How can I learn the ways of salad?

[bumgripes]

Salad. What the hell is it? How do I make it?

I know two salad recipes: chop up some veg and leaves and put them in a bowl, MAYBE with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar if I’m feeling fancy. Or, higher level stuff, chop up some tomatoes and make a dressing of oil and vinegar and mustard. This is my Guest salad. I was not brought up with salads.

When I google salad recipes they are all so bloody complicated and seem to involve cooking some of the components (don’t want to do this, that is a meal not a salad), lots of obscure kinds of nuts, too many expensive vegetables (I don’t want to spend £6 on the veg for one salad). Or, alternatively, they are just potatoes and mayo, which is not exactly what I’m looking for either. I want easy flavourful ways to eat a big pile of fresh veg.

Are there easy, delicious salad recipes out there? Do you know them? Or are my criteria too hopelessly narrow? Thanks in advance!

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Ottolenghi does the best salads. What about fattoush for an entry level salad?

ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/fattoush

Thanks. @karmakameleon Ottolenghi is one of the main culprits in my mind of too-fancy salads. I note this recipe starts “If using yoghurt and milk, start at least three hours and up to a day in advance by placing both in a bowl-“ 😂

I’ll check out the department of salad, thanks. Possibly what I mostly need are some good dressing recipes.

I think you can ignore that but! Agree Ottolenghi does have more than his fair share of exotic ingredients but there’s also some lovely simple ones.

I follow this account which has good ones

https://instagram.com/thesaladlabofficial?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

@karmakameleon ha ha! I’m so underconfident with salads that I don’t know what counts as a crucial step or not! Maybe I’ll save Ottolenghi for when I’ve mastered a few middle-level salads.

@Rebel2 that’s a great link, thanks, love the confidence-building visuals

You’re definitely over-thinking it, but also wrong by saying salad isn’t a meal. Of course it is!

Greek salad every time

Old school - but really good and helpful, gives you principles as well as recipes. www.amazon.co.uk/Mollie-Katzens-Recipes-Salads-Editions/dp/1580088783

This is simple and tasty:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/epic-summer-salad

This book has some delicious ones in as well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zaitoun-Recipes-Stories-Palestinian-Kitchen/dp/1408883848/ref=mpssa114

A salad is a collection of foods that can be eaten raw/cold.

You need to mix some protein and some carb in.

You want to make it look a bit interesting- different colours and textures.

I like things like sweetcorn, with cucumber, celery, peppers chopped to sweetcorn size, with grated cheese or peanuts for the protein element.

Just salting the salad makes it nicer, even without dressing.

A bowl of leaves, tomatoes some bacon and croutons. It's just a BLT in pieces!

We have two salads in our summer recipe rotation. Both are leaves plus whatever we have of tomato, cucumber and pepper. One adds blue cheese and bacon and one adds antipasti. Usually with garlic bread.

Eat out at a few Middle Eastern places for motivation.

You can just chop little gem lettuce, a red onion, two sticks of celery, two large tomatoes, grate a large carrot, chop a pepper, chop 1/3 cucumber into chunks, maybe add a bit of sliced cabbage. Salt (the PP is right about that!), black pepper, capful of nice olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar to taste. Stir.

Add beans, falafel, meat or fish or nuts, and rice or flatbread.

Add olives, or sliced lemon, or (insert fancy thing here e.g. pomegranate seeds) to zzzh it up if desired.

Thanks everyone! @TheFishWhoClimbedTheTree i really like the look of those. @picklemewalnuts , this is the sort of salad 101 I need. Chopping it up small, adding salt, adding bacon or blue cheese!

I went hunting for online Mollie Katzeb recipes and ended up side tracked by her fruit-studded madeleine, whoops!

I like to work on the principal of greens + protein + crunch + fat + acid

So any salad base, anything that’s a bit fatty (avocado, feta, oil) any acid (lemon juice, segments of grapefruit etc), any protein (chickpeas, chicken, prawns) and anything crunchy (raw veggies).

If you cut everything up the exact same size you get a mouthful of everything every time.

all so bloody complicated and seem to involve cooking some of the components

One of the things that I find makes a salad really sing is the contrast in temperature you get with cooked elements. Roasted chickpeas, roasted sweet potato, grilled chicken... are favourites of mine.

Other things I find really are important are:

• contrasting textures, I love nuts and julienned carrots for this
• a good dressing
• balance of sweetness
• fat, I like a greek yogurt based dressing but cheese works for alot of people.

This is an amazing salad recipe that can be easily switched up depending on preferences.

I've never made a mixed up salad in my life!

Greek salad or Tabouleh are my go to salads. Both simple and easy, though the Tabouleh definitely benefits from time to 'sit' once prepared. To jazz up a salad of leaves, tomato, cucumber etc, I often throw in some chopped apple, dried cranberries or a few chopped walnuts. Bit of balsamic /lemon juice and a swizz of olive oil and jobs a good 'un!

I like basic salad:

Lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Radish
Mini sweet peppers
Red onion

Or avocado salad:

Lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Avocado
Red onion
Coriander

Dressed with
Salt
Pepper
Lemon juice
Olive oil

Made my first 'lunch work salad' today (after a depressing weighing sitch yesterday 🫣)

Boiled some quinoa - cheap and easy
Chopped tomatoes, cucumber, baby gem, red onion and grated carrot and mixed together with a squirt of lemon.

Served with a boiled egg and half tin of pilchards. Quick, cheap and super tasty lunch.

I use fruit flavoured vinegars to dress salads. They are quite expensive (I buy in my local deli but you can also get them online) but delicious and have the bonus that they don't add the calories of a Big Mac to your healthy salad.

Also consider including fruit and pickled veg to your salad for variety.

At this house it’s just combination of products which could be eaten together while cold with addition of olive oil and some lemon juice
A pack of green leaves from Morrisons plus some of the following in a suitable combination grated carrot/ avocado/ cucumbers/ tomatoes/ olives/ peppers / celery / toasted pepper/ grated apple/ cheese etc . For more substantial salad I add chicken or prawns, of course other things are possible but it’s what I like.

Thanks everyone! Love the easy actionable tips. @ShirleyPhallus really like your format, thanks. I’ll be brave and start baby steps. Cutting up things smaller and adding nuts or bacon. Maybe some
citrus. Thanks again!

Oh I love salads.

Greek style prob my favourite, I add tomatoes first and season them well with olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano. Add sliced green pepper, peeled cucumber, olives and crumble feta in, add more oregano and olive oil plus some vinegar.

Feta and Watermelon works beautifully too, I add chilli and cucumber too.

Spinach makes a great base rather than normal lettuce leaves I think, it's more filling and nutritious.

Basil, tomato and mozzarella is lovely too.

I often roast veg in the oven with loads of spices and have that with cous cous or bulgar wheat, fresh mint and yoghurt with lime squeezed in.

This type of thing is what I eat for lunch every day.