Courgette, Green Bean and New Potato Salad

It's that time of year again and my home grown courgettes are fruiting in abundance - the yellow variety are doing particularly well.  As I'm not a fan of traditional potato salad, coated in mayonnaise, I devised this recipe instead.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

• 200g/8oz baby courgettes/zucchini, sliced
• 100g/4oz green beans, sliced
• 500g/1lb new potatoes, halved if large
• 2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 2 tbsp olive oil

For the dressing:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• a good handful of chopped, fresh tarragon or a mixture of any fresh, green herbs you have to hand (parsley, oregano, basil, mint etc)
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice
• 2 heaped tsp coarse grain mustard
• Himalayan pink salt to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/190 C Fan/400 F/Gas 6 and heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a baking tray or dish.

Boil the new potatoes for around 15-20 minutes (until tender), drain, then add to the hot roasting dish. Turn to coat with the oil and sprinkle with salt to taste.
After 5 minutes in the oven, add the sliced courgettes and garlic. Roast for  a further 10 minutes, or until beginning to turn a golden brown.

Meanwhile, boil the green beans for 8-10 minutes, or until al dente.
Drain and set aside.

Once the potatoes and courgettes are nicely browned, add the green beans to the baking dish and roast for a further 3-5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

Make the dressing by blending or mixing the crushed, roasted garlic, oil, herbs, vinegar and mustard.
Pour over the warm vegetables and turn gently to coat with the dressing.

Serve warm or cold for lunch or with barbecued food.

Pin It

Very Green Salad with Rocket & Watercress

As you may have noticed from my previous post, I've been growing my own fruit and vegetables in raised beds this year, in an attempt to avoid the destructive deluge of slugs and snails. I must say, it's been pretty successful and I haven't had to buy any salad leaves for quite a while. As I'm now over run with rocket (arugula), I've been adding it to every salad I make, but haven't really allowed it to be the star of the show.

This very green salad is a great way to use up a glut of rocket and is a good source of vitamins, iron and calcium. The quantities are deliberately quite fluid, as you can use a mix of any salad leaves you have to hand, or need to use up.

Serves 4 as a side salad

• 2 handfuls/cups of bitter salad leaves (rocket, watercress etc.)
• 1 handful/cup of sweet salad leaves (lettuce, spinach etc.)
• ⅓ cucumber, sliced
• ½ green pepper, sliced
• 50g/2oz green olives
• 50g/2oz walnut pieces or pine nuts

For the dressing - mix these ingredients together in a cup or small bowl.

• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (I used my Cretan Olive Oil from Arnaud Gillet)
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the salad leaves and blot dry.

Toss all of the salad ingredients together in a bowl.

Pour over the dressing and turn lightly to coat the ingredients.

Chill until needed. 

Keeps for 1-2 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

I'm entering this recipe to this month's No Croutons Required Challenge, co-hosted by Jacqui at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen

Pin It

Freekeh Salad with Pomegranate Molasses Dressing - Suma Blogger's Network

This is my first attempt at a superfood salad, and I'm pretty pleased at how well it turned out... It's packed full of protein, fibre and vitamins, but still tastes great!

Thanks to the Suma Blogger's Network, I get to try out lots of weird and wonderful, new vegetarian products. This time, freekeh and pomegranate molasses were amongst my picks. For those of you who don't know, freekeh, pronounced free-ka (young, green wheat which is cracked and roasted), is considered both an ancient grain and a super-grain. It has a high fibre and protein content and is very versatile as it can be served hot or cold in place of other grains such as rice or quinoa.
Pomegranate molasses was a revelation to me, as it was far more tangy and flavoursome than I anticipated (I thought it would be sweet!), and gives a great sweet and sour flavour to a dressing.

Serves 4 as a lunch or side salad; 2 as a main meal

For the salad

• 1 cup freekeh from Suma
• 2 cups veg stock
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ½ teaspoon lightly toasted cumin seeds, ground, more to taste
• 2 bell peppers,deseeded and cut into chunks
• 2 cups of butternut squash or sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup of button mushrooms, halved
• 4 tbsp pine nuts
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• a small bunch of chopped, fresh mint
• ½ cup crumbled feta (optional)

For the dressing

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses from Suma
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6/400F

Put the peppers and squash into a roasting pan and drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil.
Roast for 20-30 minutes until softened and starting to brown.
Add the mushrooms, chickpeas, pine nuts, cumin seeds and crushed garlic and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for around 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the freekeh and stock into a large pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Simmer, with the lid on, for 20-25 minutes, or until the grain is soft and just starting to break up.
Drain well and allow to cool for around 15 minutes.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and stir into the warm freekeh.

When the freekeh and vegetables are still just warm (but not hot!), mix together to combine.
Add the mint and feta, if using.

Serve warm or cold.

Keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge; not suitable for freezing.

Vegan option: Omit the feta or swap for vegan feta or halved olives.

Integrity Statement
As a member of the Suma Blogger's Network, I will receive a selection of complimentary products from Suma every two months, to use in recipe development, and will blog an original recipe for the Network. 


Pin It

Fattoush Salad

I've been cooking a lot of Greek and Middle-Eastern food lately, and after a delicious meal out at a Lebanese restaurant, I thought make a maza (a selection dishes to share). This was one of the dishes I prepared, which makes a nice change to a traditional salad.

Serves 4

• 1 cos or 2 little gem lettuce, shredded
• a good handful of rocket
• ½ cucumber, de-seeded and sliced
• 2-3 ripe tomatoes de-seeded and diced
• a handful of radishes, thinly sliced
• 3-4 spring onions (or ½ red onion), sliced
• 1 large bell pepper, diced
• a small bunch each of fresh parsley and mint, roughly chopped
• 1 large or 2 small pittas
• sumac

dressing

• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp sumac
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed

Brush the pittas with olive oil; and sprinkle with sumac.
Grill or bake until crispy and golden, then set aside to cool. Break into pieces when cold.

Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl. Add in the prepared tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, spring onions and herbs. Stir well to coat. These ingredients can be set aside and chilled until needed.

Before serving, mix in the salad leaves and the roughly crushed, toasted pittas.

Top tip: To make this into a delicious, healthy lunch, simply mix in a tin of drained chickpeas and serve with pitta and your favourite dip.

I'm entering this recipe to this month's No Croutons Required Challenge, co-hosted by Jacqui at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen. 


Pin It

Winter Slaw Salad with Apple, Celery & Cucumber

As, I joined in with Veganuary the past couple of years, but then reverted back to being vegetarian pretty soon afterwards, I thought I'd try something a little different this year. Instead of cutting out eggs and dairy, I thought I'd try reducing them instead (alongside meat substitutes), whilst trying to eat more raw/whole foods, fresh fruit & vegetables and pulses...

This seasonal salad is a great way to get an extra one or two portions of fruit and veg in, if served alongside a carb-based main meal.

• 1 firm eating apple, cored and sliced
• ½ cucumber, de-seeded and sliced
• 2 sticks of celery or ½ bulb fennel sliced
• 25g/1oz chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise or vegan mayo (or vinaigrette made with 1 dsp olive oil mixed with 1 dsp white wine vinegar)
• A little fresh, chopped dill or parsley

Prepare the apple and place in acidified water (a bowl of water with 1 tsp lemon juice), whilst you prepare the other ingredients.

Drain the apple and blot dry with kitchen town.

Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and stir in the mayo or dressing.

Refrigerate until needed

.I'm entering this recipe to this month's No Croutons Required Challenge, co-hosted by Jacqui at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen. 

Pin It

Indian Restaurant-Style Mint Sauce and Onion Salads

I've been trying to re-create the onion salad or chutney that we get with poppadoms in our local Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants. There are two types; one is quite plain with a bit of cucumber and tomato; the other has a sweet and spicy red sauce. The 'secret' ingredient in both recipes is chopped coriander, which complements the mint.

I've previously blogged my mint sauce dip, but thought I'd add it here too.

Each recipe serves 4-6 with poppadoms, bhajis or samosas. They also go well with vegetarian barbecued food.

Red, sweet onion salad

• 2 medium white onions, diced into approx 1cm pieces
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp mango chutney (sweet or spicy depending on preference)
• 1 tbsp tomato purée/paste
• 1 tsp unsweetened mint sauce concentrate (Colemans)
• 2 tsp chopped fresh or frozen coriander leaves

Chop the onions and separate the layers.

Mix all of the remaining ingredients together and then stir in the raw onions.

Allow to marinate for an hour or so, in the fridge, before serving.

Plain onion salad (Kachumber) 

• 2 medium white onions, quartered and sliced finely
• 2.5 cm/1" chunk of cucumber, de-seeded, quartered and sliced finely
• 1 tomato, de-seeded, quartered and sliced finely
• ½ tsp dried mint
• 2 tsp chopped fresh or frozen coriander leaves
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• A little red chilli powder, to taste (optional)

Chop the onions and separate the layers.

Mix with all of the remaining ingredients.

Allow to marinate for an hour or so, in the fridge, before serving.

Mint sauce

This is my version of the thin, pourable mint sauce (not the thicker raita), which is normally green and served with poppadoms and onion bhajis. If you want to, you can add a few drops of green food colouring, or a pinch of turmeric to give it some colour, but I don't think it needs it! 

• 1 cup of plain yogurt or dairy-free yogurt
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp unsweetened mint sauce concentrate (Colemans)
• A few dashes of hot chilli sauce
• 1 tsp chopped fresh or frozen coriander leaves (optional)

Mix all of the ingredients together. Chill until needed.

Top tip: If you can't find mint sauce concentrate, either use ½ tsp of dried mint or 2-3 tsp regular mint sauce, strained through a tea strainer to remove most of the vinegar. Adjust the amount of extra sugar added accordingly.

How to cook poppadoms in the microwave...

Traditionally poppadoms are deep fried in oil, but they taste nearly as good when cooked in the microwave and are much lower in fat. Look in the Asian section of your supermarket for brands of uncooked poppadoms, such as Ruby or Natco, as they are much cheaper and better than the big UK brands. 

You can microwave them dry, for a fat-free snack, but they taste better and expand more, when wiped (use a sheet of kitchen towel) or sprayed on both sides with a little vegetable oil before cooking.

Microwave individually for 30-40 seconds on high (no need to turn).

For a main course try my paneer tikka kebabs with mushroom biryani.

I'm adding these salad recipes to this month's No Croutons Required challenge hosted by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes and to the West Midland's Bloggers linky.

Pin It

Herby Salad with Chickpeas and Olives

This simple salad is basically a variation on tabbouleh without the bulgar wheat! It works well as a side dish to accompany a carb-heavy main course, such as pizza or pasta, or as a lunch-box salad served with pitta bread.

• 2 little gem or 1 cos/romaine lettuce, leaves separated 
• 2-3 ripe tomatoes, de-seeded and diced
• 8cm/3" chunk of cucumber, de-seeded and diced
• 1 green bell pepper, de-seeded and diced
• 50g/2oz pitted olives, sliced
• ½ can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tbsp each of fresh chopped mint and parsley 

Dressing

• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Put all of the salad ingredients, apart from the lettuce, into a bowl.

Mix the dressing ingredients together, drizzle over the salad and mix gently.

Allow the flavours to marinate for around half an hour before serving on a bed of lettuce leaves.

I'm adding this recipe to this month's No Crouton's Required Challenge, created and co-hosted by Lisa's Kitchen and Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes.

Pin It

Turkish Beans with Lemon & Herbs

After cooking my meat-free Coq au Vin, I had plenty of carrots, celery and parsley left, so I came up with this Turkish-inspired recipe. I used 2 lemons the first time I made it, which Mr O and I loved, but the girls said it was too lemony; so I cooked it with just one lemon second time around, which they preferred.

Serves 2-3 as a main course, 4-6 as a side dish.

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced finely
• 100g/4oz green beans, sliced in 2-3cm pieces
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 sticks of celery, de-stringed and sliced 
• 2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
• 1 tin of chickpeas/garbanzo beans or other pulses, drained and rinsed
• 1 green chilli, finely sliced or chopped
• Juice and zest of 1 or 2 lemons (depending on how lemony you like your food!)
• 100ml/4floz vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp chopped, fresh parsley
• 2 tsp chopped, fresh dill

Heat the oil in a large pan, on a medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic and cook gently for a few minutes, then add the carrots, celery and green beans. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

Add the stock, chilli and herbs and stir.

Cover and simmer on a low-medium heat for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are almost cooked. Add the lemon juice and zest along with the tinned pulses.

Cover and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Serve hot, warm or cold (as a salad).

I'm linking this post up to the this month's Extra Veg Challenge, created by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy. 

Pin It

Greek-Style Tortilla/Taco Salad with Halloumi

After making my first ever tortilla bowls a couple of weeks ago, I decided to experiment further and tried making microwaved bowls (see tutorial below). The wraps puffed up slightly, so maybe corn tortillas are a better option, but they went nice and crispy and worked very well as an alternative to toasted pittas with this Greek-inspired salad.

You will need:

• 4 tortilla wraps, microwaved as below and allowed to cool
• 1 pack of halloumi, sliced into 8 and grilled or barbecued
• Your choice of fresh salad ingredients (I used lettuce, tomato, onion, bell pepper and cucumber)

Dressing: (mix all ingredients together)

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 crushed clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• A little black pepper

To make the tortilla/taco bowls:
Microwave one tortilla wrap at a time for 15-30 seconds on high, to soften.
Brush or wipe one side of each wrap with a little oil.
Place oiled-side-down into a heat-proof dish, pleating the wrap gently so that it fits inside the bowl.
Remove from the bowl and dry out the wrap in a medium oven for around 5 minutes, before cooling on a wire rack. 

Fill each tortilla bowl with salad ingredients. Top with the warm halloumi and drizzle the dressing over.

Serve immediately with your favourite dips.

Vegan option: swap the halloumi for vegan falafels.

Alternatives: Vary the salad ingredients and toppings, to make Mexican or Indian-inspired salads.

I'm entering this recipe to this month's No Croutons Required Challenge, co-hosted by Jacqui at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen. 

I'm also adding it to June's Family Foodies co-hosted by Eat Your Veg and Bangers & Mash

Pin It

Guacamole and Guacziki

As a family, we've only recently discovered the delights of guacamole and until now have been buying the ready made tubs. As Morrisons had packs of 4 avocados for £1 this week (that's the same price as 1 tub!), so Miss K and I thought we'd buy some and make our own.

Most authentic recipes seem to include chopped onion, but as neither of the girls like raw onion, we replaced it with garlic.

For the guacamole

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 ripe tomato, deseeded and diced
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed (or some finely chopped onion)
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• A little chopped jalapeño chilli, to taste
• A little chopped coriander, to taste 

Cut the avocado in half by scoring around lengthwise with a sharp knife.
Twist to separate the two halves.

Scoop the avocado flesh out into a bowl with a spoon, removing the stone as you do so.
Retain the skins and drizzle with half of the lime juice. Wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Add the remaining lime juice to the avocado flesh and mash roughly with a fork.

Add the other ingredients and stir in.

Cover and refrigerate until needed (for a couple of hours at the most, as it will discolor). Serve in the avocado skins.

For the guacziki

I decided to experiment with one of the remaining avocados and came up with guacziki - a kind of vegan tzatziki!

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 chunk of cucumber, deseeded and diced
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• A dash of hot chilli sauce, to taste
• A little chopped dill, to taste 

Prepare the avocado as before.

Place in a food processor with the lemon juice, garlic, the scooped out cucumber seeds and seasonings.

Blend until smooth.

Finally, stir in the chopped cucumber.

Cover and refrigerate until needed. 

Top Tip: Pop the avocado stone back into the dip until you are ready to serve. I'm not sure if this really works, but it's supposed to help stop the dip discolouring!

Pin It

Good Natured Salads - a review and a recipe for Greek Salad

©

When I was asked to review Good Natured salad products, my first thought was to test them out in a Greek salad, having recently come back from a holiday in Crete, where we enjoyed many Greek (or village) salads. Luckily we're big fans of salads in the Onykahonie household - I say luckily because some people think that's all us vegetarians eat! 

The Good Natured range consists of a variety of mainly UK produced salad crops, herbs, fruits and vegetables. What makes them different from other brands, is that they are free from pesticide residues, as they are grown using natural predators (ladybirds, not lions!) to see off the nasty crop-munching pests. This makes them slightly more expensive to buy than regular fruit and veg, but a similar price to organically-produced products.
The vine tomatoes and cucumber we tested looked pretty enough and tasted as good as any organic salad products we've eaten. I can't say that I would be prepared to pay the extra for them (having stopped receiving an organic box for cost reasons), but I would certainly prefer to see wide-spread use of this method of horticulture to help decrease both the price of pesticide-free fruit and vegetables and the use of pesticides in the UK. There is more information about the way Good Natured products are grown here. 
Find Good Natured products in larger ASDA stores. Look out for the labelled products in green boxes.

Greek salad

©

• 1 small lettuce, washed and shredded
• ½ cucumber, cut in half and sliced
• 2 large vine tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 green pepper, sliced thinly
• ½ small onion, sliced thinly
• a handful of Greek olives
• 125g Greek feta cheese, sliced thickly
• dried oregano and olive oil to serve.

Place the lettuce at the bottom of a bowl. 
Scatter the remaining salad ingredients over. Top with the feta cheese and sprinkle of dried oregano. Drizzle a little olive oil over to serve.

Integrity Statement
I received a voucher towards the purchase price of Good Natured products. I was not required to write a positive review and the views expressed are genuinely those of myself and my family. 

Logo used with kind permission from Good Natured ©

Pin It

Red Pepper & Courgette Salad (vegan)

©

This simple pepper and courgette salad is packed full of fresh basil, which gives it a really summery taste. It works well served with barbecued foods and can even be used as a panini filling or served over pasta.

• 1 large courgette (zucchini), thinly sliced 
• 2 red bell or pointed peppers
• 1 tbsp fresh, chopped basil
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

Heat the grill (broiler) on it's highest setting. 

When hot, place the peppers under the grill and cook for around 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until charred all over. 

Once blackened, remove peppers from the heat and place in a bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside. 

Meanwhile heat a large frying pan.

Cut the courgette in half widthways, then slice each half thinly - I used a mandoline slicer.

Fry the courgettes in a little of the olive oil, until softened and lightly browned (you might need to do this in 2 or 3 batches). Once cooked place in a bowl.

Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel away the charred skin; Then cut open the peppers and pull out the core and the seeds.

Slice each pepper into about 8 pieces and place in the bowl with the courgettes.

To make the dressing, finely chop the basil, add the remaining olive oil and the vinegar, mix well and season with black pepper.

Pour over the courgettes and peppers and mix gently to coat.

Toast the pine nuts either under the grill or in a hot, dry pan, until lightly browned and then sprinkle them on top of the salad.

Serve warm or cold.

Alternatives: Use ready-skinned red peppers in brine to save time.
Make into a lasagne filling or pasta sauce by adding a tin of chopped tomatoes and a crushed clove of garlic to the cooked vegetables.

Pin It

A trio of salads for Britain's Got Salad

©

Here's my own contribution to Britain's Got Salad...a trio of salads, which all just happen to be vegan: 

Mushroom and Coriander Salad

• 250g/10oz chestnut or mixed mushrooms, wiped and sliced
• 1 small onion, diced or sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander/cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil up in a pan and add the mushrooms and onion.
Cook until soft and then the ground coriander. Cook for a further minute, then add the garlic and balsamic vinegar.

Heat until most of the juices have evaporated and then remove from the heat. 

Finally add the fresh coriander and stir through.

Serve warm or cold.

Spicy Store-cupboard Salad

• 100g/4oz tinned sweetcorn, drained (use fresh when in season)
• 100g/4oz roasted sweet red peppers from a jar, diced (or cook your own)
• ½ red onion, diced finely
• 1-2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• Finely chopped pickled jalapeño chilli to taste (optional)
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tbsp lime juice

Mix all ingredients together and serve!

Lemony Potato and Pepper Salad

• 2 large potatoes, diced into 2-3 cm/1" chunks
• 1 large/2 small sweet potatoes, diced into 2-3 cm/1" chunks
• 2 yellow or orange bell peppers, diced into 2-3 cm/1" chunks
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
• Black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a roasting dish at 200C/Fan 190C/Gas 6.

Par boil the potatoes (not the sweet potatoes) for 5 minutes. Drain.

Add both types of potato to the roasting dish and turn to coat with the oil. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until starting to brown.

Add the diced pepper, lemon zest, black pepper and rosemary to the same dish and turn the potatoes.

Bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until all of the vegetables are cooked and slightly crispy.

Remove from the oven.

Pour the lemon juice over while the dish is still warm and mix gently to coat.

Serve warm or cold.

Pin It

Britain's Got Salad!

©

I came up with this idea when I was ill and in a slightly delirious state a few weeks ago. I was in lying in bed, dosed up with painkillers and decongestants, listening to the TV with my eyes closed, when a trailer came on for Britain's Got Talent. As my ears were blocked, I misheard it as Britain's Got Salad and I thought that would be a great title for a salad talent show!!

Now, one of my favourite veggie bloggers (Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes) runs a monthly soup and salad challenge, so I don't want to step on her toes. This is therefore a one off event (or maybe an annual one) to celebrate and publicise National Vegetarian Week.

Since starting my blog and reading many others, I've come to realise that there are some fantastic salad ideas about that include an amazingly wide variety ingredients, so I'd like to encourage as many people as possible to get excited about salads!

Unfortunately after ordering a salad in most British pubs and restaurants, you'll be presented with nothing more than a bowl of shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced cucumber, some bullet-hard tomatoes and maybe a few raw onion rings if you're lucky...no dressing, no herbs, no taste! Obviously we have to import many salad ingredients throughout the winter months, but we have fantastic salad ingredients coming into season right NOW.

To enter, just link up your favourite salad recipes (that includes raw and cooked salads, plus dips) or any other salad-related posts (review, news, growing tips etc.). The only proviso is that your post must be related to salad in some way, and any recipes must be vegetarian/vegan or show how they can be adapted for vegetarians. It would be great if you would add my BGS logo to your post too, but it's not compulsory. If you want to add the list of entries to your own blog post, get the InLinkz code here.  If you're not a blogger, feel free to leave your recipes and tips in a comment instead.

So here it is...ladies and gentlemen...BRITAIN'S GOT SALAD; Unfortunately Simon Cowell et al won't be judging your entries and there's no cash prize I'm afraid!

Logo made with
Pin It

Pineapple, Cucumber and Sweetcorn Salsa

I'm not a big fan of the fresh tomatoes we get in the UK...even the vine ripened ones taste too tomatoey for my liking! I will eat those big, sweet juicy (and ugly) tomatoes you get abroad and can't get over here though....for some reason, our supermarkets won't sell ugly but great tasting fresh produce, but that's another story. 

Anyway, the reason I came up with this recipe was to find something to replace fresh tomatoes in a salsa. When I googled, I couldn't believe how many different salsa recipe there were, made up with all sorts of different fruits instead of tomatoes. I love fresh pineapple, so decided to go for a pineapple salsa and bung in various left over ingredients I had in the fridge.

• 1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
• ½ cup drained tinned sweetcorn (or fresh cooked sweetcorn)
• ½ cup cucumber, diced
• ½ small onion, diced finely
• 1 tbsp picked jalapeño peppers, de-seeded and chopped
• Fresh chopped coriander/cilantro leaves or flat leaf parsley to taste
• Juice of half a lime
• A dash or two of hot chilli sauce (optional)

Mix all of the ingredients together, adding hot chilli sauce and chopped herbs to taste.
Serve with veggie burgers/sausages, Mexican food, barbecued food or with tortilla chips for dipping. Pin It

Squash, Lentil and Sweet Potato Salad

©

A friend passed this hearty salad recipe on to me, which she found on the American blog called Stacey Snacks. I've changed the recipe a bit, using a combination of squash and sweet potato and adding some fennel seeds.

Serves 4-8 as a side salad

• 300g/12oz butternut or other firm pumpkin/squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 300g/12oz sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 50g/2oz dried puy lentils
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp fresh, chopped parsley or mint
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
• 100g feta/soft goats cheese, crumbled (optional)
• Salad leaves to serve

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a non-stick baking dish, in a pre-heated oven (190C/180C Fan/Gas 5).

Add the squash and sweet potatoes and coat with the oil.

Bake for 20-30 minutes turning once or twice. 

Sprinkle with the spices and bake for a further 10 minutes until cooked and golden.

Meanwhile boil the lentils for about 20-25 minutes, then drain.

Allow the vegetables and lentils to cool for around 20 minutes.

Mix the remaining oil, vinegar and herbs in a bowl to make the dressing.

Add the lentils to the baking dish and pour the dressing over the warm vegetables.

Mix well to coat.

Serve warm or cold on a bed of salad leaves, topping with the cheese (optional) - leave out for a vegan dish.

Variations: Add a combination of other vegetables such as bell peppers, courgettes and sweetcorn.
Vegan option: Swap the feta for some toasted pine nuts.

Pin It