Food & recipes

Easy Broccoli, Pine Nut And Chickpea Salad

The easiest salad recipe you’ll try this week

Serves 2 as lunch, or 4 as a side-salad

Ingredients:

250g broccoli florets, lightly steamed
100g baby spinach leaves
12 cherry tomatoes
400g cooked chickpeas, drained
50g pine nuts
Dressing
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of sesame seed oil
Juice of half a lemon
Half a red chilli (with seeds removed)

To make:

Mix dressing ingredients in a glass jar. Shake and leave to stand for at least an hour. Assemble the salad ingredients on a serving plate. Pour over the dressing and serve.

Why it’s good for you…

Tegan Philp, nutritional therapist for CNM says: “The broccoli and pine nuts work perfectly in this recipe. Combing healthy fats with vegetables is a great way to increase vitamin absorption. Vegetables are water soluble, and when paired with healthy fats, such as pine nuts, the nutrient intake increases due to the fact that phytonutrients (plant nutrient compounds) need a fat soluble transporter to facilitate absorption.
“Pine nuts are also high in poly-unsaturated fats, which are a source of healthy fat that protects our heart. Chickpeas are a source of plant-based protein. The broccoli, spinach and cherry tomatoes provide plant-based vitamins and phytonutrients, and add colour.”