5-a-Day Rainbow Salad

Colourful, super healthy 5-a-day rainbow salad that counts as 5 of your five a day. Packed not only with nutrients, but flavour too, this salad is bound to become your dinner staple.

This easy summer salad was inspired by the idea of what it would look like to get all of your five a day in a single meal. And it manages to do just that. This rainbow salad mixes five portions of fresh, colourful veggies, to help you hit your daily healthy eating goal with a single bowl of salad.

What Counts as One of Your Five a Day?

The quick answer is 80 grams of fresh, canned or frozen fruits and vegetables, or 30 grams of dried fruits. But, there are a few exceptions:

• Beans and pulses only count once as part of your five a day, no matter how many times you eat them.
• Fruit juices and smoothies count as one of your five a day, but only once. It’s recommended you don’t drink more than 150ml (⅔ cup) of juices a day.
• Potatoes and yams don’t count towards your five a day, as they are usually eaten in place of other sources of starch.
• Sweet potatoes, parsnips, swedes and turnips do count towards your five a day, just like any other vegetable.

How Does This Salad Count as My 5 a Day?

This rainbow salad is made with enough veggies to count as your total five a day. It mixes:

• ½ cup red pepper
• ½ cup corn
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 1 cup red cabbage
• ⅓ cup cooked or canned chickpeas

You can eat the whole thing as a meal, in which case you’ll hit your daily 5 a day goal, or have half of it as a side, getting 2 ½ of your five.

Eating a Rainbow

What does eating a rainbow mean? It’s the easiest way to get a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals from fruits and veggies by eating a diversity of colourful foods. Instead of focusing on eating loads of your favourite vegetable (even if it’s super healthy), it’s actually more important to hit all the different colour groups.

This is why my 5-a-day rainbow salad doesn’t only include five servings of veggies, but includes one from each of the five colour groups:

• Red: red pepper
• Orange and Yellow: corn
• Green: spinach
• Blue and Purple: red cabbage
• White and Brown: chickpeas

Bonus Benefits from the Dressing 

For an extra healthy kick, dress those gorgeous veggies in a healthy garlic vinaigrette that comes with its own set of health properties.

• Olive oil: rich in healthy fats and antioxidants, has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
• Apple cider vinegar: lowers blood sugar levels and cholesterol, helps fight diabetes
• Garlic: high in antioxidants, manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C and selenium, can help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels

Looking for More Veggie Inspired Dishes?

• Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl
• Balsamic Lentil Salad
• Vegan Thai Green Curry