"Crunch-n-Munch Lunch"

Cucumber, apple, sweet yellow pepper, avocado, green onions, pumpkin seeds, hemp hearts, sultanas, fresh lemon ginger root, maple syrup, ground cinnamon, cooked millet...a list of mouth-watering ingredients that combine easily to make a delicious mid-winter salad. It is wholesome and hearty enough for a satisfying lunch. Added to a more elaborate meal, it's sure to please the eye and the palate while revving up the body's energy in a sustained and solid way. My meal-time guest called it a "crunch-n-munch lunch". He thoroughly enjoyed every bite!

You'll need: 1 English cucumber; 1 crisp apple; 1 avocado; 1 small yellow pepper; 2 tablespoons chopped ginger root; 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds; 2 tablespoons sultanas; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1.5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 2 teaspoons maple syrup; 1 cup cooked millet; 2 green onions; 1/4 cup hemp hearts; salt to taste. For Garnish: 2 teaspoons hemp hearts; lemon slices; green stalk of green onion, thinly sliced lengthwise.

 

Method: Soak 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds in water for 2 hours. Rinse and set. Soak sultanas in water with 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon until plump. Drain and pat dry.

 In a large serving bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of maple syrup together until creamy. Add pumpkin seeds, chopped ginger root, sultanas, and cooked millet. Mix gently to coat grain with dressing. Set aside to blend flavours.

Peel and chop cucumber into bite-size pieces. Wash and dice apple with peel on. Pit, peel and cut avocado, and spritz with lemon juice. Slice white and green parts of green onion into thin rounds.

Add chopped fruit and vegetables to millet mixture along with 1/4 cup hemp hearts. Toss well. Sprinkle with a few grains of sea salt, if desired.

Garnish the "Crunch-n-Munch Lunch" salad with an additional sprinkling of nutritious hemp hearts. Add a few thin lemon slices with long slivers of green onion leaves along side them. Enjoy!