Why bring one salad when you can bring three?

We're having such a nice and hot summer this year! But that also means that facing hot food is... well not really what you want, is it now? But how boring is some lettuce and tomatoes thrown together? I just don't feel satisfied with that. I like colour, I like variety, and I like big portions. Well, I guess you can have big portions of lettuce and tomato but you'd be bored pretty quickly.

So here are three absolutely delicious and most definitely not boring salads. And yes, I know, they do involve a little bit of cooking... but I promise it's worth it!

Watch the video on how to make them here: (or keep reading for written instructions)

1. Tuna Potato Salad

Ingredients:

50g of tinned tuna, that have been drained

12g of light mayonnaise

180g of small potatoes

75g of cucumber

1/2 a spring onion

25g worth of baby sweet corn, which is about two of them

Chives to taste.

How to:

1. Simply mix the mayonnaise and tuna together in a bowl. Making sure the tuna is completely coated or else it'll be dry. Then set that aside.

2. Next, place your potatoes into a saucepan. You can chop then into pieces or leave them whole depending on their size. Make sure you're using a type of potato that doesn't have a tough skin as we're leaving that on. Cover them with cold water, put the lid on the saucepan and then bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling you can remove the lid and turn the heat down. Cook until a fork can easily go through the potato. You want them to be cooked through, but you don't want them to be so soft they can't hold their shape.

3. Whilst your potatoes are cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Slice up the baby sweet corn, cut up the spring onion and chives with scissors. Cut the cucumber into chunks, I find the easiest way to do that is to cut it in half then cut it into strips and finally slice in the other direction to get little rectangles.

4. Once your potatoes are cooked, drain them and rinse them in cold water. Leave them to cool for a little while. Then all you have to do is mix all the ingredients together. And enjoy!

2. Colourful Prawn Salad.

Ingredients

1tsp of olive oil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

5 prawns... or shrimp depending where in the world you are, that have been peeled and have had their tail removed

60g of mushrooms

80g of iceberg lettuce

65g of red bell pepper

1/2 an avocado

25g of baby sweet corn

And again chives to taste (can you tell I have some in my garden?)

How to

1. Start by slicing up the mushrooms.

2. Then pour the olive oil into a frying pan with the powdered garlic, and let that heat up a while. Add in the prawns, making sure they're in contact with the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until they turn a deep pink colour and generally look delicious.

3. Once they're done, remove them from the pan and add the mushrooms into the same oil and garlic. Cook them on each side until nice and golden then place them aside too.

4. Roughly chop up the iceberg lettuce, then slice the red bell pepper into strips before cutting them into little squares. Don't forget to remove the seeds from its belly. Score a grid into the avocado so that you can easily spoon out bite size pieces.

5. Mix your mushrooms in with the lettuce and pepper, and place on a plate as a bed. Display your perfectly scrumptious prawns on top, slice your baby sweet corn in half lengthwise and place on top of your salad. Spoon out your avocado and disperse it evenly over the dish and finally sprinkle your chives on top. This salad is so fresh and colourful, I hope you enjoy it!

3. Salmon and Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

1/8th cup of dry quinoa

1/3 cup of water

100g of broccoli

90g of salmon steak

1tsp coconut oil

A pinch of pepper

70g of spinach

10g of pine nuts

Half a ripe nectarine

How to

1. The first step is to rinse the quinoa so that it isn't bitter, then place it in a saucepan with the third cup of water, cover and place on the heat. Once the water is simmering you can uncover and cook for 15-20 minutes. It should puff up and be fluffy, not hard. If all the water evaporates before this happens don't hesitate to add some more.

2. While your quinoa is cooking, place your salmon steak on a lined oven tray and bake in the top-middle of an oven that's been preheated to 160°C. Depending on the thickness of the steak, it'll take between 4-7 minutes each side to be cooked through.

3. Once your quinoa is ready, place in a bowl and fluff with a fork then set it aside for later.

4. Next, chop the broccoli into little florets and place in a sauce pan. Cover with water and bring it a boil, cook for 10-12 minutes until slightly soft, but again we want the broccoli to hold its shape. Once it's cooked you can drain the broccoli.

5. The final preparation step is to chop up your half nectarine into cubes.

6. Now place the coconut oil and pepper in a wok and heat through. Add the spinach and let the leaves wilt down a little. Throw in the pine nuts then add the broccoli. Chop in the salmon, making sure to check for bones and remove any if you find them. Finally add in the cooked quinoa and the nectarine. Lightly toss them together, then arrange on your plate and enjoy!

That was easy, wasn't it?

Nutritional values:

#summer #salads #healthy #salmonandbroccoli #quinoa #tunapotato #shrimps