholesterol, mens fertility and the prevention of prostate issues.
Linseeds are a great source of fibre, omega-3 fatty acids beneficial for brain health, eyesight, joints and heart.
HONEY
Has many healing properties due to its levels of vitamins, C, E, K, D, B complex and beta-carotene, minerals and enzymes. Rich in antioxidants it is also a natural antibiotic helping fight respiratory infections, healing wounds and ulcers and relieving symptoms of seasonal allergies.
Chickpeas
A great source of fibre, rich in manganese, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus helping bone health, reduce cholesterol and maintain a healthy appetite by reducing food cravings.
Turmeric
Is one of the most beneficial ingredients for health with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant that helps to fight free radical damage and is known to be beneficiary for neurological conditions, arthritic pain, diabetes and protect against alzheimer’s and cancer.
Tomatoes
Rich in Vitamins C, E, beta-carotene, lycopene, potassium, glutathione and antioxidants. A rockstar healing food known to remove toxins from the body, reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancer, protect the skin and eyes and maintain a healthy heart.
Cucumber
Is packed full of easily absorbed vitamins and minerals and is a great natural quick pick me up. Rich in A, B1, B6, C & D, folate, calcium, magnesium and potassium. It also contains phytoestrogens, lariciresionol, secoisolariciresional and pinoreionsal that help reduce the risk of heart disease and breast, ovarian, uterine and prostate cancers. It also helps cleanse the intestines, promotes a healthy gut, and lowers cholesterol.
Wow!! what amazing super foods all of which are easy and delicious to eat. Enjoy!
Tabitha’s Edit 
8 Responses to “Lunch To Go: 3 Salad Rainbow”
That’s a most excellent looking lunch! Would love to scoff that on a park bench…
Thank you. It is a great portable but yummy lunch. If I do say so myself 🙂
Looks amazing. Going shopping… 🙂
Thank you Enjoy!
This looks super yummy! Do you think some kefir would work instead of the yogurt? I am mostly dairy free although kefir doesn’t seem to bother me.
Thank you 🙂 I’m not familiar with kefir so I wouldn’t like to say absolutely but if it is similar to yoghurt in consistency then I’d imagine it would be a great alternative. Personally I’m all for experimentation and adaptation in the kitchen so I’d go for it!
I will try it. Kefir is a little more liquid then yoghurt, but I can probably manage to do something about it.
Great, let me know how it goes! 🙂