Rainbow Salad with Sesame Pomegranate Dressing

I like to call this a Smug Salad because its usually what I make on a Monday for lunch to gear me up for the week ahead. I always feel pretty great and smug with myself for eating this many vegetables. Lots of raw veg need a killer dressing to carry it and when I’m not making a tahini or miso vinaigrette then I will throw this into the mix. The whole thing can be made in under 15 minutes and you can take it to work. I always have these types of vegetables in my fridge and I try to add as many different colours as possible. If you don’t have rice then add quinoa, lentils or chickpeas to bulk it up. I love the quick pickled beetroot in cider vinegar too!

Vegan/GF/DF

Makes enough for 1

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

3-4 large tablespoons of cooked rice

half a medium beetroot, sliced thinly on a mandoline

3-4 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 avocado, sliced

1 portobello mushroom, thinly sliced

1/2 a carrot, grated

1/2 a red pepper, diced

handful kale leaves, stalks removed

handful walnuts, roughly chopped

handful flat leaf parsley

For the dressing:

4 tbsp toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I used this one)

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (you could use 1 tsp of maple syrup or pinch of sugar)

Zest of half a lemon and 1.5 tbsp lemon juice

pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Set a frying pan to a medium to high heat and add the mushrooms to fry for about 3 minutes until soft. Scrape these on to plate. Next add in the kale and wilt down for about 2 minutes and remove from the heat.

Add the thinly sliced beetroot pieces to a bowl and pour over apple cider vinegar and squish it all together so that the beetroot soaks up the vinegar. Leave for a couple of minutes.

Add all of the dressing ingredients together and mix. Taste to double check the seasoning is to your taste.

Plate up all the parts to the salad and pour over the dressing. Et voilà!