Gone are the days when a salad consisted of lettuce, tomato and cucumber. Boring salads are out, and fresh, vibrant, flavourful salads are in.

You may have heard of the 30 plants challenge whereby we are encouraged to consume 30 different plants in our diet throughout the week. This may seem unachievable, but this rainbow salad contains more than 10 plants in one dish alone!

You see, you’re not just limited to the ‘5-a-day’ fruits and vegetables – plants also include wholegrains, nuts, seeds, legumes, herbs and spices. Sprinkling some chia seeds on your porridge, adding turmeric and cumin to your curry, and serving a portion of quinoa or wholewheat pasta with your meal all contribute to your weekly total.

If you eat a typical diet of three meals and one snack each day, that’s 28 opportunities to get in your plants each week. Personally, I find this takes off the pressure, as some days are easier to fit in more plants than others.

There is a growing body of evidence in support of eating more plants, with lots of health-related benefits, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, improved gut and skin health, and even a reduced risk of cancer. There is a helpful article on the Rhitrition website which talks about eating more plants.

It’s also important to note that frozen, canned and dried varieties all count towards the total number of plants, which can make it easier to manage your food shops and meal plans.

The beauty of salads is that you can mix up the vegetables, herbs, nuts and seeds to suit your flavour preferences, and switch up the variety of plants you eat each week. I love cooking a big batch of roasted vegetables which we can have for dinner one night and then eat the leftovers for lunch over the next few days.

Ingredients:
Medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
Medium courgette, cubed
1 medium carrot, grated
300g plum tomatoes
3 spring onions, thinly sliced and separated into greens and whites
Mixed salad leaves
Lemon
Olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Large avocado, cut into small chunks
Small handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Lime
50g cashew nuts/cashew pieces

Optional:
Tofu
1 tbsp cornflour
Drizzle of olive oil

Method:
1. Heat the oven to 180°C fan. Alternatively, you can cook the vegetables in an air fryer – just reduce the timings by about 20%.

2. Put the butternut squash cubes on an oven-proof tray and drizzle with a little olive oil.

3. Cook for 15 minutes then add the courgette and mix the vegetables together.

4. Cook for a further 15 minutes before adding the tomatoes and whites of the spring onions for the last 10 minutes.

5. Whilst the vegetables are cooking, prepare the rest of your salad. In a large bowl, mix the salad leaves, grated carrot, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar and the juice of a lemon.

6. In another bowl, mix the avocado, coriander, the greens of the spring onions and the zest and juice of a lime.

7. Portion out the salad leaf mixture onto plates, then top with the roasted vegetables, avocado mixture, cashew nuts and your choice of protein. For this salad, I cooked crispy tofu, but you could serve it with white fish or chicken, or add a can of chickpeas into the roasted veg at the same time as the tomatoes.

Put any leftover vegetables in an airtight container and enjoy them for lunch over the next couple of days.


To cook the tofu:
1. Cut the tofu into small cubes of about 1cm.

2. Coat with 1 tbsp cornflour.

3. Add a drizzle of olive oil and mix, then bake in an air fryer at 200°C fan for 8-10 minutes until crispy. Alternatively, fry the cornflour-coated tofu in a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan until all sides are golden and crispy.