THE BEST VEGAN PROTEIN POWER SALAD TO GET YOU THROUGH THE DAY

Ever find it hard to balance killing it at work, staying active, saving money, nurturing your relationships, finding time for yourself, AND eating healthy? If that sounded like a rhetorical question, then it sounds like you might need a good power salad recipe to help you motor through it all.

Veggie lovers know that when it comes to salad, the sky’s the limit. Salads can be big or small, and can be intended as just an appetizer, a side, or the main course–as long as you do it right. Serve up a garden salad as a side to complete a balanced meal, but don’t expect to stay full if all you have is a sliced up cucumber with a drizzle of balsamic for lunch. If you’re going for just salad for lunch or dinner, you’ve got to bulk and balance it up, picking high-protein vegetables (yes, that’s a thing) like kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, and high-fibre ingredients like whole grains, or fibre-rich veggies that will really give you the nourishment you need to stay full.

Enter the Wheat Berry Broccoli Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette. This hearty recipe is loaded with plant based fibre, whole grain protein, as well as a cornucopia of vitamins and minerals to replenish your body with the goodness it needs when you lead a busy lifestyle. And perhaps most crucially, it’s also a meal that you’ll actually look forward to when lunch time rolls around. Because if you can’t even look forward to your lunch, what’s the point?

Don’t get us wrong, salad as the main course is a GREAT idea, but don’t skimp out on the fixings that actually take salad to a truly satisfying level. When you’re busy, you need food to be the fuel that keeps you moving, not the stuff that brings you down or makes you tired.

Salad power is not to be underestimated, and if you don’t know what I mean, try out the recipe below and see for yourself! Eat the salad, feel the power..

Wheat Berry Broccoli Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of broccoli, chopped into florets
• 1 cup edamame
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup wheat berries
• ¼ cup quinoa
• 2 cups chopped kale
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
• ½ red onion

Lemon Vinaigrette

• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons Agave syrup or honey
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
• Salt and pepper

How to Prepare:

1. Cook quinoa and wheat berries according to package instructions. Once cooked, rinse with cold water and drain, then keep these in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the salad.
2. Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, toss broccoli florets and edamame with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread mixture out on baking sheet and roast for  15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, give everything a stir, then roast for 5 more minutes. Set aside.
3. While veggies are roasting, prepare the vinaigrette by squeezing the juice from one lemon into a small jar, then adding the remaining salad dressing ingredients to the jar and combining. Set aside.
4. Combine roasted vegetables, chopped kale and onion, and cooked wheat berries and quinoa in a large bowl. Drizzle lemon vinaigrette over top. Garnish with pumpkin seeds to serve.