Rest Days and New Salad Recipes

Today was all about recovery. After 4 days of 4.30am starts and workouts that went something like this - triathlon, circuit weights session, hill climb interval training on the bike, run tempo training and sprints, I felt like a bit of rest and relaxation was in order. My hamstrings on the other hand screamed that it was in order.

I have been eating my favorite raw salad (the one that I posted the recipe for a few weeks ago) as my go to salad every other day and I have to admit that it has finally run its course.

So as I pondered what kind of new salad I would  make, I opened my fridge to see mounds of food. It appears that I have acquired a case of food cleptomania. The top 2 delicious ingredients that were in my fridge that had to be used asap were edamame and raw pistachios.
Edamame are green soy beans which are usually left in their pod and quickly boiled in lightly salted water. They have a fantastic creamy texture and are a great source of fibre, protein, Folate, Vitamin K and Manganese. I got them from my local Japanese deli, already cooked and ready to go. They can also be found in the frozen section of some supermarkets.
Now I know what you're thinking. Pistachios are disgusting (well, that's what I think anyway) but I am now a convert thanks to the owner of my local health food store who urged me to try a raw, un-dried, unsalted pistachio that had come straight from the farm. They are delicious. They are mild, sweet and have a crisp texture. Pistachios are a good source of Potassium, Magnesium, protein, Folate and fibre.

Pistachio, Pumpkin & Edamame Salad

Serves 1

3lge slices Pumpkin (approx 5mm thick) cooked in the oven for 10 minutes or until tender
2 handfuls Baby spinach
10-15 Pistachios, shelled
10-15 Edamames beans, de-podded
1T Avocado
2-4t Lemon juice
Salt & Pepper to season

Arrange the spinach on a plate. Cut the cooked pumpkin in to chunks and scatter over spinach. Add the shelled and de-podded pistachios and edamame.

In a separate bowl mash avocado and slowly add lemon juice until desired taste and consistency is reached. Add salt and pepper to dressing and then spoon over salad.

It may be hard to find the raw pistachios unless you live in the bayside area, but if you are having difficulty then they can always be swapped for chickpeas.

Hope you all enjoy it!