Figs are one of those fruits that has never appealed to me. If I’m honest I just never really knew what to do with them, the closest I can think of eating anything with figs in when I was younger was a fig roll biscuit and I can’t say i was a huge fan of them! However, I was introduced to figs in a new way about a year ago when my friend Rachel brought a fig and goats cheese salad into work. I absolutely love goats cheese and as the salad looked so good I asked her what she had mixed in with it and discovered it was figs. Therefore being the curious foodie and hugely influenced by everything I see I decided I would try and make my own fig salad concoction. As soon as I tried the two flavours together I was absolutely hooked. Figs work so well in a salad and you can add a variety of different foods to mix it up from nuts, peppers, humus, and just end up with wonderful results. I probably went on to eat fig and goats cheese salad for about 2 months after discovering my friends and have become addicted to trying anything with figs in it (the fig roll bread at The Landau hands down wins! My friend and I somehow managed to have 3 rolls each and could have easily had more). So when figs came back into season this year I was very excited to start making my salad and although I did once again begin with figs and goats cheese I wanted to branch out and try something new, the result being this falafel, fig and avocado salad. These three ingredients work so well together and the salad literally takes about 5 minutes to make. I also love the avocado and fig together which adds a burst of sweetness to the salad. Figs are a great source of fibre and have healthy benefits that are good for digestion. Their high fibre content also make them a good natural ingredient for salads as they fill you up for longer. I have noticed this when I add figs to salad, I am a serial picker when it comes to food but if I make this salad it actually keeps me going until dinner without snaking. Here’s what you need to make it:

Ingredients

2 figs

1 advocado (you can use as much as little as you like, I usually use the whole thing)

4 – 5 morrocan spiced falafal (I like the cauldron one which is best priced in surprisingly Waitrose or Tesco)

1 pepper

A big handful of lettuce

Cherry tomatoes

Cucumber

(You really can add whatever added salad you like. You can also add humus if you like a bit more dressing to your salad. I like both so will add other ingredients depending on my mood but actually think I prefer it without humus).

Method

Simply mix all the ingredients together. Avocado is best cut with a knife in half and then scooped out with a spoon. I like to crumble the falafel up and then mix everything together so when you get a mouthful, you have a bit of everything on your fork.

A simple, nutritious and healthy salad that takes so little time to make. Have a go before figs go out of season and soups become the go to lunch .