Sweet potato and date salad

A deliciously healthy salad recipe packed with essential nutrients like calcium, vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids. Lisa’s sweet potato salad makes a great side dish when entertaining, or a quick and easy meal at any time. Contains celery, coloured vegetables, tuna and feta.

• Ingredients
• Method
• Nutritional content

Ingredients

Serves 1

• 1 cup (100 g) sweet potato (kumara), diced in 2 cm chunks
• 1 small tomato
• 1 small can (175 g) tuna in olive oil
• 1 red capsicum
• 6 dried dates (amount of dates can be changed, please see tips)
• 2 stalks of celery
• 6 roasted almonds
• 50 g feta cheese
• Balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh coarsely ground black pepper to taste

Method

1. Steam the sweet potato with a little water in the microwave or on the stove.
2. Drain the tuna.
3. Roughly chop the capsicum, celery, almonds and tomato.
4. Remove seeds from dates and cut into quarters.
5. Add all of the above ingredients to a bowl.
6. Crumble the feta cheese on top.
7. Add a dash each of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
8. Add ground black pepper to taste.
9. Toss the ingredients in the bowl so that the dressing is distributed evenly.
10. Enjoy!

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Difficulty rating: Easy
Tips

• To reduce the amount of sugar or firbre in the recipe, use a smaller amount of dates.
• Serve with your favourite wholegrain bread for a healthy meal with extra fibre. Fibre is an important micronutrient found in whole grains. It is used by the gastrointestinal system to help with digestion.
• Substitute celery for other greens like baby rocket or spinach leaves, or add other greens in addition to celery. Green leafy vegetables are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals which are important for maintaining healthy eyes, skin and sperm, as well as maintaining good general health.
• Choose tuna or salmon canned in water, with no added salt, for a healthier option. You could also use fresh salmon or tuna steaks.
• If you eat other meat or protein-rich meals in the same day, reduce the amount of tuna you add to this recipe. This will ensure you do not exceed the recommended intake of protein-rich foods in a healthy, balanced diet.
• Use low-fat feta or another low-fat cheese to reduce the fat and calorie content of the recipe. Reducing fat intake is an important component of improving your diet.
• Rinse the rocket and spinach leaves in cool water with a sprinkling of sodium bicarbonate added to the water. This helps to remove any sand.

This healthy salad was designed in Lisa’s kitchen in Gwelup, WA.

Nutritional content

Nutritional analysis per serve:

Energy	3320 kJ 793 cal
Protein	53.25 g
Total fat	44.25 g
Saturated fat	12.30 g
Carbohydrates	41.29 g
Total sugars	32.20 g
Fibre	11.47 g
Sodium	1394.80 mg
Cholesterol	98 mg
Potassium	1804 mg
Calcium	325 mg

 

More information

For more information on nutrition, including information on types and composition of food, nutrition and people, conditions related to nutrition, and diets and recipes, as well as some useful videos and tools, see Nutrition.

For more information on gluten-free diets, see Gluten-Free Diet.