Snap Pea & Rocket Salad (Short Girl, Tall Order)
Learn how to make your own salad, and you no longer have to buy plastic-wrapped bags of tasteless salad at the store, only to see it wilt in a couple of days. Not everyone can eat salad, so be aware of this. If you are on heart-thinning medication, check the paper inserts, in case you are limited in leafy greens (too much vitamin K which could interact). Also see how to make your own salad dressing.
Lettuce may seem bland, but it’s packed with nutrition and makes a great base ingredient. You don’t have to just go for the ‘lettuce, tomato and slices of cucumber salad’. Lettuce can be far more exciting, if you let it. And it’s also a good salad vegetable to use a wrap, popular in raw food recipes (just add the filling and roll up).
In fact, most people do eat a lot of lettuce, so it’s easy to find everywhere. Choose organic where you can, and buy from shops that don’t wrap it in plastic. Don’t store it near fruits that emit the gas ethylene (apples, bananas) as it will soon go off. There are two types of lettuce. Butterhead lettuce has oily leaves and crisp lettuce (like iceberg) has brittle leaves. Take your pick!
Due to being very high in vitamin K, check if you are on heart medication, as you may be advised not to eat (or not to eat too much of it). And if you live with furry friends, know that iceberg lettuce should not be fed to rabbits. See what to feed rabbits instead. Basically hay and fresh grass, with a few healthy treats.
Make Your Own Pasta Salad
15-Minute Pasta Salad (So Vegan) is beautiful enough to be the centrepiece for the table. Packed with nutrition, this features onion, cucumber and cherry tomatoes, along with olives, parsley and tinned chickpeas. All dressed in a simple homemade sauce. salted water to the boil and cook the pasta as per the packet.
Cooked too much pasta last night? It’s easy to do, if you don’t measure it out. But instead of throwing it away, use it to make a tasty homemade pasta salad. A great way to use it up, and add some fresh veggies the next day, makes an ideal takeaway lunch, if you’re on the go.
Pasta salad is a good way to use up leftover veggies in the fridge. Pasta is thought of as not healthy, but if you use it as a base for lots of fresh veggies, it’s fine. Try to find a good organic pasta brand, and go for gluten-free if you find that it suits you better. But for most people, regular dry pasta is fine.
Health experts differ in their opinion of olive oil. Some say it’s healthy, others say that all refined oils are best avoided for health. However, Italians and others have been eating foods with olive oil for years, and have better health than many other countries. What is true is that for cooking, rapeseed oil is usually better. Save olive oil if used, for drizzling over cold dishes, like this. Choose organic and use sparingly, but enjoy!
Who says a salad has to be cold? Many people don’t like ice-cold salads, especially those with dodgy digestion. Here are some nice warm salads that can be enjoyed in cooler weather and still enables you to get all your vitamins from fresh greens.
Books to Make Your Own Salad
- Vegan Salads is a lovely book that takes you through the way to make your own basic salad and dressing. It does contain 100 beautifully illustrated recipes, but is more an informational book.
- Show Up For Salad includes lots of main meal salads including Juicy Grilled Summer Days Peach Salad, All-Day Breakfast Nacho Salad Bowl, Lazy Seitan Gyro Salad, Peruvian Potato & Red Quinoa Salad and Pizza Panzella with Beet Prosciutto. Along with sides like crumbly salty almond cheese and buffalo tofu.
- Neighbourhood: Hearty Salads and Plant-Based Recipes is from a local foods campaigner in North America. This looks at paying homage to salads from around the world.
Grow Organic Salad Leaves & Greens
Grow Organic Salad Leaves & Greens is a book by Somerset no-dig gardening expert Charles Dowding, who grows all his own food, without ever using a spade or fork, which keeps the earthworms and stag beetle grubs happy. If you are fed up of living on plastic-bagged limp expensive salad covered in chemicals from the supermarket, this book can show you how to grow your own fresh salads, for zero food miles. Although like Charles, you may have to accept that sometimes you’ll be sharing your lettuce with a few rogue rabbits, who happen upon your wares!
If you live with animal friends, see make your garden safe for pets, to know toxic plants to avoid. This post also covers other dangers like mulch (cocoa, pine, rubber) and slug pellets (you can deter slugs and snails using safe humane methods, no chemicals needed, which also helps wildlife to thrive).
This book is beautifully illustrated, and contains all the info you need to grow tasty salad leaves all year round, whether you have a garden, balcony or windowsill. You’ll also learn how to grow micro leaves in small spaces, using organic or permaculture principles.
High Yields
- Essential know-how
- Potential of small raised beds
- Containers & window boxes
- Sowing, raising, sustaining
The Salad Calendar
- Spring, Summer
- Autumn & winter harvests
A Celebration of Leaves
- Lettuce, chicory & endive
- Oriental leaves, other winter leaves
- Spinach & chard
- Exotic ideas, herbs & flowers
Indoor Sowing
- Conservatories
- Coldframes
- Windowsills
- Greenhouses
- Polytunnels
Have you ever visited a supermarket and been confronted by those plastic pots of tomato pasta salad? They are not just often covered in cheese, but the tomato versions are often ice-cold, flavourless and expensive, considering what they are (pasta and tomatoes!) Keep pasta salad recipes away from pets due to toxic ingredients (garlic, onion, leeks, chives, mushrooms etc).
Spring Pasta Salad (Short Girl, Tall Order) contains asparagus, peas and artichokes. It’s topped with a homemade lentil basil vinaigrette. This is an ideal recipe to use up that bit of leftover pasta, because you misread the quantities, and cooked too much for dinner! Asparagus only is in season for a few weeks each year, so a great recipe to avoid food waste! You could of course sub with any other spring harvest veggies.
Ever tried those tasteless bean salads in the sandwich aisle of supermarkets? Try this Four Bean Salad with Tangy Dressing (Crowded Kitchen) instead. Not only does it work out cheaper, but also is tastier and better for you. You can also sub the ingredients to whatever beans you have in the kitchen cupboard, to use up. This the ultimate ‘pantry cleaner’ recipe!
This recipe uses chickpeas, white beans, kidney beans (use canned as you have to boil them dried to be safe) and edamame (if these are too exotic, just use any neglected bean cans in the cupboard). The salad also contains lots of fresh veggies like carrots, celery and peppers.
The dressing is a simple blend of white wine vinegar, lemon juice and Dijon mustard. These blend beautifully with rich beans, and you can prepare it ahead of time, for the flavours to mingle.
Beans are packed with calcium and protein, and a much cheaper and easier to way to get your protein than fake meats. They are also extraordinarily cheap. So stock up and keep them in the cupboard, when the urge arrives to make a big tasty salad!
Remember those small tins of potato salad that you ate growing up? Why not make your own with leftover spuds and spring fresh produce? First brought to Europe by Spanish explorers, it typically consists of boiled waxy potatoes and onion, carrot and some kind of mayonnaise. Here are some plant-based versions for you to try. Serve with cold sandwiches, or alongside veggie hot dogs and burger. Spring Potato Salad with Asparagus & Peas (Crowded Kitchen) is a spring dish with radishes and a lemon dill vinaigrette. Made in 30 minutes.
Potato Salad with Dill (Crowded Kitchen) covers the potatoes in a creamy dressing made with vegan mayo, Dijon mustard and lemon juice.
Vegan Dill Potato Salad (Short Girl, Tall Order) is ideal for a summer BBQ. Rather than using mayo, this is a lighter version of your typical salad, and uses fingerling potatoes. Ready in 30.
How well do you know your spuds? Here is a quick guide on which ones are best for which job. Try this Asparagus Potato Salad (Crowded Kitchen).
Make Your Own Salad Dressing
Making your own salad dressing means you can bypass the plastic bottles in the supermarket, and dollop them on homemade salad. You can also bypass the factory-farmed egg and other animal ingredients, and include some health omega-3 oils (good for your skin, heart, brain etc).
Try to dry your salad before dressing it (whizzing it around in a tea towel is fine, if you don’t have a salad spinner) so that you get the most flavour out of the dressing, without water diluting it. Vegan French Dressing (Shane & Simple) is very easy to make in one bowl. You need 7 simple ingredients and 5 minutes. Oil-free.
Raw egg should not be eaten in pregnancy (or anytime really). If on blood-thinning medication, check paper inserts as you should not eat too many greens, due to vitamin K interfering with medication. Keep these recipes away from pets, due to toxic ingredients like garlic and onion.
Americans are some of the world’s biggest consumers of salad dressings, with many based around Caesar Salad, and Italian also very popular. Many conventional salad dressings contain mayonnaise and low-calorie dressings abound, although they are not as tasty as others like thousand island, blue cheese, ranch and honey mustard.
We all think of salad as being healthy. But some people with delicate stomachs don’t do well on salad. Ayurvedic doctors are not fans of salad, saying that we digest food better once cooked. Others are raw foodists, who say we should never cook food. No wonder people are confused.
This Glass Salad Making Bottle lets you fill each line using the ingredient shown to make your own dressings and vinaigrettes. It has a screw lid and hold 400ml.
A Simple French Vinaigrette Recipe
The formula for a simple French salad dressing is one part acid (usually cider vinegar) to three parts oil (usually olive oil). You can then just whisk with a fork, shake in a jam jar or use a blender (the former is fine for small quantities). Add fresh herbs and add-on ingredients like mustard, garlic, vegan honey or miso. The key to a good salad dressing is to form an emulsion, to avoid it separating. You can easily shake leftover dressing, to use it again (use up within a short while, and keep covered in the fridge). Try these 5 fruity salad dressing recipes (The Veg Space) including a simple raspberry vinaigrette.
Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing
Caesar salad dressing is one of the world’s most popular accompaniments to salad, said to be invented by Italian-American chef Caesar Cardini, back in 1924 in Mexico (although his brother said he invented it) Designed by accident due to a shortage of ingredients, the basic recipe is lettuce dressed with a sauce made with Parmesan (contains calf rennet) and Worcester sauce (contains anchovies). It’s usually served with Romaine lettuce, alongside garlic and lemon juice.
Vegan Caesar Dressing (The Simple Veganista) is rich and creamy, and ready in under 10 minutes. You just need 5 simple ingredients (oil-free).
Vegan Ranch Salad Dressing
This is the most popular salad dressing in many parts of the US. Created by an Alaskan plumber back in 1949, the traditional version is not very healthy, made with mayonnaise and buttermilk, although it does contain fresh herbs.
Vegan Ranch Dressing (The Simple Veganista) is thick and creamy, made with cashews, lemon and fresh herbs. An ideal dip for veggies.
Vegan Chipotle Ranch Dressing (Minimalist Baker) is made with soaked cashews to make a vegan buttermilk, then blended with garlic, onion powder, vinegar, salt and pepper, fresh dill and chipotle.
Vegan Thousand Island Dressing
Thousand island dressing is an American condiment that is typically made with oil, lemon juice, mustard, spices, and ketchup. It often contains pickles and onions. Believed to stem from the upper St Lawrence River (between the US and Canada), it’s often used on burgers and in a Reuben sandwich. It’s also popular in Sweden and Germany.
Vegan Thousand Island Dressing (Shane & Simple) is made with silken tofu, ketchup, Dijon mustard, spices (garlic, onion, paprika), sweet pickle relish, dried dill and date sugar.
Vegan Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
Blue cheese dressing is a thick dressing, often used as a dip. Blue cheese is mixed with any creamy sauce from milk to yoghurt to mayo. Many include onion and garlic powder.
Creamy Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing (Veeg) is lovely on a veggie burger, or drizzle on a plate of roasted vegetables as a sauce. You can even swirl this into warm rice or serve as a healthy dip.
Vegan Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
Not-so-Honey Maple Dijon Dressing (Simple Veganista) is a sweet creamy dressing that needs just 4 ingredients. You can also use it to roast or grill veggies (or use as a marinade) if you double the recipe.
Where to Buy Good Vegan Salad Dressing
Sacla makes good salad dressing. Choose from:
- Vegan horseradish sauce
- Vegan blue cheese salad dressing
- Vegan Caesar salad dressing
- Vegan salad cream
- Tofu Island Thousand Salad Dressing!
A Little Bit is a company offering fresh herbal condiments from Kent. Most commercial products use dried herbs, so the fresh herbs here give extra flavour. The entire range is vegan-friendly, look on each item for use-by dates, once opened. The range includes fresh herb dips in glass jars, dressings and herb plant-based mayos plus 4 dressings:
- Fresh Mint & Raspberry
- Fresh Parsley & Red Onion
- Fresh Tarragon & Lemon
- Fresh Thyme & Balsamic
Inspired Vegan Classic Sauces go beyond just offering a ‘French dressing’ like they do in supermarkets. These are mostly thick and creamy dressings, to replace all your traditional favourites. They are sold in glass bottles (recycle plastic wrap at supermarket bag recycling bins). The range includes Caesar, Dill Mustard, Honea Mustard and Hollandaise, along with horseradish and tartare sauces.
How to Grow Your Own Salad Greens
Growing your own salad is better than buying plastic-wrapped pots in supermarkets. Salads grow best in well-drained soil in full sun (indoors from February or outdoors from mid-spring to late-summer). Thin out overcrowded seeds and sow batches a few weeks apart. Harvest a few weeks after (snip leaves, just before eating). Try this Simple Green Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette (Minimalist Baker).
Make your garden safe for pets (to know toxic plants and other items to avoid) and and use humane safe slug/snail deterrents. If growing indoors, know toxic indoor plants to avoid and don’t display foliage facing gardens, to help stop birds flying into windows.
Grow Organic Salad Leaves & Greens is the ideal starter book by Charles Dowding, England’s top ‘no-dig’ gardening expert. No fork required to grow tasty salad leaves all year round, using organic and permaculture principles. Whether you have a windowsill, garden or allotment, learn to grow different salad leaves throughout the year.
Salad Leaves That Grow in England
Some people on medications should not take too many dark leafy greens or grapefruit, due to interaction (see paper inserts or ask GP).
- Lettuce
- Endive
- Spinach
- Mustard greens
- Rocket (arugula)
- Chicory (don’t eat if you have gallstones)
- Sorrel (not for kidney/stomach issues)
Watercress is very popular to grow, but the plastic pots in supermarkets are often more rapeseed oil than cress. Tamar Organics sells good organic seeds, which grow on kitchen paper or in leftover punnets on a windowsill, year round. A good source of vitamins (do not eat for kidney, stomach or ulcer issues), it’s quick to harvest when frilly leaves appear (cut with scissors to keep cress clean). Add as garnish to salad or in sandwiches. Cress is toxic to pets.
Did you know iceberg lettuce is toxic to rabbits? Although they like Romaine and lamb’s lettuce, it should not make up a big part of a bunny’s diet (once or twice a week, as an occasional treat). Guinea pigs can eat slightly more fresh greens (they can’t make their own vitamin C) but again they should not be given iceberg lettuce.
