Friday 27 June 2014

Summer is here and it's Salad Time with Florette

So it finally feels like the summer is properly here, and like millions of others, when the warm weather hits, I make a conscious effort to eat lighter dishes, and that means one thing…salad. 

Growing up in the 80's/90's a 'salad' used to consist of iceberg lettuce, rounds of cucumber, quartered tomatoes and if you were lucky a spring onion or two! Not hugely exciting, tasty or overly inspiring - which is no doubt why when I think of a salad these days I tend to think it's going to be pretty boring.

The people at Florette challenged me to create an exciting salad for this lovely weather, and I couldn't wait to give it a go. 

I have to feed a very hungry husband every night, and when I told him we were having a salad for dinner, he didn't look too enthused. 

So, my aim:

-a salad which is exciting
-a salad which will fill up hungry husband and,
-a salad which isn't too expensive

When it comes to choosing a salad leaf/leaves it is quite a simple choice for me - I like sweet and crispy leaves, and avoid anything peppery as I really hate rocket. When I say hate, I mean with a vengeance: I can smell it a mile off, and avoid it at all costs! 

I chose Florette's new Sweet Crispy pre-washed bag which cost me £1.00 in Tesco. It has a mixture of Little Gem, Green Romaine, Radicchio, and Green Batavia leaves.  


So now I'd decided on the base of my salad I had to decide on the bulk and key flavours. I wanted to include some meat or fish to bulk it out so I decided on a budget version of the classic 'Salad Nicoise'.

Salad Nicoise 
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

  • 1 tin of tuna mixed with mayo, salad cream, splash of malt vinegar, s&p
  • sweet/crispy salad leaf bag, washed
  • 2 medium eggs, hard boiled
  • 100g green beans, steamed
  • 50g mange tout, steamed
  • cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 200g new potatoes, boiled and halved
  • salt and pepper croutons
  • parmesan shavings
  • finely chopped mint to garnish

The great thing about a salad like this is that you can pop in whatever is in your salad box in the fridge. You could pimp it up with a tuna steak or chicken breast if you have a bigger budget than me - the tinned tuna worked well though, and acted like a dressing once combined. 

The best thing about salad for me is it's the perfect excuse to enjoy a warm crusty roll, or thick door stop wedge of your favourite bread on the side. 

Not your standard iceberg, cucumber, tomato mix! 

Salad Nicoise - Lucy style! 


I served my salad with big wedges of lemon to squirt all over it, and my favourite low fat garlic/herb salad dressing on the side. 

It was truly delicious, and hubby was raving about it - so I think I achieved my aims...

full husband….check
pretty salad…check
more exciting than the salads from my childhood…check
and it only came in at around £2.00 per portion, so very reasonable…check!

What's your favourite salad? Do you go for a classic like Nicoise or Ceasar? Or do you like to mix it up and go for something a little different?

Let's hope that this lovely sunshine is here to stay, and we can enjoy loads more salads in the garden over the next few months. 

Mrs B

xxx

Disclaimer: I was asked by Florette to use a bag of their salad leaves to create a fun and exciting salad in exchange for some Florette goodies as a thank you.