SERVE UP summer

Whether you're eating at home al fresco or packing up a picnic, make plants the star of your plate this season with these nourishing and energising meat-free dishes from Danielle Brown's HealthyGirl Kitchen cookbook

- Danielle Brown

HEMPSEED RANCH DRESSING

'This is the healthiest version of plant-based ranch dressing you'll find. If you're like me and could smother everything in ranch dressing, you need to make this hempseed ranch. It's creamy; packed with healthy fats, fibre, and protein from the hempseed; and whips up in the blender in less than a few minutes. Use this as a dressing for pasta salad or a fresh, green salad, or as a dip for veggies like cucumbers and peppers.

• 3/4 cup hempseed
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp dried dill
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp salt

1 Blend all the ingredients together in a blender until completely smooth.

2 Store in the fridge in an airtight jar, bottle or container for up to 5 days.

BBQ chickpea chopped salad

'My mum has always called me a drama queen, but I swear I'm not being dramatic when I say this is one of the top three best salads I've ever had. You know how restaurant salads tend to taste better than the ones you make at home? This salad changed that for me. When I first made it, my husband immediately said, "This tastes like a restaurant salad." It's smokey, sweet, crunchy, creamy, and crispy'

Serves 4-5