Skip to main content

Leon's Superfood salad


Leon, in case you don't know, is a healthy fast food chain for people who like their food. A bit like Ottolenghi, I suppose, but with more of a generous nuance -and cheaper-, since their motto is also "better food for most people" or something alike. I have never had the privilege to set foot in one of their outlets, having not been in London at all for the past two years, but a visit there is definitely on my list were I to be travelling in those parts again.

So, they have published a cookbook, and the foodie brain behind the whole venture is Allegra McEvedy, who seems like a generous, funny character, and whose humour shines through the pages. The book is huge, and divided in two sub-books, one about ingredients, with lots of interesting info and trivia about the whole spectrum of food (including a seasonal chart and a cheese map of Europe), and one about recipes, not just those of the Leon signature dishes, but also "family" recipes, handed down by members of the Leon team. There's a wide variety of dishes, from pumpkin falafel to gluten-free brownies (with ground almonds), soups, salads, stews, meat and veggie dishes, cocktails, etc. etc. All focus on rather fuss-free methods and healthyish ingredients.

It's a beautiful, fun book, very colourful and warm, with tons of photos and illustrations, plus a page of Leon retro stickers. It makes you wish to be part of the Leon family... or at least be a regular at their restaurants. And it also makes you want to cook, which is probably the most important.

I have made the chicken with couscous, and it was delicious and rather easy. Today I present you the superfood salad. You'll find three versions of it in the book, namely the Leon Original Superfood salad, the Rainbow Superfood salad and the Chicken (or salmon) Superfood salad.

I have used the recipes as a guideline. I won't give you the exact recipe, because I think you can pick and choose and use whatever is most convenient, but here's the main ingredient list for the Original one :

quinoa
broccoli (still a bit crunchy)
peas
cucumber
feta (I used halloumi, and grilled it in cubes in a pan)
toasted seeds (sesame and sunflowers, I had no pumpkin seeds)
avocado
alfalfa sprouts, parsley and mint (left those out)

I also used baby spinach, which is included in the chicken salad. The dressing is a simple affair of salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil.

It was absolutely delicious and made me feel full and virtuous. I particularly liked the fact that the toasted seeds make the quinoa taste crunchier and more flavourful, a good idea to retain for future use. I have made a lot of quinoa salads in the past summer with quinoa as the main player but here, it's just another component, which is just as well.

If you're interested, they have a website where you can find their menu. Most of the dishes on that menu are in the book, though not all. There are also many recipes to be found on the guardian homepage, where Allegra is a columnist.

Comments

Anna said…
That looks gorgeous - I love the idea of a 'superfoods' salad!
Pierce said…
That looks good. I was surfing around and found your blog with cool recipes. Just wanted to leave a comment since it looks so good.

Cheers,
Tina
That looks delicious Julie. I have the Leon cookbook but missed this recipe, I'm off to dig the book out.
Sandy said…
This does look delicious. I adore salads and this one looks like it has everything I would want and need.
Rosie said…
they gave the recipe away in the sunday times; it was completely gorgeous...i agree though, you can pretty much do what you like with amounts...

Popular posts from this blog

Nigella's summer crumble

How has your summer been? Has everyone around you been complaining of the weather? Summer' s so much more than just sun and heat though... fruit,  farniente , ice-cream,  apéros  and walks...reading long books, so many little pleasures. Tossa de Mar And lest we forget to turn the oven on, to warm us up... Nigella's summer crumble (from Forever Summer ) is a fantastic way to use up those less-than satisfying apricots that everyone leaves in the fruit bowl, the ones a little less red, the mushy ones, and transform them into deep orange compote under the layer of almondy crumble. Or any other stone fruit for that matter. Parc Guell, Barcelona Summer crumble, adapted from Nigella Lawson in  Forever Summer 750g apricots, stoned and quartered 75g butter 100g self-raising flour or flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder a pinch of salt 25g ground almonds 75g caster sugar 50g flaked or chopped almonds Preheat the oven at 200C. Butter a gratin dish. Layer the fruit

La Réunion en recettes : cari de lotte et son riz au lait de coco

Enfin, je réalise d'autres recettes réunionnaises . La cuisine de la Réunion, au carrefour des continents, à l'image de sa population, associe des saveurs européennes, asiatiques, indiennes et africaines. Je vous propose le cari de lotte, tout simplement parce que je cherchais du poisson ce samedi-là, et que les queues de lotte m'ont tapé dans l'oeil. Pauvres lottes décapitées sur l'étal du rayon poissonnerie, eh oui, la lotte est moche, tellement moche qu'on l'appelle poisson-diable en allemand et en anglais (mais aussi poisson-moine/monkfish), aussi, on la propose souvent débarassée de son faciès. Oui, mais une fois rentrés à la maison, que faire de ces deux beaux filets? Ni une, ni deux, j'ouvre mes tomes de Nigella et Jamie et compulse les index, mais les recettes ne m'emballant pas trop, je pense soudain à en faire un cari et j'ouvre alors Cuisine des Iles de l'Océan Indien (Edisud), ramené lors de mon dernier voyage à la Réunion il y a

Pseudo goulasch hispanisant (avec ou sans mijoteuse)

Avec mes gadgets appareils culinaires, c'est par périodes. Parfois je fais des yaourts pendant des semaines, et puis après j'en ai marre, je les achète. J'avoue avoir assez rarement utilisé la mijoteuse , et surtout pour des plats à cuisson longue type ragoûts, curries, bourguignon, et aussi pour cuire des légumineuses. Mais cette semaine, j'ai décidé de m'en servir plus régulièrement, et de vous en faire profiter. Sympa, hein? ;-) Comme ressources, j'utilise ce livre , mais je ne l'aime pas trop, et surtout la Crockpot Lady , une mine d'or. Et parfois, j'improvise, comme ici, et le résultat était totalement délicieux. Saviez-vous qu'il est plus "écolo" de manger du porc que du boeuf? L'élevage de porcs abîme moins l'environnement que celui des boeufs, bien sûr pour être vraiment écolo, il faut manger végétarien voire vegan, mais à chacun ses convivtions, c'est déjà mieux de manger moins de viande, et de choisir volai