Brain-boosting summer salad

Cooking time: 15 mins

This seasonal salad from dietitian, Sophie Medlin is a dream for soaking up the last weeks of summer. If you can block out the traffic noise from your window/balcony/garden and close your eyes, you could almost be in the med.

What brain health foods are included?

Essentially every ingredient in here is doing something excellent for your grey matter (Sophie is the bomb), but the three star players are peaches, olive oil and hazelnuts.

Peaches bring fibre, antioxidants and vitamin A to the mix, which can help with learning and memory ; olive oil is perfect for getting those all-important healthy fats and antioxidants into your life; and hazelnuts, among other things, contain magnesium, which is known to boost mood, regulate the nervous system and boost exercise performance.

This salad combines lots of brain-boosting nutrients. It’s delicious for lunch or supper and can be combined with crunchy bread or roasted new potatoes for a more substantial meal.

Ingredients:

(serves 2)

• 4 handfuls of mixed salad leaves (like baby spinach or lambs lettuce)

• 1 avocado

• 8 cherry tomatoes

• 2 peaches

• 1 ball of mozzarella or burrata

• Handful chopped walnuts

• Olive oil

• Balsamic vinegar

• Salt & black pepper

Optional: A few slices of parma ham

Method:

• Arrange the salad leaves, avocado and cherry tomatoes.

• Cut the peach into 8ths and roast in a hot pan brushed with a little olive oil until they are slightly browned.

• Once they are coloured, take them out of the pan and add the chopped walnuts. Toast the walnuts in the peach juices until you can start to smell their oils being released.

• Place your mozzarella or burrata in the centre and of the plate and arrange with the peach slices and toasted nuts.

• Drizzle with good quality olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar.

• Season with salt and black pepper.

Try this high-protein quinoa salad for another delicious lunch idea.

About the author:

Laura Sugden