Weight Loss Queen: Watercress, Pistachio and Apple Salad

Friday, June 8, 2012

Watercress, Pistachio and Apple Salad

Serves 8 as part of a main course

leaves from 4 bunches watercress, trimmed
3 granny smith apples, cored and cut into eighths
juice of 2 lemons
150ml extra virgin olive oil
seal salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g roasted pistachios, chopped roughly
½ cup chopped chives

Rinse the watercress well and pat dry with papertowel. Place the apples in a bowl with half the lemon juice. Whisk the remaining lemon juice with the olive oil, and season to taste. Place the watercress in a large salad bowl with the apples, pistachios, chives and dressing, toss well and serve.

Narelle Stegehuis, CEO of Mass Attack is a practicing naturopath with over 30,000 hrs of in-clinic experience and health editor for Empower magazine. Specializing in the natural treatment of women's hormonal imbalances, she has a trained eye for hormonal weight gain. She is both an accomplished writer and recipient of the Australian Naturopathic Excellence Award. To find out if your hormones are making you fat, visit http://www.massattack.com.au

Recipes of the week

Green Papaya Salad
Serves 4

3 large cloves garlic, peeled
4 red bird’s eye chillies, seeded
½ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon dried shrimps
3-4 tablespoons fish sauce
finely shredded flesh from 350g green papaya
handful of purple baby eggplant, halved
8 small tomatoes, halved
2 mild red chillies, seeded and shredded
handful of beansprouts, trimmed
handful each of basil and mint leaves

Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, bird’s eye chillies and salt together to form a paste. Add the dried shrimps and continue pounding, then stir in he fish sauce. Place in bowl with the papaya and toss to coat. Lightly bruise the eggplant and tomatoes with the flat blade of a knife, then add to the bowl with the chillies, beansprouts, basil and mint. Toss lightly before serving.