Quick, easy vegetarian recipe: butter bean and courgetti salad
Looking for a innovative, vegetarian healthy recipe that’s packed with flavour and only takes 10 minutes? We’ve got you covered with this zesty salad from nutritional therapist Angelique Panagos, a dish which plays with different textures (crunchy sunflower seeds, creamy butter beans, ribbons of zucchini) and summery basil and lemon flavours.
Angelique’s philosophy is that food should be delicious and satisfying at all times, even if you’re trying to slim down for summer. So, easy healthy diet recipes that taste good? That’s a notion that healthy wholeheartedly agrees with.
READ MORE: 5 things you need to know about vegetarian protein
She says: ‘For many of us the idea of a diet is directly linked to deprivation. It’s a world of banning foods (or even food groups!), skipping meals and swapping your loyal friend chocolate for your bland and dry nemesis, the rice cracker. No wonder it’s so easy to fall off the bandwagon! The easiest way to a healthy and balanced diet is to not see it as a diet, but as a lifestyle change. Cram in as many fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, delicious and refreshing smoothies and be sure to include a healthy treat or two! Remember to never sacrifice flavour- food should be cleansing and nourishing but above all it should be delicious!’
Try the veggie-friendly quick healthy recipe here, perfect for a light lunch or an impressive side dish:
Angelique Panagos’ quick healthy courgetti and butterbean salad recipe
Serves 4
2 heads romaine lettuce, shredded.
400g can butter beans, rinsed
4 courgettes or 400g courgette
3 lemons, juiced
2 shallots, finely diced
50g fresh Basil
2tbs sunflower seeds
50g pine nuts
100ml olive oil
Cracked black pepper
50g pine nuts
Sea salt
Method
1 Place the butter beans in a saucepan of hot water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes to soften. Drain and allow to cool.
2 Using a spiralizer, prepare your courgetti. To do this, use the spiralizer’s thin noodle attachment; connect the raw courgette to the ‘teeth’ at the end, before turning the handle to push the courgette through the blade. If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can use a peeler to create long thin slices of courgette similar to a courgette tagliatelli.
3 Bring a saucepan to the boil and drop the courgetti into the saucepan to simmer for 1-2 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.
4 Place the romaine lettuce, butter beans, shallots and courgetti into a large salad bowl.
5 Next, use a blender to combine the fresh basil leaves, lemon juice, pine nuts and olive oil until you reach a smooth creamy, consistency.
6 Drizzle the dressing over the salad and sprinkle with sunflower seeds to garnish.
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