Not-sad salads

From someone who's currently 70% focaccia, 30% chocolate

We’ve just had a four-day weekend in the UK so, firstly, that’s my excuse for sending this on a Monday rather than our usual Sunday slot - Victoria is a saint for putting up with my terrible time-keeping.

Secondly, four days off means I’ve eaten well. So very well. Friday saw pasta with delicious wild garlic pesto, courtesy of my friend Kate. Yesterday was Delia Smith’s onion tart as part of an excellent roast - don’t let the bad photo deter you, it’s a stone-cold classic. Claire Saffitz’s focaccia for picnic sandwiches today (another very good recipe from her). Not forgetting chocolate, and lots of it, including another Saffitz recipe: her flourless wave cake.

And of course, I regret nothing. But now, I would really like some vegetables.

For many years, I was quite anti-salad. I didn’t really see the point; to my mind, there were other, more exciting ways to eat vegetables - and I thought the only option was some slightly limp iceberg lettuce with a drizzle of lacklustre dressing.

Well, colour me corrected: there’s a whole world out there (especially if you play fast and loose with the word ‘salad’, which is highly encouraged), and I’ve tried a few new recipes of late to add to the repertoire. Hopefully you’ll like some of them too. Now, for one last bit of chocolate before I make one…

Thai noodle salad with the best ever peanut sauce Feasting at Home

For a peanut butter addict like me, this dressing really scratches the itch, coating a ton of veggies and noodles. It’s a great make-ahead lunch, if you keep the dressing on the side (though the same can be said for most of these).

Gem salad with secret weapon dressing Helen Graves

BBQ Days, BBQ Nights is one of my favourite new-ish cookbooks, and is packed full of great side dishes and salads. This is one of them - the avocado in the dressing gives it a lovely creaminess. You could add some meat or halloumi or beans on the side to make it a bit more substantial.

Summer vegetable, bulgur and pesto salad Meera Sodha

I make this a lot (shocker - have you seen who wrote the recipe?). Bulgur wheat seems quite underrated to me; here it adds some weight to the leaves, green beans and tomatoes. The homemade pesto is delicious, though I often make it with cheese rather than nutritional yeast.

Chickpea salad Sam & Sam Clark, from Moro

Moro was one of the winners from our first season, and - fun fact - we made this salad for our supper club to celebrate the end of that season. It’s really easy to make (I used tinned rather than dried chickpeas) and keeps quite well.

Little gem salad with herbs, maple, lime and sesame Ixta Belfrage

Another little gem feature, and yet another gem of a recipe from Ixta. The maple, lime and sesame dressing make this quite unusual, and the pickled shallots give it a punch. Perhaps more of a side dish than a solo star.

Squash salad with tahini and pomegranate Meera Sodha

I made this for the first time last week and was really impressed. It is absolutely up my street thanks to the tahini (peanut butter’s more exotic cousin), but that aside, the squash and toasted pitta make it feel hearty. It says it serves four, but in this house it served two in one sitting…

And not for the first time, maybe not even the last:
Cae Sal Molly Baz

It’s just so good. Sure, you could add some protein - but how about some chips and an ice-cold glass of white wine?

Yours full of good intentions,

Hannah x