Clean fuel salad

Prime your body to gain maximum return from your efforts and stay healthy in the long run with a nutrient-stuffed pre-training plate

Carrot and puffed rice salad SERVES 4 INGREDIENTS

¼ onion, sliced Oil for frying

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced Vegetable stock, to cover

1 bunch baby heritage carrots, peeled and sliced

1 head of fennel, in chunks

50g pumpkin seeds

50g sunflower seeds 100g wild rice

100ml soy yoghurt (£1.45 for 400g, planet organic.com)

METHOD

1 Rotate your salad roster away from the meat-and-greens formula. This warm dish combines wild rice, seeds and soy for a comprehensive hit of muscle-priming amino acids. Sweat the onion in a sauté pan, add the large carrots for a minute, then cover with stock. Blanch the baby carrots.

2 When the large carrots are soft, purée in a blender, adding a dash of stock as needed. ‘Cooking and blending makes the veg’s beta-carotene easier to absorb,’ says Sexton. Grill the fennel until golden, then roast the seeds at 180C for 30 mins (pumpkin seeds provide immuneboosting zinc). Heat oil in a pan until just smoking, then fry the rice until it puffs up. Remove, then sauté the baby carrots.

3 To serve, spread the purée as you see fit, then top with the fennel and baby carrots. Sprinkle with seeds, add the rice, then drizzle soy yoghurt over the top. Tuck in.