Food & recipes

Zita’s Metabolism-Boosting Salad

Healthy eating guru Zita Steyn shares a green recipe perfect for this month

This immensely health-supportive salad is very tasty, as well as being lovely to look at. Most bitter foods are not only very nutrient dense but also help to absorb those nutrients, as
they stimulate the production of gastric acid in the stomach. The better your food is digested, the more nutrients you will absorb from your food. Bitters balance your taste buds and control sweet cravings, while also boosting your metabolism and fighting free radicals.

Raw bitters salad

Ingredients (SERVES 4–6)
1 small radicchio, leaves torn 

50–70g wild or regular rocket 

2 purple or white chicory, leaves torn 

1 red grapefruit, peeled and segmented

1 pink grapefruit, peeled and segmented

Large handful of mange tout, trimmed

110g freshly shelled petits pois or garden peas, or frozen peas blanched in boiling water for 10 seconds and refreshed in ice-cold water

2 large avocados, sliced or diced 

75g mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds

Large handful of basil leaves, finely shredded

FOR THE DRESSING

1 teaspoon light miso paste, preferably unpasteurised

80ml cider vinegar, preferably unpasteurised 

1⁄2–1 tablespoon maple syrup 

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

250ml extra virgin olive oil 

1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots or red onion

50g (1 bunch) parsley, finely chopped 

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Toss all the salad ingredients together in a bowl.

For the dressing, whisk together the miso paste, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard and some salt and pepper. While whisking, add the olive oil in a thin but steady stream, until
emulsified. Stir in the shallots and parsley, then toss through the salad.

Recipes extracted from Good Better Green by Zita Steyn (Quadrille £18.99). For three more recipes from Good Better Green pick up September’s issue of Natural Health (on sale from August 12th to September 9th, 2016).