Sweet potato, avocado & mozzarella salad

It feels like summer has finally arrived and salads are fully on the menu. This is a lovely one to have for dinner with a green salad and fresh bread or as part of a bigger salad spread for friends. The harissa dressing is a lovely contrast to the creamy mozzarella and avocado while the potato adds a little sweetness to the dish.

To make it more filling and to add fibre I have layered in some buckwheat, but you could use brown rice, bulgur, pearled spelt or even quinoa if you prefer. Any wholegrain will work well here.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• ½ small red onion, thin half moon slices

• 3-4 tbps red wine vinegar

• 1 large sweet potato, chopped in small wedges

• 150g buckwheat

• 1 large avocado

• 150g mozzarella

• A small handful each of mint, parsley, coriander

  Dressing

• 150ml Greek yoghurt

• 1 tbsp rose harissa

• 2 tbsp water

• ½ tsp sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Put the onion in a small bowl and pour over the vinegar.

• Spread the sweet potato on a baking tray and drizzle with approx 1 tbsp olive oil. Roast for 15 minutes, turn and repeat.

• While the sweet potato is in the oven, cook the buckwheat or whichever grain you’re using, as per the packet instructions. Drain and set aside to cool.

• Slice the avocado and rip the mozzarella into large pieces.

• Layer the salad by first putting the grain on the plate with a few chunks of sweet potato, avocado, mozzarella, some herbs, pickled onions, a spoon or two of dressing and a pinch of salt. Repeat, finishing with the herbs, pickled onions and dressing.

  tip

• Layering the salad means that all the ingredients are spread equally, so everyone gets a bit of everything!

Guacamole

Ingredients

Serves 2-4

• 1 avocado, mashed

• 1 slice of red onion, chopped finely

• ½ red pepper, chopped finely

• 2-3 stems of coriander, leaves chopped roughly

• ¼ tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lime

Method

• Mix all the ingredients together!

Speedy brunch: avocado, tomato & mushrooms on sourdough

I made this for lunch today with basically what was left in my fridge and thought it would be perfect for a weekend brunch too - add an egg / veggie sausage / bacon or even feta depending on how hungry you are.

Ingredients

• 1-2 slices toasted sourdough

• 6 cherry tomatoes

• 3-4 mushrooms, sliced

• 1/2 small clove garlic, grated

• 1/2 avocado, mashed

• Squeeze of lemon

• Pinch of cayenne

• Small handful of toasted pumpkin seeds

• Salt & pepper

Method

• Mash the avocado with the lemon juice, cayenne and season.

• Fry the tomatoes and mushrooms in a hot pan with a little olive or rapeseed oil until softened and browned, turn down the heat then add the garlic for a couple of minutes, set aside.

• Toast the sourdough half way through cooking the veggies.

• Assemble: toast + avocado + tomato & mushrooms + pumpkin seeds + extra squeeze of lemon

Poached egg with guacamole toast

This is one of my go-to lunches any day of the week and it’s a good one to make if you’re working from home at the moment. It’s quick, easy and nutritious so you can’t really go wrong. As long as you have the right bread (I like a sourdough doorstep) and don’t over cook your egg, it’s never going to disappoint. I’m not reinventing the wheel here, but it’s a useful basic to have in your back pocket!

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 2 slices of sourdough or wholegrain toast

• 2-4 eggs

• 1 avocado

• 5 cherry tomatoes, quartered

• 1 thin slice of red onion, or 1/2 spring onion, chopped finely

• Juice of 1/4 lemon

• Pinch of cayenne

• Salt & pepper

Method

• Slice the bread and place in the toaster ready to go

• Boil a pan of salted water and reduce to a simmer.

• Prep the avocado - mix all the ingredients together mashing the avocado a bit as you go. Just enough to break it up, don’t puree it!

• Put the toast on.

• Place each egg (shell on) gently in the hot water for just 10 seconds to help keep the shape when you poach it. If you have very fresh eggs you probably don’t need to do this.

• Remove the eggs and crack each one gently into the pan, allowing enough space for them to float separately - I usually don’t cook more than a couple at a time.

• Cook for 2 - 2 1/2 minutes to get a perfect yolk - no longer!

• At the same time, get the toast on to your plate, spoon on the guacamole mix and top with the egg. Sat and pepper to taste

Pea, broadbean & avocado dip

This is one of my fave spring / summer dips to make. It’s light, fresh, soooo green and always seems to be the star of any plate or spread. Everyone always loves it and the good news is that it’s another easy one to whip up quickly.

Ingredients

• 200g frozen broad beans

• 200g frozen peas

• 1 avocado, mashed roughly

• 10 mint leaves

• 15 basil leaves

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• A good few grinds of black pepper

Method

• Cook the broad beans in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then take off the heat and pour in the peas. Let then stand for 2 minutes until the peas have defrosted.

• Drain well and put in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients, except the avocado. Blitz until you have the texture you want, I like mine to be a little rough so I don’t mix it for too long, but if you keep going you’ll get more of a puree.

• While you’re blitzing the peas, scoop out the avocado into a medium sized bowl and mash leaving a few chunks for texture.

• Scrape out the mixture from the food processor into the avocado and mix well.

• Serve!

Clean green smoothie

I’m just going to put it out there now that I’m not a fan of veggie smoothies. I know, I know, I should like them, but in general I find them far too hardcore! I’d much rather eat an actual vegetable. Anyway, I don’t like to be defeated so I’ve been on a mission to create a green smoothie that I actually like rather than drinking for health (medicinal) purposes and I think I’ve cracked it.

Ingredients

Serves 1

• 30g spinach

• 70g banana

• 20g avocado

• 3-4 mint leaves

• 5g fresh ginger

• 1 tbsp lime or lemon juice

• 210ml cold water

Method

• Add all the ingredients to your blender and blitz throughly