Lower your CO2 footprint with this sweet potato and kale salad

Good evening friends!

Did you know that you can reduce your carbon footprint by a quarter just by cutting down on red meats such as beef and lamb? So why not lighten your CO2 load with this crowd pleaser of a recipe!

There is a common misconception that your body doesn’t get all the vitamins, nutrients and minerals it needs for a healthy and balanced diet as a vegan. By breaking down all the nutrient heavy ingredients in this salad, I intend to demonstrate that with thoughtful meal planning this simply isn’t true. Simultaneously, I hope to offer you gorgeous readers the opportunity to indulge in an affordable, nutrient rich and time efficient opportunity to reduce your daily CO2 footprint via eating! This salad is ideal for packed lunches or a light dinner and will satiate even the most carnivorous of palettes through the filling sweet potato base and variety of textures, from slightly crunchy kale, to soft avocado.

But first, lets have a look at the basics and what they do for our insides. My grocery list for this recipe included:

• almonds
• flaxseeds
• kale
• tomato
• sweet potato
• red capsicum
• avocado

As you can see below, using these ingredients gives you a hardy meal rich in protein, vitamins and fatty acids!

I already had a few of these ingredients in the pantry and fridge so decided to throw them in. The best thing about salads like this is that you rarely have to buy the ingredients specifically, you can often just use what you have in the fridge! Ingredients such as kale can be replaced with whatever lettuce, spinach or other leafy green you have at home.

To start, I chopped up all the ingredients, mixing together the tomatoes, red capsicum and avocado as these remain raw. I then coated the sweet potato in olive oil, a sprinkle of paprika, cinnamon and flaxseeds. Flaxseeds are a great addition to any meal as they’re extremely high in omega 3 fatty acids! I then roasted the sweet potato in a moderate oven for approximately 30 minutes on a tray lined with baking paper.

While the sweet potato was in the oven, I steamed the kale until it turned from deep to bright green. Once the sweet potato was roasted and the kale was steamed, I mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl and… presto! A delicious and nutrient rich meal ready for eating or for lunch boxing.

Diets rich in meat, cheese and eggs have a higher carbon footprint than one in fruit, vegetables, beans and nuts. Daily efforts to reduce your meat and dairy intake, whether it be by having a meat free lunch, or only eating one meal with meat a day will have a large impact on your personal carbon footprint!

Every little effort counts and everyone has the power to make a difference!