03 Feb Hormone-Balancing Green Salad with a Herbaceous Zesty Dressing

My answer to most health related questions is; “Eat more dark leafy greens”. It is such a well-rounded group of foods that adds all sorts of minerals and vitamins into your body.

Protein is one of the most important ways of balancing your hormones and, lucky for us, greens are full of them.  Did you know that spirulina has one of the densest protein counts coming in at a whopping 57% compared to meat, which is approximately 26%. 

Greens are also full of folate, fibre, magnesium, calcium and vitamin B, which helps our bodies balance out hunger and stress, gives us energy and keeps us strong.

INGREDIENTS

Herb Dressing

• 1 cup basil (30g)
• ½ cup parsley
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup avocado oil
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ tsp spirulina powder
• ½ lemon juice
• 2 TBS water
• Salt
  

Salad

• Kale
• Cucumber
• Green beans
• Courgette
• Hemp hearts
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil/Avocado oil
  

METHOD

For the dressing 

1. Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. You can add in some oil or water if it needs a little help with blending.

For the salad

1. Cut the large stems out of the kale and tear the kale into small pieces. Massage with some lemon juice, salt and oil, and set aside to rest.

2. Slice the courgette into 1cm pieces and fry. Steam the green beans for 2 minutes and cool them down straight away (this will keep them crisp and juicy). Use your peeler to slice long ribbons of cucumber, twirl it around into spirals.

3. Pour the sauce into 2 bowls and place the salad bits into a crescent moon. Sprinkle over some hemp seeds, add a squeeze of lemon juice and enjoy.