Your three or four best salads, please

[Abeona]

I've been tasked with taking at least four salads to an evening event in mid-June where there will be a raclette grill for everyone to make their own combo of sliced steak/cheese/potato/ham/gherkin/onion and whatever. Around 20 people expected, including Dutch, Belgian and Germans who may have their own ideas about salad...

I'm thinking a good green salad (lettuce, watercress, spinach, perhaps some avocado) with a classic vinaigrette is a must-have.

Wondered about a nice tangy beetroot-based salad to cut through the cheese.

Pasta salad to offer some carbs, perhaps? What's your best one?

Carrot salad: John Torode does a nice one with mint, ginger and coriander.

Lentil salad: lots of lentils with loads of veg and herbs chopped fine and a dressing.

Potato salad? There will be potatoes offered with the raclette but when I think Dutch, German and Belgian I think potato salad...

At the risk of sounding stingy, I need to keep costs fairly low. I've been told to spend no more than £30 on salads, and while I can provide lettuce and spinach and chives and possibly spring onions from my own garden, things like tomato salad are just going to be too expensive to provide for 20 people. Even buying beetroot will be pushing it...

My go to is always lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, red onion and finely chopped coriander, i do a yogurt and mint dressing

I don't think you can go wrong with a tomato, mozzarella and basil leaf salad, with a vinaigrette dressing, maybe served in a little jug on the side.

I also like couscous with chopped roasted veggies, like courgette, tomatoes, onions etc mixed in.

I would do a large potato salad - new potatoes, lots of fresh herbs, a little spring onion and a creamy home made vinaigrette.

Some sort of rice salad. I do one with pjneapple, grated carrot and a dressing of pineapple juice and soy and topped with peanuts.

A really good classic coleslaw

A really good mixed green salad

Maybe a Greek salad - chunky tomatoes, cucumber and a minty vinaigrette with olives and feta

Delia has a great recipe for a cous cous salad with roasted veg and a harissa dressing thats good too.

What about couscous salad? It's bulky so makes the veg go further.

I like roast vegetables and harissa in mine, or greek flavours like lemon, mint, feta, olives, cucumber.

Potato salad is another bulky, cheapish option - maybe German style with a vinaigrette dressing rather than mayo.

I like potato salad.

Steamed potatoes, a mix of mayo and yoghurt, finely chopped shallot and gherkins cut into tiny cubes.

The key to keeping the cost down is to do three of the salads based on carbs - rice, pasta, cous cous which is bulk. Plus coleslaw is dead cheap as its cabbage carrot and onion.

I love this watermelon salad and you do get a lot out of one watermelon, but depends on season for the watermelon, and puy lentils aren't the cheapest.

pulses.org/nap/recipe/lentil-watermelon-summer-salad/

I did a one for guests today - thinly sliced cabbage, spring onions, apple and walnuts

Perhaps I didn't make it clear. I have £30 available to create a variety of salads for 20 people. I don't have the money to buy loads of tomatoes and mozzarella, I'm afraid.

What sort of dressing did you do with that? Sounds like a winter coleslaw: very nice.

Got to have a Greek salad!

Today I did a fairly simple dressing - olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt. In the past I have sometimes done it with yoghurt dressing - yoghurt, vinegar, salt and pepper.

It's fairly economical because the bulk of it is cabbage

I hate cold pasta personally and I’m not a fan of couscous but a salad based on grains adds substance. I like Tabbouleh and it always gets eaten.

Yes, I think one of them will be a potato salad because of cost if nothing else. A fiver gets you a big bowl of potato salad! I have a bed full of chives that can go in to give it a bit of colour. I have a friend who swears by 30% salad cream in the dressing. I'll have to experiment beforehand.

See above. No money for feta or tomatoes. And with cucumbers costing 89p each last week, no money for cucumbers either!

Beetroot, oranges, red onion, all chopped small. Add orange juice, olive oil, pepper and chopped parsley or coriander.
Delicious and cost effective.

Two good ones

• A simple salad of rocket, walnuts, drizzle with balsamic and olive oil.
• Buy one pack of cheap chicken thighs and roast and shred. Add loads of chopped lettuce and mix in some natural yoghurt, garlic and mustard, salt and pepper. Recipe also adds parmesan, but appreciate that's expensive, so you can leave it out.

Home made coleslaw is delicious and cheap.

Oh and you can also add celery

Also, this one.
Buy a large pack or two of mushrooms and roughly chop. Finely chop red onion, add balsamic and red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, mix it all up and let it sit for a few hours. Delicious and easy.

Rocket, pear and blue cheese (a punchy Stilton or gorganzola) with a balsamic vinaigrette

I add peaches to my panzanella and it always lands well

And this one is super cheap. Surprisingly moreish.

https://plantbasedfolk.com/kupus-salata/

You are making 3 salads, and max £10 each. Unless you are buying from an organic farmers market, I can't believe you think you need to spend this amount on salady bits!
Aldi sell cooked beetroot for 59p a packet- so no cooking either! Cherry tomatoes are 70p a pack, a cucumber 89p.

-Beetroot, rocket or spinach, feta or Greek cheese alternative, toasted walnuts and balsamic glaze
-watermelon, grilled halloumi (or cheaper cooking cheese alternative), toasted pinenuts, green beans

😟 I assumed you might use cucumber and tomato across the other salads too. What other vegetable bits are you planning on buying? I don’t think there would be much cheaper salad bits than cucumber/tomato/pepper. You could make a Greek salad for a fiver.