In preparation for the festive season, author of ‘Eat Well to Age Well’ Beverley Jarvis has provided two delicious recipes so your loved ones can enjoy something different and nutritious this Christmas!
Christmas Salad
Spinach is a good source of magnesium, potassium, and iron, as well as vitamin A. Kiwi fruit are an excellent source of vitamin C and fibre.
- 150 g young spinach leaves, stalks removed
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 8 dried apricots, or 2 satsumas, chopped
- 2 red-skinned eating apples (Cox’s or Pink Lady varieties are nice), cored and chopped
- Juice ½ lemon
- 1 kiwi fruit, thinly sliced
- 50 g pecan nuts, chopped
For the dressing:
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 4 tsp runny honey
- 2 tsp Dijon or granary mustard
- Salt and pepper
- In a small bowl, toss the prepared chopped apples in the lemon juice.
- To prepare the dressing, put all the ingredients for the dressing into a screw-top jar, screw the lid on tightly and shake to form an emulsion.
- Prepare the salad. Put the spinach into a large salad bowl, add the chopped apple and lemon juice and top with the tomatoes, carrots, dried apricots/chopped satsumas, and kiwi fruit.
- Drizzle the prepared dressing over the salad and toss together. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the pecan nuts.
Festive Salmon
Easy to put together and speedy to cook, this pretty salmon dish and the accompanying salad make a delicious meal to serve on Christmas Eve and are also ideal for the Boxing Day buffet table.
Salmon is a good source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium and potassium, also providing 6% of your RDI for vitamin C, 53% of vitamin B12 and 30% of vitamin B6.
- Spray oil
- 1 x 1½ kg salmon side, skin on
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 4 spring onions, red variety if possible, sliced
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped
- Juice 1 satsuma
- 1 large chilli, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 small bunch coriander, chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 2 lemons, in wedges
- Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan), Gas 6.
- Line a large roasting tin with non-stick liner or tin foil and spray with a few sprays of spray oil.
- Blot the salmon dry with absorbent kitchen paper, then lay it in the roasting tin, skin side down.
- Put the red pepper, spring onions and fennel, into a large mixing bowl. Add the satsuma juice, chopped chilli, coriander, sesame oil, olive oil and a light seasoning of salt and pepper and mix well to combine.
- Top the salmon with the prepared vegetable mixture, spooning it over evenly. Add the lemon wedges, arranging them evenly round the edge of the salmon. Spray all over with about 6 sprays of spray oil.
- Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the salmon is cooked to your liking and the lemon wedges are lightly charred.
- Transfer to a large oval platter, using fish slices. Serve hot or cold.
For more delicious recipes, check out ‘Eat Well to Age Well’ by Beverley Jarvis which has over 75 delicious recipes to inspire her super-ager peers to eat well, with all the nutrients that are increasingly needed as we get older.
