How to make your own vegan salads (plastic-free)

England is not renowned for being (say like Californias) a nation of salad eaters. But that’s often because (a) soup is nicer when it’s raining and cold or (b) most salads in restaurants consist of a slice of limp lettuce, a stick of celery and a cherry tomato.

Learning to make your own salad is far better! And much tastier than the store-bought plastic bags of wishy-washy salad greens. They also are very expensive, compared to if you make your own.

Vegan Caesar salad (Full of Plants) combines crispy Romaine lettuce with herbed croutons, shallots in  a homemade creamy dressing.

You don’t need lots of tools to make good salad. Just a good chopping board and a quality knife, some fresh produce and a salad spinner (failing that, just use a tea towel to dry off your salad greens before serving with dressing).

• Check medication before eating lots of leafy greens (or grapefruit). Read more on food safety for people and pets.
• Before recycling cans, rinse then remove lids (pop ring-pulls over holes). Then step on upper cans to ‘pinch’ inner rims together, to avoid wildlife getting trapped. 
• Unless you have a food waste bin, bin pepper and allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. 

Only made enough salad to last a day or two, keeping leftovers in a covered container in the fridge. Only adding dressing when you serve.

If you want, add some Hampshire watercress!

Watercress is one of England’s native salad greens, and grows mostly in Dorset and Hampshire (where there is even a watercress festival!) It’s quite peppery and most people prefer it blended with other greens.

One bag of watercress is sold each second in England. It’s been popular since Roman times, when it was thought to cure everything from baldness to insanity!

Best enjoyed from April to September, choose strong green leaves for freshness and only wash and shake dry before use. Store in the fridge (ideally in water) and eat within a couple of days.

Curried chickpea salad (cheaper than Morrisons!)

This curried chickpea salad (The Simple Veganista) is reminiscent of the version that you sometimes find in those big (very expensive) salad bars in supermarkets like Morrisons. This one is way cheaper and no plastic packaging.

Chickpeas are super-filling and tasty, and packed with protein. There are also some healthy carrots and green onions in there, blended with a curry-spiced vegan mayo and sweetened with dried raisins.

This is kind of like a take on chicken coronation salad, invented in the 50s to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. But if you’re  going to replace chicken with chickpeas (good!), also ensure your homemade chickpea salad is cheaper and tastier than plastic-pots in supermarket versions!

Keep unsafe foods like onions away from pets.

For tinned ingredients – before recycling cans, rinse then pop ring-pulls back over holes. Then step on upper cans to pinch rims together (this stops wildlife getting accidentally trapped).

Unless you have food waste bins, just bin pepper and allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallot, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps. To avoid acids harming compost creatures.

Most of us like a pasta salad. But you don’t have to limit yourself to those boring pots of tomato and pasta in supermarkets (most also contain cheese which many people don’t want). Make your own – cheaper and tastier and healthier, with no plastic pots!

For people who don’t really like salad, a quick and easy pasta salad (The Simple Veganista) is usually a good starting point. At least the watery tomato sauce is replaced by fresh tomatoes, red onion, bell peppers and olives.

This recipe adds in some drained canned chickpeas for extra protein, or use any beans you have left in the cupboard. Once opened, transfer the rest to a covered container in the fridge, and use within a day. 

This recipe includes a simple homemade vinaigrette. A good homemade salad dressing recipe is to whisk together 3 tablespoons of oil with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Add 1 teaspoon each of Dijon mustard and maple syrup, season with salt and pepper.

Homemade vegan potato salad (no Heinz cans needed!)

This classic potato salad (The Simple Veganista) will remind you of the old canned version by Heinz (it’s not made anymore). This is so easy to make, just season cooked leftover potatoes in a vegan mayonnaise mustard dressing.

Often the big adverts try to convince people that brands like Heinz are ‘nostalgic’ for people who live in England. When in fact most of the ‘big nostalgic brands’ are not owned or sometimes even made in England. So bring little money into local economies.

For instance, Heinz is owned by Kraft, based in the USA. So although the ketchup and beans are made in UK factories, huge amounts of profits go to shareholders abroad. Far better to support local artisan brands like Biona!