alice bethany

Healthy Eating | Sweet Potato, Pomegranate and Chickpea Salad

Ingredients

-2 medium sweet potatoes

-2 handfuls of spinach leaves

-1/2 yellow pepper

-5 tomatoes

-1/2 tin of chickpeas, drained

-50g pomegranate seeds

-pinch of paprika

-salt and freshly ground pepper

-olive oil

for the dressing (taken from Leon Fast Vegetarian Cookbook)

-1 clove of garlic, crushed

-1/2 tbsp tahini

-60ml natural yoghurt

-juice of 1/4 lemon

-1/2 tbsp honey

-pinch of cayenne pepper

-pinch of ground cumin

-salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. To make the dressing, place all the ingredients in a liquidizer and blend together, adding a little water until you have a mixture with the consistency of double cream. Season well.
3. Cook the potatoes in the microwave for 5-10 minutes (until they soften).
4. Once slightly squishy, place on a baking tray and cut each potato into around 4 wedges, drizzle with olive oil and paprika and season well with salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes.
5. Place the chickpeas on the baking tray and also sprinkle with paprika and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Arrange the spinach on a plate and pour some of (to your liking) the dressing over it.
7. Cut the tomatoes and pepper up and place on plate with the pomegranate.
8.  Add the potatoes and chickpeas to the plate and then pour more the dressing over the completed salad to finish, enjoy!

Health Benefits:

Sweet potato - helps balance blood sugar levels - fights free-radical damage to skin - protects against infection

Spinach - helps strengthen bones - contains anti-cancer properties - helps fight inflammation - helps prevent atherosclerosis

Pepper - promotes collagen synthesis - helps protect against cataracts - maintains healthy blood vessels - contains anti-cancer substances 

Tomatoes - helps remove toxins from the body - helps keep blood vessels supple - reduces the risk of prostate cancer

Pomegranate - reduces the risk of prostate cancer - helps keep blood vessels supple - blocks enzymes that destroy cartilage - provides antiviral protection 

If you have any healthy recipes or ideas please comment and let me know!