Low carb, sugar free, no dairy, high fat –sound familiar? They are as on trend as, well, “on trend”. Which, incidentally, sits right up there with “pop of colour” as the most over used and annoying phrases on television right now.

LCHF (low carb high fat) is trending. Hash tag any Instagram posts with this and you’ll gain a global following.

While I often play around the edges of new food fads and give elements a whirl, I usually make them on my terms. The older I get the more I take heed of my late friend Jo’s pearls of wisdom, “everything in moderation, including moderation” (except, maybe, refined sugar).

Last night’s dinner was a twist on a very on trend salad – broccoli couscous/rice. My addition of beans and haloumi might not be a goer for those eliminating certain food groups, but they made a nutritious and tasty meal.

I haven’t included quantities, just use what you have and add or subtract to taste.

What you’ll need

Sunflower seeds

Broccoli

Red onion (small)

Can/s of chickpeas or cannellini beans

1-2 oranges

Fresh parsley (and mint if you have it)

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Haloumi

How to make it

Toast the sunflower seeds in a dry pan. Set aside to cool.

Chop the florets off the broccoli head, wash and dry them. Using a sharp knife, chop the “green bobbly bits” off. I also use some of the stalk and chop this finely with the rest of the broccoli.

Finely chop the onion.

Drain, then rinse the beans. Drain of excess water.

Remove the skin from one of the oranges and finely chop. Reserve the other orange for the dressing (or, if making salad for one-two people, half of an orange for the salad and half for dressing will do).

Finely chop the herbs.

Combine the broccoli, onion, beans, chopped orange and herbs and give them a mix.

Make the dressing to your taste – combining fresh orange juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix dressing through the salad.

Just before serving, chop the haloumi. Lightly oil a pan and fry on both sides until golden (I couldn’t wait so it’s not as golden in the photos as I would have usually liked).

Sprinkle sunflower seeds on top of the salad and place cooked haloumi on the very top. I then sprinkled with black sesame seeds that were floating around in the cupboard. You can serve as one large salad, or individual servings as I did.

If you are not a haloumi fan, use cubed feta mixed through the salad instead – if you do this, watch the amount of salt in the dressing.

There you have it – using up the fridge/larder contents and staying almost on trend, with a pop of orange to liven things up!