This is one of the most liked menopause recipes on my Instagram account. As Instagram has limited word count, I thought I would create a longer post about it here.

I created this dish as I’d had a carb heavy week and I wanted the crunch of fresh vegetables.

I had also soaked some dried chickpeas the previous day, with the intention of maybe making homemade hummus. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any lemons at home and certainly not enough olive oil to make hummus.

So I created this chickpeas and broccoli salad to use up vegetables we had in the fridge.

What You Need – Recipe

Serves 4-6

• 800g Cooked or 2 cans of tinned chickpeas
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 350g cooked broccoli florets
• 100g tenderstem broccoli, cooked and chopped to bite size pieces
• 100g asparagus, cooked and chopped to bite size pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method

Prepare all the ingredients.

I soaked the chickpeas in water the previous evening and cooked them during the day, so they had time to cool before I prepared the dish.

Soaking and cooking your own chickpeas or other beans and pulses are so much more economical and healthier than buying tinned variety.

However, ensure you prepare beans or pulses properly, as they contain compounds that may make you ill, if not cooked properly.

I buy tinned versions now and again for convenience, so I’m not against tinned chickpeas or kidney beans! Pulses and tinned tomatoes are as far a I go when buying tinned veg.

Place the chickpeas, garlic, onion and cooked vegetables in a large bowl.

Add the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Mix everything together and enjoy!

This is a really simple vegetarian or vegan menopause recipe that you can use as a side dish to accompany a meat dish if you want.

I had the dish on its own as I really was craving for non-meat and low-carb food that day.

Plant Based Menopause Recipe

What I like about this dish is that it provides me with the nutrients to support my menopause diet.

The chickpeas provide a plant based source of protein that helps me feel full for longer. I include pulses and beans in my diet, as they provide slow-release carbohydrates to balance my sugar levels.

I also have a lot of broccoli and similar cruciferous type vegetables in my diet.

Cruciferous vegetables have compounds known as indole-3-carbinole that help metabolise oestrogen.

Although oestrogen falls when we enter menopause transition, certain conditions may cause some women to go into oestrogen dominance.

If oestrogen is not metabolised efficiently, the hormone can get recirculated and become even more toxic. In the long-term, this may cause other illness and even cancer.