Substantial salads

[MrsKippling]

Like many people, I have overindulged over the festive season and am feeling so bloated and ugh! Craving some lovely healthy food.

I have loads of lovely healthy soups I'm planning to load the freezer with but my salads are never very exciting. I wish I was one of those people who could be full on a small portion of protein and some leaves, but unfortunately I have a huge appetite so am after some lovely healthy filling salad recipes. I don't eat fish other than tuna and am not keen on cheese but feel free to share any recipes as it may inspire others 😊.

I made a great salad tonight I thought I'd share.

Roast cauliflower with some za'atar, carrots and sprouts. I boiled the carrots first so that everything roasted for the same time. I also used frozen sprouts. Half way through roasting I added quartered red onions.

While that was all cooking I made a dressing using lemon and black pepper salad dressing as a base and added some sweetner (you could use honey but I'm calorie counting) some za'atar and Ras El Hanout, powdered garlic, Dijon mustard and some salt and pepper. I added a pouch of quinoa to this and mixed it all in.

Put the quinoa in a bowl with some rocket and almonds, fried up some halloumi and then topped it with all the veg and added a wee drizzle of balsamic glaze and tahini dressing.

Salade Niçoise is a favourite here, quite substantial if you use all the ingredients, and useful for you @MrsKippling as it uses tuna.

Other favourites are chicken Caesar salad and Russian salad, and Waldorf salad with smoked mackerel fillets added to it.
I often add a couple of spoons of mixed beans to a salad for some protein and to make it more filling.

One of my favourite things with a salad is beetroot.dip/coleslaw type stuff. Get one of those vacuum packs of.beetroot no vinegar. Drain the juice into a cup/jug, dice two beetroots grate the other two. In a bowl mix Greek yogurt, creme fraiche 3:1 ratio (or can sub the CF with a bit of mayo not too much though or it's sickly), crushed garlic clove, salt and pepper, mix wet ingredients together (only add as much beetroot juice as needed don't want it to be too sloppy) , add garlic and seasoning, mix well add diced then grated beetroot mix it all together. It's nice having been in the fridge over night and keeps for 4/5 days.
Add that to any salad it's delicious, I had it today with lettuce, baby spinach, cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, olives and some left over roast chicken. It does make everything pink, so I tend to take it in a separate tub and add it on top when I'm about to eat

Roast baby potatoes and beetroot with a splash of olive oil. Serve on a heap of spinach and steamed green beans with a dressing of red wine vinegar, oil and mustard.
Works with tuna, chicken breast or even hard boiled egg.

Rocket
Thinly sliced red onion
Cubed feta cheese
Some fruit - I've had raspberries and blueberries (though frozen doesn't work) and chopped pear is lovely, or apple or pineapple
Roast chicken - warm or cold
A sprinkling of cashew nuts
Some anchovies if you like them
Best of all - roasted cubes of sweet potato (hot)

I don't use oil for dressing, just balsamic vinegar.

This is much easier if you're making it for more than one person.

My standby salad is tuna cucumber, tomato, onion, potato, boiled egg, black eyed peas and black olives in either a vinaigrette or garlic mayo dressing.

This sounds lovely and would be lovely with some mackerel