Summer Salad with Oranges and Watermelons

16. February, 2009

If there was a competition for healthy salads, this one would clearly be a winner. In the salad you will find carrots, oranges, watermelons, bean sprouts, peppers, cashew nuts, avocado, leafy greens and more. There is so much good stuff in it such as vitamin C, antioxidants, folate, healthy mono-unsaturated fats and more. I also sometimes use blueberries (when in season), grapes, roasted almonds, dates, parmesan and more. You can mix and mach as you like. This salad is like summer and sunshine in a bowl and it looks gorgeous.

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The most summery salad of all

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This recipe is:

Egg free
Gluten free
Lactose (dairy) free
Vegan

This recipe is easy to make:

Nut free

Summer Salad with Oranges and Watermelons

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

Mixed lettuce leaves (such as rocket, watercress, cos, spinach)
1 handful cashew nuts or almond slivers, toasted
2 carrots, coarsely grated (or cut into thin strips)
1 small orange, cut into chunks
1 pepper (red), cut into chunks
One quarter seedless watermelon, cut into chunks
1 avocado, ripe but firm, cut into chunks

Preparation

Wash the lettuce leaves, pat dry and tear coarsely.
Spread the almonds or cashew nuts out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 4-6 minutes. Use a timer or you might forget them! Let them cool for a couple of minutes.
Peel the 2 carrots and cut into thin stripes (like matchsticks) or grate them coarsely.
Peel the orange and remove the white, soft pith. Remove any stones that might be present. Cut into chunks.
Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds. Cut into chunks.
Slice the watermelon horizontally into wedges. Remove the rind, by inserting a knife between the rind and the flesh to cut it away. Cut into chunks.
Cut the avocado in half lengthwise. Gently twist the two halves in opposite direction if you find the flesh clinging to the pit. Remove the pit, either with a spoon or by spearing with the tip of a knife. Place the halves face down, then peel and cut into chunks..
Mix everything together in the bowl apart from the nuts (avoid mixing too much so that the salad will still look nice).
Scatter the nuts over the salad.
Serve with a light salad dressing (such as yoghurt, agave nectar and ground paprika mixed together).

Tips

How to select a ripe watermelon: Look for one that is heavy for its size with a rind that is relatively smooth and that is neither overly shiny nor overly dull. When you knock on its side, you should feel a solid resonance. Additionally when you turn it over you should look for a creamy yellow spot where it ripened in the sun.
You can use other vegetables or fruit in this salad. You might want to try thinly sliced apples, grapes, honeydew or cantaloupe, cauliflower and more.
You can prepare the salad the day before, just make sure you cover the bowl with cling film as the avocado will discolour quickly.