2 easy salads with a bunch of crunch

There's one important secret ingredient you need to take your salad's crunch factor to the next level. Find out what it is in these two great recipes.

If you ever need a little more crunch and richness in a salad, add nuts. Hazelnuts fill the bill here, complementing sweet apples and dates, bitter chicory and a creamy lemon dressing.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 3 minutes

Serves 4

Salad

• 125 ml (1/2 c) chopped hazelnuts
• 2 green-skinned apples, cored and roughly chopped
• 175 g (6 oz) dates, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 125 ml (1/2 c) halved seedless green grapes
• 2 heads red or white chicory
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped parsley (optional)Dressing
• 125 ml (1/2 c) plain low-fat yogurt
• 50 ml (1/4 c) nonfat mayonnaise
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice
• 5 ml (1 tsp) sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. For the salad, toast the hazelnuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, until you can smell the nutty fragrance, about three minutes. Add the nuts to a small bowl and set aside.
2. For the dressing, put the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice and sugar into a large bowl with salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
3. Add the apples to the bowl and stir until the pieces are well-coated with the dressing. Add the dates, red pepper, celery and grapes. Stir to mix.
4. Separate the heads of chicory into leaves, trimming off the hard bases. Slice the bottom half of the leaves and add to the salad.
5. Pile the salad on a large plate or in a shallow serving dish and arrange the tops of the chicory leaves around the edge. Sprinkle with the toasted nuts and parsley, if using.

Everyone loves coleslaw. The combination of creamy and crunchy is simply irresistible. This version gets a sweet touch from raisins and a bit more bite and crunch from sliced radishes.

Preparation time: 15 minutes 

Serves 4

• 1/2 head green cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 large carrot, coarsely grated
• 150 lm (2/3 c) raisins
• 4 scallions, finely chopped, with white and green parts separated
• 125 ml (1/2 c) mayonnaise
• 75 ml (1/3 c) plain yogurt
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 radishes, sliced
• 75 ml (1/3 c) unsalted roasted peanuts
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) chopped parsley and/or snipped fresh chives (optional)

1. Mix together the cabbage, carrot, raisins and white parts of the scallions in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, stir the mayonnaise and yogurt together and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add to the cabbage mixture and toss to coat evenly.
3. Just before serving, stir in the radishes and peanuts, and sprinkle with the green parts of the scallions and the parsley and/or chives, if using.

Toss one cored and diced red-skinned apple with 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) lemon juice, then stir into the coleslaw with five millilitres (one teaspoon) caraway seeds. Garnish with 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) toasted pumpkin seeds and 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) ­sunflower seeds.

--------------------

Discover the smarter way to save time and money

Ready to start saving more on your groceries and pharmacy purchases? Download the FREE YP Grocery app today! It lets you create shareable shopping lists, automatically finds all the best deals and coupons, then delivers them right to you. No more manually scrolling through hundreds of flyers to find what you’re looking for!

Download the YP Grocery app now!