There’s no getting away from the fact that, for most of us, lifestyle and food holds so much emotion it can be very hard to carry through any changes. It’s all about making small changes that are sustainable and easy to follow.

A great way to start making a change is by looking at the amount of food you have on your plate and the nutrients this is giving you. Every bit of food you ingest will either give your cells the energy to repair and renew, or put them into a state of defence. It’s simple. The food we eat makes us and while we are sleeping at night our bodies repair and renew from the raw ingredients we have given them during the day. This leads to the question of what kind of cells the body is able to make from the raw ingredients it is being fed.

I invite you to look at your plate and embrace filling half with salad. Now, I don’t mean boring salads, like lettuce, tomato and cucumber. As we come towards summer, I want you to think of a salad brimming with different textures, colours and flavours and balancing those sweet, salty, sour and bitter flavours. Below are three salad suggestions for to explore. You can bulk-make these and store them for a couple of days in your fridge, then just fill half your plate with a selection. Even if you make no other changes, and some nights you are still having processed or take away food, you’ll know that fifty percent of your plate is brimming with life and vitality, and I want you to focus on celebrating that!

Experiment with your salads to make sure you are having a variety of antioxidants (remember to eat a rainbow). Here are three simple salad suggestions:

1. Chop some raw kale really fine and squish and massage in a ripe avocado. Grate some carrot and celeriac and also add in some finely chopped red cabbage. Top off with some fresh pomegranate seeds for delicious bursts of sweetness.

2. Spiralise some carrot and mix up with grated red cabbage. Add in cubes of cucumber and slices of tomato. Sprinkle with curry powder to taste and add some small pieces of chopped dried fig for an element of sweetness.

3. Finely chop up some spinach and kale. Then put one tablespoon of tahini in a cup, along with a pinch of salt, three tablespoons of Engevita (i.e. nutritional yeast flakes) and add enough water to mix into a dressing. Don’t worry if it curdles, just keep stirring until it comes together. Then pour this on top of the greens and mix in well. Top with grated carrot and fresh sprouts.

If you would like to share your favourite salad recipes, then please feel free to post them in the comments below.

If this post tickles your taste buds, then please share with friends and family.

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