What are your go to sides and salads?

[Sunshine1235]

I have this vision of a heaving farmhouse table full of delicious dishes, some that I’ve whipped up that day and others leftover from previous meals, maybe served in beautiful dishes and home grown in my garden.

Actually that does sound like quite a lot of effort and washing up. But indulge me for a moment and give me your easy side dishes or salads for such a spread.

My current repertoire

• roasted broccoli/asparagus with lemon/garlic/Parmesan
• cauliflower cheese
• roasted kale
• beetroot and feta salad
• roasted butternut squash with rocket, pomegranate seeds and goats cheese

I’d love a good lentil or chickpea recipe as often have a in in the cupboard I don’t know what to do with

Homemade coleslaw, (spring onion, iceberg lettuce, grated carrot, salt /pepper and tons of mayo) salad nicoise, Cobb salad, eggs with curry mayo. Also I starter I ate in a restaurant of rocket, feta, watermelon, cherry tomato and red onion chutney.

Roasted fresh beetroot
Beetroot and feta cous cous
Park baked rolls ripped into chunks/large croutons drizzled in olive oil, salt and sweet chilli sauce and baked for 10 mins
Bean salad/salsa

A version of a Panzanella salad, with chickpeas and toasted bread with orange, mint, mozzarella, tomatoes with balsamic dressing.

Chickpea recipe. It says to bake but I just make it on the hob.

Braised chickpeas with carrots, dates and feta
★★★★
- Sides: carby, * Calorie counted, # Vegetarian, Middle East
Servings: 4-6 Source: theguardian.com

INGREDIENTS
1 tin chickpeas, drained
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large green chilli, roughly chopped, seeds and all
15g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
30ml olive oil
1½ tsp ground cumin
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 carrots, peeled and each cut at an angle into 2 or 3 large chunks
2 bay leaves
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Salt and black pepper
1 lemon, zest finely grated and juiced
125g feta, in pieces
1 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and roughly crushed
1-2 tbsp parsley leaves, roughly chopped

DESCRIPTION
Serve with rice or flatbreads for a vegetarian main course.

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan). Drain the chickpeas and set aside.
Put the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli in a food processor, and pulse a few times until very finely chopped but not pureed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Add the coriander, and pulse a couple of times more, just to mix through.
On a medium-high flame, heat two tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-based cast-iron pot with a lid. Add the onion mixture and cook for about four minutes, stirring occasionally, then stir in the cumin, cinnamon and tomato paste, and cook for a minute more, or until fragrant. Add the drained chickpeas, carrots, bay leaves, bicarbonate of soda, a good grind of black pepper and water as necessary, and bring to a boil, skimming off any froth that comes to the surface. Cover and bake for ? hours, or until the sauce has turned thick and rich. Stir in the lemon juice and two teaspoons of salt, then leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
While the chickpeas are cooking, put the feta in a small bowl with the caraway, lemon zest, parsley and remaining three tablespoons of olive oil, and leave to marinade.
To serve, spoon the feta mixture over the chickpeas and serve directly from the cooking pot.

Lovely thanks! I will give some of these a go

I like homemade apple slaw with a 1/2 yoghurt 1/2 mayo dressing.
Watermelon, mint, cucumber, red onion and mint.
Celery, grape, shaved fennel, spring onion, dill with yoghurt dressing.
Homemade potato salad with finely chopped red onion, chives, finely chopped pickled gherkins, celery.
With fajitas or Mexican dishes a charred corn, grilled pineapple red onion, diced red peppers and chilli with lime juice.

Roasted baby potatoes (cooked whole) with salt, oil, garlic and rosemary and sage from the garden.

Potato salad 😋
Either just mayo and chives or with bacon and vinaigrette and ideally spring onion.

Kale and roasted chickpea (tinned chickpeas roasted in the oven with olive oil and paprika) salad with feta and almonds
Quinoa tabbouleh
Kofta made with lamb and turkey mince or you can make with lentils (cooked in oven and can be eaten cold or hot)
Griddled halloumi or paneer - can be marinaded or nice with just lemon and black pepper
Homemade flatbreads
Greek Yoghurt with spring onions and cucumber as a dressing

This is what I did last weekend and good for lunch for the week

Caesar salad, tomatoes with mozzeralla and pesto, cold mexican rice with black beans, coleslaw - add some nice bread, side of salmon and a ham and I'll be there for tea!

Russian salad (potatoes, carrots, peas in mayonnaise with red onion, red wine vinegar, capers, fresh parsley). Chick pea salad (garlic, red onion, chilli, coriander, parsley, feta and lemon juice). Home made guacamole. Panzanella (lettuce, tomatoes, spring onion plus toasted ciabatta and balsamic dressing). Home made coleslaw. Shredded iceberg lettuce, spring onion, avocado, tomato, radishes, lime juice topped with garlic and chilli prawns.

Also google Kirsty Allsop's lentil and feta salad.

Big bowl of tzaziki (can't spell it)

Simple green salad

Simple tomato salad

Lentil loaf of some kind (like pate)

patatas bravas

A lovely big stir fry of all sorts of veg. Made one tonight with broccoli, cauliflower, Savoy cabbage, carrot, orange pepper, mushrooms, celery and spring onions. Sauce made of 2 tbsp each of water and oyster sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce. Garlic, chilli and ginger added.

Greek lemon and garlic potato wedges (try these they are sooo good!!)
Pomegranate, pistachio and olive relish
Labneh

I made a chickpea salad recently. I think it was this recipe www.delish.com/uk/cooking/recipes/a29843193/mediterranean-chickpea-salad-recipe/. It was delicious anyway! If you google chickpea salad a few different ones come up. I cooked the chickpeas first for about 15 mins to soften them up, and served slightly warm.

New potatoes with plenty of butter and herbs from the garden.

Coleslaw just carrot cabbage shredded. Use normal Hellman's low fat and squeeze are a bit salty.

Halved little tomatoes olive oil chives from garden.

Salad sliced tomatoes mozarella (SP) decent pesto (don't make, Waitrose fresh one is lush. Here DD2 makes it look v pretty.

Easy and probably obvious but they're my standards and everyone looks really happy, all gets woofed down at BBQ!

Potato salad with beetroot and hard boiled eggs, dill or chives (and not too much mayo or too much mixing, unless you want everything to be pink)

Lentils (preferably puy/speckled/vertes, but the bigger green or brown lentils work too) with roast root veg in a mustard vinaigrette, possibly some feta or stilton crumbled over the top if it doesn't need to be vegan, good hot or cold.

Homemade guacamole: avocado, onion/spring onion, tomato, chile, lime juice, coriander, salt and pepper to taste. Chop the onion, tomato, chile, coriander, mash everything together, done, and so much better than what you buy.

One word, Ottolenghi 😃

Besides his gorgeous mezze recipes, I’ve made pomelo and toasted peanut salad, tomato and tarragon salad, air fried any type of veg with salt, pepper and lemon. And today I made puff pastry spirals with basil and toasted sesame seeds. Delish

I’m so excited to do the food shop this week! Thank you

@Sunshine1235

Lentil and carrot stirfry. This takes minutes and is so, so good.

Medium onion
Small cup lentils
2 carrots, grated
Salt

Garlic, few cloves
Chillies and coriander. These last 3 are optional.

Soak lentils for about 20 minutes.
Chop garlic and onions and stir fry in oil, once brown add the rinsed lentils. Keep stirring so it doesn't stick at the bottom. Leave on low to cook through. Should take 10 minutes. Add grated carrots. Stir fry for another 5 minutes. Add coriander, chillies. And stir few minutes. Serve with rice.

At it's most basic you only need lentils and carrots, onions and salt. Can add turmeric and pepper to increase nutritional value.

Pear, rocket and blue cheese salad, sometimes with walnuts.

Parma ham, mozzarella and grapes

Avocadoes with prawn mayo

Lettuce, egg, cheese, prawns, grated carrot, spring onion

Ploughman's with either cheese or smoked salmon, apple, pickle, pickled onion, lettuce

Smoked salmon, potato and mint salad, garden salad.

To your roasted butternut, let it cool and add cool roasted onion, beeetroot and feta cheese

Caprese - easy and visually appealing

Just made a watermelon salad, super easy and delicious.
chop watermelon, add baby greens, toss with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, lemon zest and top with feta