Daily Salad

I make a salad every couple of days; there is no particular method to the salad except the mantra “use what I have and keep it colourful”; so to be honest, anything goes and every time we try a new variation it surprises us (last night it was the pickled ginger in the salad dressing).

This salad will keep in the fridge for a couple of means and sometimes I just top up as we go. There are no hard and fast rules, experiment and try some new and different variations. Get in the habit of having something with greens every dinner time and if you can for bonus points, pack some for your lunch.

The rules:

Something green and leafy, torn or chopped, e.g.

• Spinach, rocket, watercress, kale, mixed leaves, chicory and any type or colourful lettuce that you can get your hands on

Something crunchy, grated, sliced or finely chopped, e.g.

• Red cabbage
• Green cabbage
• Cauliflower leaves
• Fennel
• Celery
• Radicchio
• Grated carrot
• Grated beets
• Cucumber
• Grated sprouts
• Peppers
• Baby peas
• Baby beans
• I am sure that there are more!

Something roasted, e.g.

• Cubed butternut squash
• Beets (I love them sliced thin and toasted well)
• Fennel
• Red onions
• Aubergine cubes
• Sweet potato
• Carrots
• Large capped or small mushrooms
• Peppers
• Simply roast with a glug of olive oil and optional spices, herbs, seasoning mix, sea salt or pepper. 

Optional fruit/ veg for example:

• Grated courgette
• Avocado
• Tomatoes
• Grated apple
• Orange segments
• Pineapple chunks
• Papaya
• Finely grated or sliced ginger
• Pickled vegetables or picked ginger

Optional dried fruit, e.g.

• Sultanas
• Raisins
• Dried cranberries
• Dried goji berries

Optional seeds or nuts raw, or toasted:

I love to toast pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds or pine nuts and finish them in the hot pan with a dash of brown rice vinegar or tamari soya sauce

Home-made dressing; two simple examples of staples in our house:

• Extra virgin olive oil and lemon or lime juice (and a dash of sea salt)
• Full fat mayo + Greek yogurt + Dijon mustard
• Lately I have been enjoying this recipe, as it is or with some of my own tweaks Cookie + Kate Sunshine salad dressing 

If you are an active athlete you may wish to up your carbs or energy intake by adding the following into your salad bowl:

• Roasted buckwheat
• Cooked cooled rice/ brown rice
• Cooked cooled quinoa or millet
• Cooked noodles such as soba or edamame
• Avocado
• Sliced toasted polenta

Here are some pictures of what has been served at my table (in various stages)

Finished salad

Roasted mushrooms and onions

Ready to roast beets, mushrooms and courgettes

Finished salad

Loaded with beans and mango

Large capped mushrooms with thyme and a sprinking of parmesan

Ready to serve

Roasted sweet potato

Salad prepped and waiting for roated beets, carrot and squash

roasting peppers and mushrooms

Please do add comments about your favourite salad twists.

Love,
Andrea