Today I made a spinach and pumpkin salad which turned out rather well (if I do say so myself), so I thought I'd take some photos and share it here with you. It's very simple and easy to make and is perfect as a side salad or even a main meal as the pumpkin and nuts really bulk it up. I would usually use pine nuts for this salad, but as I didn't have any on hand I substituted them with cashews and I think I actually prefer it this way! Feta cheese is also a nice addition if you have it on hand!
Ingredients:
*Baby spinach
*Butternut pumpkin
*Cashews (or Pine nuts)
*Avocado
*Feta Cheese (not included this time but my favourite is Danish Feta)
*Olive Oil
*Vinegar
*Pepper
Let's Do This:
Ok so it's pretty self explanatory - basically you want to chop the pumpkin into small bite size pieces, coat with a little olive oil and pop it in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for around 25 minutes. This timing is approximate though so it may be a little longer or a little shorter.
Place the cashew nuts (or pine nuts) in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, continually stirring so they don't burn.
For the dressing, stir together a little vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place the spinach, pumpkin, avocado and nuts into a bowl. Crumble over the feta and then drizzle the dressing over the top.
All Done! There you have an easy-peasy, super yummy and filling salad!
I like making salads like this as you don't need to be precise and you can throw in whatever you happen to have on hand. That's the kind of cooking I enjoy - adding a little dash or this or a handful of that. I'm not fond of really precise cooking where you need to measure everything out exactly - this probably explains why baking is not my forte!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this slightly different kind of post. I always planned for this blog to be a bit more varied and not
just
fashion based - so hopefully this will be the year that I mix it up a bit!
Let me know if you have any favourite salads. I'd love to get some ideas!
Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx
On a completely off topic note, while I was eating this salad tonight I watched
and I had forgotten how much I love that movie - it is
hilarious
, and Meryl Streep is fantastic as always.
Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone's in need of a fun feel-good movie suggestion!
