Rocket Lentil Avocado Midday Salad (Gut-Supporting)

Overview

This polyphenol-rich midday salad combines quinoa or lentils with vegetables, healthy fats from avocado and early harvest olive oil, and omega-3 from walnuts. Lentils and quinoa provide fibre that feeds gut bacteria; walnuts provide omega-3 and polyphenols; olive oil contributes phenolic compounds.

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) rocket
¼ cup olives
1 tbsp (15 ml) walnuts
½ avocado
½ cup cherry tomatoes
½ cup cooked quinoa or ½ cup cooked lentils (key for gut health)
1 tbsp (15 ml) early harvest olive oil
Lemon juice
Optional: basil, herbs

Nutrition calculation uses cooked quinoa as the grain.

Method

Add cooked quinoa or lentils as the base.
Top with rocket, tomatoes, olives, avocado.
Add walnuts.
Drizzle with early harvest olive oil + lemon.
Toss lightly.

Nutrition

Per serving. Each included ingredient is scaled from a named per-100 g composition record by edible grams. Optional ingredients are excluded. Missing analytical values are not treated as zero.

Nutrient	Per serving
Energy	460 kcal
Protein	8.1 g
Carbohydrates	33 g
Sugars	3.9 g
Fibre	9.9 g
Total fat	35 g
Saturated fat	4.9 g
Sodium	270 mg

Sodium comes almost entirely from the canned olives. No salt is added in the method.

Key vitamins and minerals

Nutrient	Per serving	Reference intake
Copper	0.58 mg	64% RDA
Manganese	1.1 mg	48% AI
Vitamin K	52 µg	43% AI
Vitamin E	5.2 mg	34% RDA
Folate	140 µg	34% RDA
Phosphorus	230 mg	33% RDA
Vitamin B6	0.42 mg	33% RDA
Magnesium	110 mg	27% RDA

Vitamins and minerals supplying at least 15% of an adult reference intake, up to eight. RDA is a recommended dietary allowance; AI is an adequate intake, used where the evidence does not support an RDA. Nutrients below the threshold are still calculated and still count towards a daily total.

Bioactive compounds

Compound	Per serving
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3 n-3)	750 mg

These compounds have no recognised intake target, so an amount is given without a percentage.

Calculation details

Ingredient	Weight used	Composition record
1 cup (20 g) rocket	20 g	USDA FDC 169387 — Arugula, raw
¼ cup (34 g) olives	34 g	USDA FDC 169094 — Olives, ripe, canned
1 tbsp (7.3 g) walnuts	7.3 g	USDA FDC 170187 — Nuts, walnuts, english
½ avocado (75 g)	75 g	USDA FDC 171705 — Avocados, raw
½ cup (75 g) cherry tomatoes	75 g	USDA FDC 170457 — Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw
½ cup (93 g) cooked quinoa	93 g	USDA FDC 168917 — Quinoa, cooked
1 tbsp (13.5 g) early harvest olive oil	14 g	USDA FDC 171413 — Oil, olive, salad or cooking

Mainly from:

Energy: Avocado, Olive Oil (Early Harvest)
Protein: ½ cup (93 g) cooked quinoa, Avocado
Carbohydrates: ½ cup (93 g) cooked quinoa, Avocado
Sugars: Tomatoes, ½ cup (93 g) cooked quinoa
Fibre: Avocado, ½ cup (93 g) cooked quinoa
Total fat: Olive Oil (Early Harvest), Avocado
Saturated fat: Olive Oil (Early Harvest), Avocado
Sodium: Olives

Assumptions and exclusions:

1 cup (20 g) rocket: USDA SR Legacy FDC 169387 food_portion: 0.5 cup = 10 g; 1 cup = 20 g
¼ cup (34 g) olives: USDA SR Legacy FDC 169094 food_portion: 1 tbsp = 8.4 g; ¼ cup = 4 tbsp = 33.6 g
1 tbsp (7.3 g) walnuts: USDA SR Legacy FDC 170187 food_portion: 1 cup chopped = 117 g; 1 tbsp = 7.3 g
½ avocado (75 g): USDA SR Legacy FDC 171705 food_portion: 1 cup cubes = 150 g, which the site also uses for one medium avocado; half = 75 g.
½ cup (75 g) cherry tomatoes: USDA SR Legacy FDC 170457 food_portion: 1 cup cherry tomatoes = 149 g; ½ cup = 74.5 g
½ cup (93 g) cooked quinoa: USDA SR Legacy FDC 168917 food_portion: 1 cup = 185 g; ½ cup = 92.5 g
1 tbsp (13.5 g) early harvest olive oil: USDA SR Legacy FDC 171413 food_portion: 1 tablespoon = 13.5 g
1 cup (20 g) rocket: ; no Rocket food page
½ cup (93 g) cooked quinoa: The Quinoa food page records uncooked grain.
lemon juice — no stated quantity; 1 tbsp would add about 3 kcal
optional: basil, herbs — optional garnish
The recipe declares no serving count; the quantities describe a single salad, so one serving is used. See the editorial list.

The cooked-lentil option gives slightly more protein and fibre for slightly less energy than the cooked quinoa calculated here. Almost all the sodium comes from the canned olives.

Brain Health Notes

Quinoa or lentils provide fibre and resistant starch that feed gut bacteria; fibre fermentation produces SCFAs, which are studied for gut health.
Walnuts provide fibre, omega-3 (ALA), and polyphenols.
Early harvest olive oil contains phenolic compounds associated with antioxidant activity.
Vegetables and olive oil contribute polyphenols studied for various cellular effects.