The weather is warming up and that means ‘Goodbye’ soup pot and ‘Hello’ to the salad bowl in our house. A salad can be warm, made with roasted vegetables, pulses, nuts and seeds, or cool and crisp, made with beautiful crunchy lettuce and summer fruits, a full meal or a tasty side, the choice is yours. This is simply a guide; there are no strict rules and any element can be left out.
- Begin with a base – usually leafy greens. Use mixed leaves, baby spinach, cabbage, rocket, or crunchy iceberg or cos lettuce.
- Next add in some vegetables and/or fruit for colour as well as flavour. They can be raw, marinated, roasted or boiled. Try spices mixed with vegetables/fruits before roasting them. Marinated vegetables/fruits have the bonus of being able to add the marinade to the dressing.
- Then, add whole grains, pasta, rice, chickpeas, beans, couscous, quinoa, barley or lentils.
- To make the salad more filling, add some protein, any variety of cheese, egg, bacon, cooked meats, or seafood.
- Give the salad a bit of crunch and variety in texture with seeds, nuts or some sort of crouton.
- Try sprinkling sugar over pecans, walnuts or almonds and toasting in the oven to make sweet caramelised, crunchy additions. A sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, almond flakes or dukkah can make the salad more interesting.
- Finally the dressing. A dressing can make all the difference, lifting the whole dish and binding the flavours together. It can be as simple as lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, a vinaigrette (oil/vinegar/seasoning), or Greek yoghurt. The dressing can be more complex like a Caesar dressing, French or Italian, or a creamy green dressing (made with mixed soft herbs, spinach, onion, yoghurt, fetta, avocado and lemon juice blended). Leave dressing until just before serving, to avoid a soggy salad.
