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...

Romaine lettuce, peas, shaved parmesan and balsamic dressing. The best salad in the world.

I'm aware of that, thank you.

I like your line up. Mary Berry also does a good carrot and red rice salad I recommend. You'd need a bag of limes for it though.

If I were a guest and raclette was the main dish, I'd want you to pick:

green
beetroot
carrot
lentil

But totally see why you might choose to stick with potato salad instead.

Of course you are. Asking about salads was a whim.

There’s a very good orzo, pesto, cherry tomato salad in Ballymalloe cookbook. It’s cheap to make and tastes good

Finely chopped red onion, red cabbage, red apple celery, broccoli, carrot, walnuts and currents. Dressing of freshly ground fennel seeds, sea salt, honey, olive oil and cider vinegar. Absolutely delicious and dead cheap to make.

I also love chopped Turkish salad - just parsley, red onion, cucumber and tomatoes chopped to tiny pieces - olive oil and lemon. You can’t eat that much of it because of the red onion but it’s a delicious side salad

@Stainglasses It's such a great and simple salad, I love it too. If you swap the red onion for finely chopped shallots which are sweeter and less abrasive they don't overpower the salad as much and you can then eat a shitload of the stuff.

This is a great salad if no one else has mentioned it. Chopped beetroot, chopped celery, chopped apple, chopped feta cheese, salt, pepper and mayo. Really nice!

You could probably grow your own lettuces in time for this event if you have the space and inclination which would help bulk out some of these dishes (or provide a decent green salad). Also keep an eye on your local FB marketplace or similar, I’m forever giving away free lettuce, spinach etc as I’ve run out of space for them.

Squash peeled and comedy (cheap for a massive piece abd cubed courgetts roast in aur fryer or oven (squash takes much longer) with garlic and oil. Add giant couscous barley or lentils and rocket dress with balsamic cheap and always goes down well! .

Definitely add the Ottolenghi chargrilled broccoli- all you need is loads of broccoli par boiled and then chargrilled then make a chilli and garlic oil (warm sliced chilli and garlic) in EVOO and pour over the broccoli, plus splash of vinegar - it looks fantastic and tastes even better

Raclette is a lot of strong flavours together so a lot of these wouldn't work. It's best served with a green salad with shallot vinegrette.

I would add dressed green lentils (definitely don't need Puy) because those go well with the potatoes. You can add your chives to some tomatoes which will be cheaper in June. A fourth salad can be coleslaw, very cheap.

Please don't do potato salad! Too much. Keep it simple and what a person's overall plate will look like. In my experience people don't each much salad at parties anyways.

I was responding to the person who wanted to know if I knew that it takes 2-3 years before you can harvest asparagus. I do, I've grown asparagus before. But you knew that.

Why are you behaving like such an arsehole? Do you behave like this every time someone says thanks but no thanks?

@CheeseSandwichRiskAssessment has nailed it I think.

My instinct also was to avoid anything too heavy.

Just need to secure a good supply of tasty tomatoes.

By the way OP I wasn't implying an asparagus salad for June, obviously. Maybe for the future.

This meal sounds fabulous

A v simple and cheap salad that is also eaten is grated carrot and raisins, stir a spoon of Mayo through it to glaze. Beetroot and yoghurt salad also good. I just use sous vid which is also v cheap. Broccoli, tomato, hazelnut and feta with some French dressing. Have saved lots of the lovely salads mentioned above! Enjoy your evening.

Ah, no — I knew you weren't, no worries. I can grow lettuce and spinach and a few other things in time, but asparagus is a long, slow investment. Not really sure I want to grow it again, but my neighbour ordered a load of crowns and then had some over. Only half a dozen plants, but enough for the occasional risotto in April/ May 2026 if I can keep them alive.

Grated carrot and apple with chopped parsley and a lemon vinaigrette. Add chickpeas if you fancy.

Rice salad- brown rice with peas and crème fraiche with sea salt and black paper is pretty good. So is white rice with pesto stirred through.

Potato salad made with some mustard in the mayonnaise and some chopped marjoram is also great.

Green lentils in a balsamic vinaigrette with finely minced red onion.