The British summer is finally upon us and what do you need on a hot summer’s lunchtime or evening? A light, refreshing but filling and healthy salad. I got this recipe from, “Appetite for Reduction.” It is written by the guys who wrote Veganomicon and all the recipes contain less than 450 calories each. So it’s a great book if you’re working on a calorie deficit which you should be if you’re trying to lose weight and body fat.

Ingredients: Salad

2 big handfuls of quinoa that you have already pre-cooked in boiling water for 20 minutes, drained and allowed to cool. (To make this raw you could use sprouted quinoa.)

1 small red onion, sliced thinly.

1/2 a romaine lettuce, chopped however you like.

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed. (To make this raw you could use sprouted chick peas.)

Ingredients: Dressing

A large handful of cashew nuts. (The non-flavoured or salted kind.)

A large shallot, chopped finely.

A dash of balsamic vinegar.

2 teaspoons of dijon mustard.

1 teaspoon agave nectar

A pinch of sea salt.

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the salad ingredients together and leave to one side.

Then place the cashews and shallot into a food processor and pulse on and off  to get them chopped up quite finely.

Add the rest of the dressing ingredients and pulse on and off for a couple of minutes until you have a type of paste to pour on top.

Then eat your delicious salad which is only 375 calories and has 17g of protein. Get in!