The Battle of London’s Superfood Salads

The Battle of London’s Superfood Salads

Although I suppose the name is now a bit cliché in London, I eat a ‘Superfood Salad’ (a salad almost always consisting of some version of broccoli, spinach, butternut squash, seeds, nuts, beans, loads of veggies and in the best cases, feta cheese) for lunch at least once a week and sometimes every day. Admittedly, I’m a complete sucker for these marketing ploys that call foods ‘super,’ and while we’re at it, I will always eat something with ‘skinny’ in the name – skinny latte, skinny popcorn, Skinnygirl margarita, skinny cow ice cream – I love it all, and I have NO shame!

As cheesy as it may be to feel good about myself because I’m eating a salad made with “superfoods,” you really can’t blame me as they all provide some serious nutritional benefits, are always filled with enough flavours to keep me entertained and always fill me up.

Having eaten some variety of this salad from the typical lunchtime shops for the past few months, I feel that I’m highly qualified to rank them and tell you which are the best and which are nothing to write home about.

Pret’s ‘Super Duper Health and Humous Salad’: lettuce, humous, butternut squash, tabouli, cucumber, pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, feta cheese and a tortilla. This is not my favourite, but definitely the one I eat most as it’s the most convenient and not as expensive as the best one on this list. This salad is amazing because it comes with a tiny tortilla – not big enough to hike the calorie meter up, but just the right size to make little bite-sized superfood salad tacos or for dipping in the chunky humous! I just love this salad for so many reasons: the sweetness of the squash, the chunky texture (with whole chickpeas) of the humous, the feta cheese which mixes perfectly with the tomatoes, the fact that it takes me a while to eat it because I could spend my entire lunch hour mixing different variations of the ingredients, and the fact that it is only 355 calories (without the dressing pot… salad dressing generally makes me gag), it’s delicious and is £3.99. Pret may have a bad rep among foodies, and although their mayo-packed sarnies also usually make me gag, this salad is definitely a 9 out of 10 in my book.

M&S Superfood: cous cous base (no lettuce in this one!) broccoli, asparagus, butternut squash, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, spring onions, a trace of pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seeds (according to the package… I’ve never witnessed one) and lemon juice. The best part about this salad is that it’s made with cous cous and therefore I suppose it’s not actually a salad, it is a little more filling than the others but definitely not as exciting. It’s the same price as the Pret salad and at 315 calories is a great lunch, but without the feta cheese I just can’t give it a very good score. I give it a 6 out of 10 – without the cheese or small morsel of tortilla, I need to eat a banana or fruit salad with it to be satisfied.

The Leon Original Superfood Salad: broccoli, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, peas, avocado, quinoa, feta cheese, pumpkin seeds, and fresh mint and parsley. This salad is hands down, the best salad I’ve ever had. Unlike the Pret salad which I dissect slowly as if I’m performing brain surgery, with this salad I pour the dressing pot over the top (yes, they’ve even got me with their dressing!) and mix it all together. The crunchy broccoli with the cheese and soft, delicious avocado is to die for. The fresh mint and parsley add the perfect flavour and to be fair to all the other salads, this one is the only one that’s not pre-made and sitting on a shelf when I buy it (which is worth the extra dosh – £4.65 – but only on a Saturday or Sunday). An incredibly green salad, the only thing that’s got any other colour besides the cheese is the quinoa. Quinoa (pronounce keen-wah) is very trendy these days and unlike wheat or rice, it is a grain that is a complete protein – containing all eight of the essential amino acids. The Leon salad has got to pack about four of your day’s worth of vegetable needs, and the perfect bite, if you can manage it is a mix of peas, broccoli, feta cheese, avocado and quinoa. They don’t publish the calorie content, and I don’t even care. It can’t be much and even if it is, it’s worth it because it’s so good for you. It is without a doubt a 10 out of 10.

The EAT Superfood Salad: beetroot, muki beans, broccoli, petit pois, sweet potato, goats cheese, spinach leaves and mung beans. No tiny morsel of tortilla… no seeds…and almost 400 calories without the dressing (which I haven’t tried but is the only thing that could make this salad juicy), this salad is dry and just not worth it. However, about a month ago, Eat did a ‘Superfood Sandwich’ on whole grain bread with all the above ingredients which was superb. This salad gets a 4 out of 10 because, simply put, it’s rabbit food.

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