I LOVE summer for the warm weather☀️, beach days & delicious produce that’s comes into season🍓🍑🌽. When it heats up here in SoCal, I often find myself craving refreshing cold meals. Can you relate? 🙋‍♀️

Choosing satisfying lighter dishes in the summer is typical because appetites can fluctuate in warm weather. This can happen because the body isn’t relying as heavily on heat from food digestion to help with thermoregulation in order to maintain a toasty 98.6 degree internal temp.

This summer salad combines the best combination of sour from the dressing, sweetness from the nectarines and saltiness from the pepitas & feta. 🤤

These ingredients contribute to a host of vitamins, mineral & phytochemicals that helps the body thrive👏. The star in this salad are the nectarines for me. 🍑

Nectarines contain the anti-oxidant, beta-carotene, which is said to aid in a host of health issues ranging from arthritis to Parkinson’s disease. It also contains fiber and even a small amount of protein!🙌

Here’s what you’ll need for the salad:

• 2-3 nectarines or peaches
• 1 cup feta cheese
• 1 cup chopped cucumbers
• 1 cup Chickpea couscous (I used Suzie’s brand)
• 1 cup roasted and seasoned chickpeas
• 1 avocado chopped
• Mint leaves (as many as desired)
• 2 TBSP pepitas

Dressing Ingredients:

• 3 lemons juiced, 1 zested
• 1-2 TBSP Manuka honey
• 4 TBSP Extra virigin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook couscous according to package directions and cool.
2. For the dressing, combine all ingredients except oil. Slowly drizzle oil while whisking to emulsify.
3. Combine all ingredients and toss to combine! Enjoy💋

Tip: to boost protein add tempeh, chicken, grilled fish, etc.

To make vegan swap out feta for vegan cheese or omit.

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