RECIPE: Power Salad with Lemon Yoghurt Dressing

3 mins to read

Take the guess work out of your post-workout nutrition with this easy & delicious recipe from naturopath Roberta Nelson

Fuelling yourself properly after your workouts is essential for building muscles, muscle recovery and replenishing your energy stores to stop you from feeling post-workout fatigue.

Eating the right foods, at the right time can help you achieve better performance during your workouts, a stronger body and protect yourself from burning out.

If you don’t provide this basic nutrition to your body after a strenuous workout, your muscles can become weak and tired as well as break down which effects your fitness capabilities in the long-term.

The key to fuelling yourself correctly? Combine enough protein with enough carbohydrates and consume these macronutrients in the post-workout window of 0-2 hours.

What this does is provides your body with the amino acids required to repair and synthesise new muscle (muscle gain) as well as the carbohydrates to replenish your glycogen stores (the energy stored in muscles).

This salad takes the guess work out of post-workout nutrition for you! One serve provides you with around 25 grams of protein as well as enough complex carbohydrates to ensure you are replenishing your glycogen stores.

The benefit of eating a well-balanced, whole food meal after a workout is that you also get a very diverse range of micronutrients from iron to magnesium and plenty of anti-oxidants, just to name a few.

These are all essential nutrients for supporting your fitness journey and when made available after a workout they can be circulated and utilised very quickly as opposed to you eating them after your body has slowed down.

This bowl is a powerhouse of nutrition that has been created to be perfectly balanced for you. Prepare it in advance or make it once you’re home from the gym as it takes no longer than 30 minutes to whip up, just in time for your post-workout reload.

Power salad

Power salad with lemon yoghurt dressing

gluten-free, wheat-free
vegan, nut-free and dairy-free options {see Roberta's tips}

serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup vegetable/chicken stock or water
1 can chickpeas, well rinsed
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup mixed nuts of your choice
1/4 cup dried, unsweetened cranberries
1/2 red onion, diced
1 bunch coriander, finely chopped

Lemon yoghurt dressing

1 lemon, juice and zest (keep half of the juice to add to the salad)
100g greek yoghurt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Chilli flakes (optional)

How to make

Start by preparing your quinoa. Rinse the uncooked quinoa quickly and then place both the quinoa and stock/water into a saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil, give the quinoa a quick stir, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid or plate. Leave this to cook for around 20 minutes or until the liquid has completely absorbed.

While the quinoa is cooking you can prepare the remainder of the ingredients. Dry toast the nuts and seeds on a frypan over a medium heat. Once they are toasty and golden, roughly chop them and pop them into a mixing bowl. Add the rinsed chickpeas, diced onion, finely chopped coriander and cranberries to the mixing bowl and combine.

Check the quinoa to see where it is up to. If there is no more liquid left, turn off the heat and leave the quinoa covered for 10 more minutes or so. This allows it to steam itself and become fluffy. You can make the dressing while you wait.

Mix up the dressing by placing the yoghurt, oil and vinegar into a small bowl or jar then grate in the zest of the lemon as well as half of the juice. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Once the quinoa has steamed itself, add it to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients, add the other half of the lemon juice and mix everything together well. Taste and season with salt and pepper remembering that the dressing will be spooned on top later.

When you are ready to eat, place the salad into a bowl and pour the lemon yoghurt dressing over the top of the salad. Garnish with extra coriander, chilli flakes and a few more cranberries then enjoy!

Roberta's tips

You can easily store this salad in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Store the dressing separately and add it to your salad at the time of eating
You can also serve this salad as a side dish alongside some other protein such as chicken breast, salmon or an omelette. In this case, the salad will accommodate 6 servings
If you are a vegan or intolerant to dairy, you can change the dressing by substituting in a plant-based yoghurt such as coconut yoghurt or using tahini. You will need to adjust the amount you add slightly in accordance to your taste
If you are intolerant or allergic to nuts in general, omit the nuts and increase the amount of seeds. Just aim to make up around 3/4 to 1 cup to get enough crunch into the salad

Roberta of Naturo Medico is a Naturopathic Practitioner who specialises in preventative care and women’s health. From her Melbourne-based clinic, Roberta sees women of all ages wanting to meet their own health goals and assists them on their path with personalised treatments specific to their needs.

Alongside practice, Roberta shares healthful and nutrient-rich recipes with her readers who inspire her to continue educating on what health and wellbeing means and how it can be achieved.

Follow @naturomedico on Instagram for more healthy eating inspiration!