This fresh pear, almond and buckwheat salad has become one of our favourite spring lunches. It’s delicious, healthy, naturally gluten-free, and topped with a zingy citrus dijon dressing. Perfect for lunch, a fresh side salad with dinner or any time you need a delicious salad.
If you’re a fan of fresh and healthy salads, please try this recipe! It’s so crunchy, fresh and full of delicious sweetness from the pears and zing from the lemon dijon dressing. The almonds give the salad an extra special crunch.
One of our favourite salad recipes!
Playing around with different salad ideas is such a fun thing to do. You can literally put anything you want in a salad. The trick is to create a base from the salad leaves, add something filling like buckwheat, quinoa or other grain. Then something a little bit sweet and top with something crunchy and a tasty dressing.
Tips for adding protein to salads
There are many ways to pack some extra protein to your salad. This salad has 7g of protein per portion, which counts to 15% of your daily protein need. To add even more protein you could try adding some cooked chickpeas, lentils or other types of beans to the salad. To go extra big you could also add some other protein-rich products such as tofu, seitan or other soy-based products. I particularly like the Vivera plant-based bacon pieces, they give any salad an extra smoky flavour element which is quite nice.
This amazing vegan salad is:
- Dairy-free (lactose-free)
- Gluten-free
- Can be made nut-free
- Quick and easy to make
- Healthy
- Crunchy
- Flavourful
- Rich in nutrients and vitamins
- So delicious!
- Perfect as a light lunch or side dish with dinner!
Pear, almond and buckwheat salad
Pear, almond and buckwheat salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup buckwheat groats
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 1/4-1/2 red onion
- 1/2 cup almonds, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
- 3-4 large handfuls of mixed salad leaves
Dressing
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse the buckwheat well in a fine colander and transfer to an Instant Pot.
- Add water/vegetable stock and stir well.
- Close the lid, making sure the valve is closed. Select ‘manual’ and set it to 2 minutes.
- When cooking has finished and the Instant Pot beeps, allow it to naturally release the pressure, this takes about 20-25 minutes.
- After the pressure has fully released, open the lid, drain the cooked buckwheat then transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely.
- When the buckwheat has cooled down, place in a large salad bowl. Add finely chopped red onion, thinly sliced pears, fresh parsley, dates and the salad leaves. Give everything a good mixing.
- Prepare the dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a jar, close tight and shake until well mixed.
Nutrition
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment down below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram @abiteofkindness
