Warm Asian Style Salad

When thinking up lunch ideas for the week I often turn to salads as they are easy to transport if I am to be away from home and require no facilities for reheating etc. I used to think salads were boring and sadly in many eateries they are, the standard iceberg lettuce with tomato and cucumber is enough to put anyone off eating them and is quite frankly a bit pants.

Salads do not have to be boring, over the last few years I found a whole new array of salad recipes which suit me from summer through into the autumn after which I usually switch to soups and stews. There are so many different easy dressings that you can make up at home to give a salad a new dimension and don’t forget to add nuts and seeds for some extra texture, flavour and nutrition.

Warm Asian Style Salad photographed by Rhowena MacCuish Oct 2012

Pictured here is a salad I have made a few times now and enjoyed most recently. It’s a Warm Asian Style Salad recipe from Waitrose made with radishes, spring onions, butternut squash and soy beans. It is dressed with a peanut Satay which is mixed with some honey and lime juice and zest. It tastes just gorgeous and can be eaten cold later if there are left overs but it is best fresh while the butternut squash is still warm.

Remember to save the seeds from the squash and roast them in the oven for around twenty mins with a little olive oil and seasoning, delicious!

This salad is packed with nutrition; radishes in particular have vitamin c, zinc and phosphorus all great for the skin and are known to have cancer fighting properties, as well as many other great health benefits. Radishes are great for those dieting as they fill you up while being low in calories and great for roughage.