Black Bean and Sweet Potato Warm Salad (V, Ve, GF, DF)

This is a super sexy salad; loads of textures and flavour and really quick and easy. This recipe makes enough for 2 big portions or 3 if you're not as greedy ;)

1tbsp     Olive oil 

1/2 tsp   Paprika

Medium sized Sweet Potato

2 Carrots

1/2 Bell pepper

10 Cherry tomatoes

230g (can or carton) Cooked Black beans

1 Avocado

Handful fresh Coriander (Cilantro)

Handful Pumpkin seeds

1/2 tsp  Chilli powder

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Peel and chop the sweet potato into roughly 1/2cm sq cubes.  Put on a baking tray with the olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper (to taste) and bake for roughly 15mins until tender and golden.

Peel and grate or julienne the carrots, chop the tomatoes into quarters, chop the pepper into small pieces, de-stone and chop the avocado into small pieces.  Drain and wash the cooked beans. Chop the coriander finely.  Add everything to a bowl with salt and pepper to taste.

Toast the pumpkin seeds in a tiny bit of oil and the chilli powder in a hot frying pan.  They'll turn golden and pop when they're ready.  Just a couple minutes at most.

Once the sweet potato is ready add that to the bowl with the seeds and toss together. Ready!

You can add the juice of half a lime to make it more zingy or some finely chopped chilli for more heat.  Either way, this is a great salad to eat warm or cold, as a side dish or to take as a packed lunch.

Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing (V, Ve, GF)

This side salad is dead simple to make and the dressing can be used with any salad. This is just enough as an accompaniment for 3, but scale up with a carrot per person for a side and 2 carrots per person for a main.

Salad

3 carrots
Handful of sultanas
Can of cooked chickpeas
Large handful of fresh flat leaf parsley

Dressing

Juice of half a lemon
Heaped tsp tahini
Dash of water (to lengthen)
Small garlic glove grated/crushed
1/4tsp salt
Olive oil equal to lemon juice

Peel the carrots and grate them into kitchen roll or a teacloth and squeeze the liquid out. Drain the chickpeas and add them to a mixing bowl with the carrot and sultanas. Finely chop the parsley and add to the bowl and give it a mix.

Add all the dressing ingredients to a jam jar or anything with a lid, and give it a really good shake. To get a real depth of flavour, make the dressing a day earlier.

Now add the dressing to the salad a little at a time whist stirring to get the right balance of dressing to salad and voila!

Eat!