Shingles hit, and I've been sleeping around 16-18 hours a day. Craziness! Even at my poorliest with ME, if I'd slept all day I struggled to sleep all night, but shingles has pulled my power plug out, well and truly, and I just can't get enough sleep!
That said, my school have been insanely supportive, they've rallied round and covered everything so I've been off without worrying and able to be unconscious most of the day!
In good news, the antivirals seem to be working and the rash has stopped spreading, and the odd, burning, electrocution-y pain is less frequent, even if there's still more of it than I'd like!
As I've been asleep all week, I've only been enjoying the gorgeous blue skies and sunny weather from my vantage point curled up on the sofa, but yesterday I decided to celebrate the sunshine, even if I'm indoors, and make a scrummy summer salad!
Salad for me has always been one of those things that I love to have out, but never replicated in a way that I actually wanted to tuck into at home! It always seemed to end up being the same salad veg (lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes), some kind of super healthy protein (fish/chicken) and feeling hungry again within 2 hours. Salad in a restaurant was usually accompanied by chips!
When I started paleo last year, I knew that to make it a goer through the summer, I needed to change my viewpoint (and 'recipe bank') of salads- and over the course of the summer, I discovered a whole repertoire of easy, delicious and interesting salads that even Jon enjoys eating!
In doing so, I found a few things that I needed each time to make a salad go from boring to blooming irresistable!
1: Fat. Yep; you read that right! One of the most eye opening things I discovered whilst eating paleo is that your body needs good fat- and you can still lose weight if you eat it- so long as you're not padding out the rest of your diet with processed foods, sugar and refined carbs.
Fat for me takes salad from penitence to treat- and also triggers the satiety receptors in your head making you feel fuller and satisfied faster. Some good fats that I love to add to my salads are:
-Avocados.
-Nuts (toasted or raw- try pecans, walnuts, peanuts, macadamias)
-Homemade, olive oil mayo (This recipe is bulletproof- I've made it at least 10 times and it's never failed)
-Olives
2: Protein. Not just for decorative purposes- a fist sized portion per person. Protein is such a key to staying full, controlling blood sugar and building/repairing muscle- don't skimp here! Obviously if you're using a fatty protein like chorizo or cheese, you may want less added fat from the fats section.
- Meat- Chicken, Chorizo, ready cut bacon lardons if you're in a rush (Lidl do a great beech smoked packet). Try roasting off a whole pan of chicken drumsticks at the weekend and using them through the week for lunches. Ham, parma ham, charcuterie.
-Fish- smoked salmon, prawns (both really easy and quick, if a bit expensive) squid, trout. I'm not a huge fan of white fish on salad- all a bit too healthy! - maybe one day I'll change my mind!
-Cheese- crumbly goats cheese, feta, applewood smoked, cheddar, parmesan. Experiement with grating, finely grating, crumbling and cubing to get maximum cheesey flavour for minimum cheese!
3. Veggies. I have a confession to make: I detest iceberg lettuce. As in, cannot stand the stuff! I'd not be sad if it was wiped from planet earth tomorrow! That said, there's still loads that I love putting in salads to keep them interesting:
-Leaves: Spinach, watercress and rocket is my go-to bagged salad- tonnes of flavour and super easy. Cos lettuce and mini cos are crunchy and tasty if you've got a bit longer. Raddichio is tasty but bitter so go easy- same with endive.
-Fruit: I love fruit in salads- especially if you've got a salty or very savoury element like cheese or cured meat. Crisp apples, pears, raisins, melon, orange segments- all scrummy and one of your 5 a day!
-Veg: Veggies as well as leaves make for variety and taste; I love frozen, pre grilled mediterranean veggies- oven cook them and stir them in- easy and tasty! Mushrooms, grilled/poached asparagus tips, hot or cold peas, petit pois or french beans, grated carrot, grated cabbage (red or white)- the list could go on and on!
4. Dressing. For me this is where it can all go terribly, terribly wrong! Sometimes, if a salad's got a mixture of all of the above, it doesn't even need a dressing! That said, a sparser, simpler salad can go from dull to delicious with a good dressing. Remember dressing can count for your 'fat' as well if you're going for a mayo or oil heavy dressing:
Zingy- Lemon/Lime/Orange juice. Balsamic/White Wine/Cider/Champagne Vinegar. Buttermilk
Creamy: Mayo/Yoghurt/Sour Cream based dressings
Oils: Olive, rapeseed, walnut, sesame, tahini (obviously not an oil but tasty!)
5. Garnish. Add the final flavour punch you need to balance everything else in the salad; I love:
-finely chopped shallots/red onion
-herbs- dill for fish/ a scandinavian vibe on anything! Coriander for an asian/mexican flavour, Parsley goes with anything!
6. Carbs. Especially in summer when you're having salad as a main meal!
-New potatoes, sweet potatoes, beetroot, roasted butternut squash,
-Pasta, wholewheat pasta, quinoa, rice, wild rice, noodles
-fresh bread, wraps, croutons
7. Temperature. Obviously not an ingredient, but can go a long way toward making a salad taste more interesting (and less like it's been in a tesco chiller cabinet for the last 2 days!) try;
-frying bacon lardons and leftover cooked chicken and scattering on top
-roasting baby new potatoes, chopping roughly and stirring through
-roasting aubergine, courgette and peppers and adding to a mediterranean salad.
I've found that trying to get a good balance of these 7 things has saved me spending loads trying to cook exact salad recipes, but also means that I'm not stuck eating a plate of iceberg lettuce and cold chicken (eurgh!)
That said- here's a yummy salad we had yesterday to celebrate summer!
Watermelon, fish and cheese may sound like an odd combo, but the hot prawns, cold, crisp watermelon and salty, creamy cheese are a really delicious, summery combination!
Watermelon, Prawn and Goats Cheese Salad.
Serves 2-3 as a main, more as a side.
Ingredients:
1/2 a bag of spinach, rocket and watercress salad
3 thick slices of watermelon
1/2 a pack soft goats cheese (approx 75g)
20 prawns (we bought ours in a bulk freezer pack at Lidl when they were on offer. Even 10 prawns would increase the protein and still be delicious)
handful of fresh parsley
2 cloves of garlic
Salt & Pepper
Flatbread (to serve)
Empty the salad into a big bowl. Chop the watermelon into big cubes, and mix through.
Crumble the cheese into fingernail size bits and scatter across the salad.
-at this point, just this salad by itself is really refreshing and a great side for a BBQ or lunch!-
Put a glug of olive oil into a pan, chop the garlic and fry for 30 seconds.
Add the prawns (still frozen if needs be!)
Stir around until prawns are heated through, add the parsley, salt and pepper and keep stirring.
Once the parsley is wilted, pour the prawns onto the salad.
Serve with side plates, a finger bowl and flatbread to wipe up and creamy cheesey bits stuck to the plates.
In an ideal world, I'd have used shelled prawns for this to make eating it easier. That said, these were on an insanely good special offer and due to shingles tiredness I couldn't be bothered to peel them first. It was still really tasty!
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