Category: Dinner

One of my three favourite meals

Lentil & Shrimp Salad

Until I moved away from home and started eating for health around 10 years ago, I never even knew about lentils. Given that lentils are tasty, filling and a nutrient superstar, it has now become a staple in my diet. Lentils are packed with fiber, protein, minerals and vitamins. They are fairly low in calories (230 calories per cup cooked) and contain almost no fat. I love eating foods that I know are good for my body and even better is when the meal keeps me full for hours, like this  salad.

This salad has it all. It´s filling, it´s tasty and it´s pretty. It sounds silly to say that it looks pretty, but we all eat with our eyes and just look at all those beautiful colors! Doesn’t´t that make you happy? For a healthy and complete diet that covers all your nutrient needs, a good advice is to eat food of all colors of the rain bow. This salad covers most of them!

It works perfectly for both lunch and dinner – in particular when the weather is hot like at the moment. If you are vegan or have shellfish allergies, the salad is also great with tofu as a substitution. Of course, you could also just leave it out completely!

Lentil & Shrimp Salad

Serves 8

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry lentils
  • 100g arugula
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 5 green onions
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • 1 mango
  • 1 cup edamame beans (no shells)
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 800g shrimps
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 spicy red pepper

METHOD

Rinse the lentils and boil with a bit of boullion according to the package instructions.

While the lentils are cooking, rinse the arugula and chop the cucumber, green onions, bell peppers and mango.

Combine the arugula, chopped vegetables, edamame beans and pomegranate seeds in a large salad bowl.

When the lentils are done cooking – be careful not to overcook them so they become mushy! – strain any excess water and leave the lentils to cool a bit.

Finely chop the garlic and red pepper.

In a large pan, cook the shrimps. When the shrimps are done cooking, strain any excess liquids from the pan. Add the garlic and pepper to the shrimps and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

Remove the shrimps from the heat and add both the shrimps and the lentils to the other salad ingredients in the salad bowl.

Toss and serve!

NOTES

The salad can be served either warm or cold. I´m not even sure which I prefer as both are delicious! Normally I have it warm for dinner and have cold leftovers for lunch the next day.

Let me know how you like it!

 

StephLeave a comment

Cauliflower “Potato” Salad

In Denmark, we eat a lot of potatoes. And I mean a lot! In fact, the average Dane eats about 40 kg potatoes per year. I wonder if any other nations comes close to that? It basically means having potatoes with a meal every single day, year round. Thinking of it, I wonder how I never grew tired of eating all those potatoes when growing up. I guess it might be because potatoes are typically served with a cream based sauce in Denmark and I love sauces. I might have been known to try to get away with eating it like soup as a child. 😉

These days, I almost never eat white potatoes anymore. As you might have guessed from the title of my blog I absolutely LOVE sweet potatoes so most times I´ll substitute them for their white counterparts. However, that doesn’t´t work so well for a classic potato salad. What DOES work well as a substitution is cauliflower.

Classic potato salad is perfect for a summer barbecue but it is also a quite heavy side dish that can sometimes feel a bit much in the heat. On top of that, it is not exactly low calorie nor nutrient dense. That is why I came up with this version using cauliflower for a lighter, lower calorie option. The cauliflower substitutes the potatoes and quark substitutes mayo. On top of that, I have included peas, radishes and micro greens for a more nutrient rich dish. The salad goes excellent with any kind of protein (fish, poultry, meat) but can also very much be enjoyed on its own. And at about 100 calories per serving you can basically indulge guilt free and eat to your heart´s content!

Cauliflower “potato” salad

Serves 6
INGREDIENTS

  • 1 large head cauliflower
  • 1 cup peas
  • 1 cup radishes
  • 3 green onions
  • 1 cup micro greens (optional)
  • 1/4 cup chives
  • 1 cup quark (or greek yogurt or skyr)
  • 2 teaspoons mustard
  • 2 teaspoons applecider vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

METHOD
Rinse the cauliflower and chop it into bite sized bits. Steam the cauliflower for just 3-4 minutes. You  will want it to still have a bit of crunch to it.

When the cauliflower is done, add it to a bowl together with the peas, chopped radishes, chopped green onions, microgreens and finely chopped chives.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients to make the sauce. Add the sauce to the cauliflower mixture and toss.

NOTES

The salad can be served immediately, but I recommend putting it in the fridge for about half an hour to develop further flavor and to be served cold.

I developed this recipe a while back, but since it´s 30 degrees outside today and I have a head of cauliflower in the fridge that needs to be used, I´m thinking I might make this tonight. Given how low calorie it is, it might even leave room for ice cream for dessert. After all, it is Friday! 😉

StephLeave a comment