Tahini salad jar

January is often known as the month when we stop doing things. Smoking, eating chocolate, drinking alcohol.  Every single one of my friends is cutting something out of their life this January thinking that they overdid it in December. By now very few are still going strong.

This year I took the perspective to add good stuff rather than focusing on taking out the bad. Salad mainly.

Everyday now I am aiming for a minimum of 5 cups of vegetables a day. I must say sometimes I have to force myself to push those last leaves into my mouth but boy, do I feel better for it. After three weeks of very little processed food (the odd cake still features) my husband convinced me of having burger and chips (yes I blame him). The next day I woke up with the worst hangover I have ever had.

The power of food is really astounding, hindsight makes you think that it should have been obvious – junk food makes you feel like junk – but there’s nothing like an aversive reaction to keep the new year change going strong into February.

To keep my veggies interesting I have been trying many different dressings, below is one of my current favourites.

Tahini jar salad

juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp tahini

1 tsp garlic puree

salt and pepper

1 can of borlotti beans

1 cup frozen sweetcorn

1/2 cup of fresh baby spinach

1. For the dressing blend the garlic, tahini, salt, lemon juice and a pinch of ground pepper. Add around 2 tbsp of water to loosen the dressing. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Boil the beans and sweetcorn, separately, drain and let it cool.

3. Place the dressing at the bottom of the jar, then add a layer of beans followed by the sweetcorn and spinach