So just like everybody else I am doing a fairly health conscious January. No resolutions for myself – as I said in my last post I am focusing on my general approach rather than specific goals. That said exercise and good food are at the top of my to do list and have become a general focus for my day. Hence the lack of posts. Really I have just been at the gym. Oh and then my oven broke. I know … true story. A food blogger with a broken oven. What’s a girl to do hey! Well improvise.

This is how my Everything Salad came about. I was hungry, very hungry, I couldn’t decide what to eat or think what I could make just using my hob. I knew I had to be healthy – to me this means Veg and a lot of it. But then I was hungry, which meant some sort of bulk – enter Quinoa – the healthy hungry girls best friend. It fills you up as if you were eating rice or cous cous but is gulten free and chocked full with all sorts of goodness. So that was it Veg and Quinoa, decided. But it needed something, and that is where Avocado Pesto came in. The idea being that you remove the hefty slug of olive oil that makes pesto a little bit unhealthy and replace it with the god of all ‘good’ fats, the Avocado. And all you have to do is simply blitz it with Garlic and Basil and you are there.

Very quick to make, and every filling. I still ate way too much, but at least I am eating too much of the right stuff.

So here it is my ‘everything salad’ so named because I literally stuck every type of veg I had in this bad boy and it worked. 

Ingredients

40g Quinoa

Broccoli trees and stalks

Asparagus

Sugar Snap Peas

1 Parsnip – peeled and chopped into chunks

Baby Sweetcorn

1 Red Pepper

1 Beetroot

A large handful of Spinach

For Avocado Pesto

1 Avocado

1 clove of Garlic finely chopped

a large handful of Basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

1. Pour your quinoa into a pan – cover with 250ml of water and let this simmer on a low heat for about 20-25 mins until cooked
2. Steam your broccoli, asparagus, sugar snap peas, chopped parsnips and baby sweetcorn for about 5mins
3. In a small food processor/ blender blitz your avocado, garlic and basil then season with salt and pepper
4. Once your quinoa is cooked add your steamed vegetables, chopped raw vegetables, spinach and ½ the avocado pesto and mix together, then chomp away

As a side note I saved the rest of my pesto and had it the next day with a vegetable pasta – yummy! 

And that is it, my quick and healthy dinner that properly filled my stomach! Win, Win, Win.

More healthy recipes coming soon – be prepared for vegan chocolate and almond fudge!