salads

Summertime = salads. ‘Nah, boring’ I hear wails of dismay. But, salads don’t have to equal a few sad lettuce leaves and squishy tomatoes. With a bit of time and thought a salad can be a very enjoyable, healthy, meal. Salads consist greatly of raw foods so no loss of nutrients, and many ingredients you may choose are bouncing with health-giving properties.

I’m a great lover of adding fruit into otherwise savoury meals. Pork and apple, blue cheese and pear, brie and grape etc. Consider fresh veg you have sat in the fridge: raw broccoli florets, raw mangetout, red onion slices and mini sweetcorn all add a crunch to any salad.

The starting point has to be your basic leaves layer. This doesn’t have to be plain old boring lettuce, look at herbs (spinach leaves are great) or other lettuce types such as lambs lettuce, or radicchio for a slightly crunchier texture and some colour.

Talking of colour, you can consider layering. For example, an all green base – spinach, lettuce, broccoli florets, mange tout, then sprinkle with some orange – thinly sliced orange pepper, grated carrot, topped with white – steamed chicken breast, homemade coleslaw. Other colours include red – think beetroot and red pepper as well as crisp, sweet, baby tomatoes and red onion.

One of my favourite salads is chicken and bacon. Cube chicken breast and fry it, add bacon chopped into small chunks. Set the meats aside to cool. In the meantime, make your own croutons by frying a slice or two of bread in the oil you cooked the meat in (you’ll probably need to add a little more). Once fried, cut into cubes and again set aside to cool.

Make up your salad base with anything you like – I generally try to add as many different salad items and vegetables as I have in the house. Sprinkle the meats over the top, then the croutons.

The salad is absolutely fine at this stage or you can include coleslaw, potato salad, pickles, grapes, slices of apple, hard-boiled egg, and dressings if you wish. A honey and mustard dressing goes extremely well with this salad.

Cheese was born for salads. Whether you like a firm, strong, classic cheddar, a piquant blue, sharp feta or a creamy brie, cheese is a great salad ingredient. Couple with a suitable chutney or pickle, and a wedge of fresh baked bread, you really can’t go wrong.

A traditional Ploughman’s is a brilliant example of a salad meal. Ham, cheese, salad mix, fruit, chutney and a wedge of bread – just crying out to be accompanied by a half pint of beer and eaten outside in the sunshine.

I adore pasta salads also, a family favourite is a shell pasta salad with cubes of cheddar cheese, finely chopped onion, and combined with mayonnaise. I like to add grapes, but the kids always whinged.

A pear and blue cheese salad is quite a grown-up affair. Children tend not to have developed the right taste buds for blue cheese, it’s one that you progress onto – often when you’re developing a liking of wine as different cheeses bring out different notes in wines.

Cheese and wine parties were one of the good things that came out of the 1970s. That and Blackforest gateau! They’re making a come-back, just set out some bowls of crisps and crackers, add a sprinkling of friends and mix until mellow; can be consumed quite late.

But I digress; lets return to salads.

Other pairings can include:

Chicken and avocado

Tuna and sweetcorn

Ham and apple

Beef with fresh horseradish leaves

Greek salad with Feta cheese

Chicken Caesar salad with croutons

Creamy Waldorf salad with walnuts and fruits

Potato salad with crispy fried smoked bacon pieces

Rare steak slices with tomato and onion

 

 

The list could go on and on.

Whether making a salad just for yourself, a couple’s romantic lunch (add fizzy wine), or a big bowl for a BBQ, take a look in your fridge and store cupboard and think of a mix of colours, textures and tastes to enjoy. Think of bases other than leaves – pasta, rice, cous cous and quinoa are just the start.

For fun, or to encourage children, consider themes ‘chicken or the egg’ – cubed roast chicken paired with chopped hard-boiled egg, ‘arabian prince’ – cous cous with jewel fruits (pomegranate, satsuma segments, green grapes, sultanas) and a sweet spicy coating on your chosen meat, ‘humpty dumpty’ – semi-hard-boiled egg (a softer yolk than normal) with crouton soldiers, ‘this little piggy’ – pork and apple.

Have some fun thinking up your own, and enjoy feeling healthy too.

 

Love

Maggie x