Superhero food: Roasted hazelnut, pomegranate and radish salad

Radishes make me really happy. There, I said it. I love the colour pop, I love the spicy crunch and I love their tree-trunk pattern. They're also a great source of that infamous vitamin B6 everyone keeps asking me about. I teamed up them with hazelnuts, which are also rich in protein and a load of other B vitamins, but mainly because I love the taste of hazelnuts that lingers between sweet and savoury, which is made even more apparent when toasting. Pile 'em on fellas and get crunching!

I made this salad for brunch with soft polenta, roasted mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. I also added some pomegranate molasses for a dressing but I think it works just as well left plain and extra refreshing.

Makes enough for four as a side dish

200g hazelnuts
1 handful of radishes
2 inches cucumber
Pomegrante seeds from half a pomegranate
Different types of salad leaves

In a dry pan, toast the hazelnuts on a low heat for about 3-5 minutes. You'll know when they are ready as they will start to brown and you will be able to smell the oil from the nuts toasting.

Keeping an eye on the nuts, slice the radishes and cucumber and arrange with the salad leaves. Sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on top.

Roughly chop the nuts- leaving some whole, and place over the salad, mixing a little to make sure all the good stuff doesn't roll to the bottom if you're using a salad bowl.

Serve with warm polenta, juicy mushrooms or just the pomegranate molasses for a tasty wake-up call.

Cherries are the bomb

Cherries are in season! They are the bombbb. Have a mug-full for elevenses, stick a hand-full in with museli or go the whole hog with a bowl-full.

Chickpea and red cabbage box salad

Five day box salad with chickpeas and red cabbage

A great way to sort your lunches ahead of time is a Box Salad. You can eat this salad raw, as it is, or zap in the microwave for a few minutes- the red cabbage especially is amazing hot or cold.  

Spend twenty minutes making this on a Sunday evening and you'll be sorted 'til Friday! The lime juice will keep this salad tasting fresh, and by using a study green leaf like chard you can be sure it will hold up for a good few days in the fridge. The parsley is great in the place of an onion if you're eating this at work- I find it adds a similar savory tang to salads that raw onion does, just without the long-lasting onion breath to follow! Social eating at its best, but if you don't care, then I think this would be great with a little chopped red onion too.

Ingredients:
1 tin of cooked Chickpeas, drained
1/4 red cabbage cut into long shreds
1 grated carrot
Handful of peas
Handful of chard with stems chopped off 
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
Dash of white wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lime

Salt, pepper to taste

Grab a mixing bowl, or if you don't have one, just your largest saucepan or wok. 


Add all ingredients, bearing in mind that flavours like salt will intensify as the days go by, so always add slightly less than needed. Then decant into five different tubs- supermarket soup containers or former- margarine tubs are the perfect size. 


Lunch is sorted! You can add couscous or rice to this if you fancy a little variety, or just eat as is.