Inspiring summer salad recipes

Sainsbury's are wanting to inspire the nation to be more creative with their vegetables after seeing a massive upturn in the sales of vegetables. Leading the way are avocado with sales up 147%, asparagus spears up 118%, broccoli up 40%, courgettes up 30% and bunched beetroot up 25%.

Sainsbury's has teamed up with raw vegan food artist and Instagrammer Amber Locke to create some gorgeous summer salads using seasonal vegetables and we were challenged to have a go at creating our own.

My daughter Megan has a plant based diet and is very creative when it comes to making delicious raw salads and vegan meals. So I enlisted her help to make a delicious salad using an array of seasonal salad vegetables, combining some wonderful flavours, colours and textures.

Megan's salad plate featured sundried tomato falafel; raw lemon, chilli, courgette & almond salad; lime, carrot, coriander & toasted cashew salad; tomato, avocado, spring onion & cucumber salsa with walnuts and home made houmous with smoky paprika. Everything is made from scratch and tastes delicious, making the most of the fresh salad vegetables available. The recipes are simple, but the combinations are full of flavour with zingy citrus or the heat of chilli to bring out the taste.

Carrot, Coriander and Toasted Cashew Salad

3 medium grated carrots
grated juice and zest of a lime
chopped fresh coriander
sprinkle of chilli flakes
small handful of toasted cashew nuts
salt and pepper

Pop the grated carrot, zest, juice, coriander and chilli flakes into a bowl and mix together. Season with s & p and sprinkle over the toasted cashews.

Lemon, Courgette, Chilli and Almond Salad

1 large courgette
juice  and zest of one lemon
half a red, deseeded, chopped chilli
small handful of flaked almonds
salt and pepper

Use a vegetable peeler to make ribbons of courgette. Mix with the juice, zest and the chilli. Season with s & p and sprinkle over the nuts.

Tomato, Avocado, Spring Onion & Cucumber Salsa

4 tomatoes - various colours
1 ripe avocodo
half a cucumber
4 spring onions
chopped fresh coriander
chopped walnuts
one teaspoon each of lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar and olive oil
salt and pepper

Chop the tomato, avocado and cucumber into small cubes. Slice the spring onions thinly. Combine together with the coriander, the dressing ingredients, salt and pepper. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over the salsa.

Serving these salads with some home made falafel, houmous and some Romaine lettuce leaves makes a lovely, summer meal for four, packed with health giving vitamins and minerals.

My 'Grow Your Own' Progress

We were away for a few days and I was so worried about leaving my plants that I am growing as part of the Ice Grow Your Own Challenge!  That was a completely new experience for me...showing concern for my little potted garden.  I needn't have worried, as although we were basking in glorious French sunshine all week long, Shropshire had quite a lot of rain.  I had moved all my pots into a more sheltered area of my garden away from direct sunlight before we left, and thanks to nature's watering, they flourished. 

My plants have all grown massively.  I have a little jungle growing! The children have pots of flowers and sunflowers which are really coming into their own. It's amazing to see Bumble Bees buzzing around, knowing we are helping them and encouraging them into our garden. The potato plants survived really well and I think it may soon be time to check under the soil to see if we have any spuds to dig out!

Just take a look at my Rocket!  It has gone from being tiny seedlings to 'ready to eat' salad!  It is my first crop ready for consumption and that makes me very excited!  I picked a few leaves to nibble on and I loved the peppery, fresh flavour.  Sowing seeds on a two weekly cycle means there is always a new row growing after you have picked some, keeping the supply of salad going through the summer.

I was a bit sad to see some of my plants had been ravaged by some hungry caterpillars.  The butterflies that the children had been admiring last week, had laid eggs onto my radishes and they had hatched and eaten most of the foliage away.  So I don't think that will be a very successful crop.  I am a bit squeamish when it comes to bugs, so I can't bring myself to remove the interlopers from my plants.  I will take solace out of the fact that I have helped feed the next generation of beautiful butterflies that my children will enjoy watching fluttering around the garden!  Sharing the gardening love with Mother Nature's hungry creatures!!

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will have some more home grown produce to enjoy...especially if the rain continues to keep everything well watered for me. I am continuing to take delight out of this challenge and am enjoying sharing the gardening experience with my children!

Fresh Gourmet Salad Recipe - Halloumi and Egg Salad

This is my recipe for a delicious summer salad that is high in protein, flavoursome and rich in iron.  It is a modern twist on the boiled egg, grated cheese and lettuce served with Salad Cream that we used to eat when I was a child!  

The salty Halloumi is a perfect accompaniment to the salad, while the juicy, sweetness of the sweetcorn and the crispiness of the onion adds an exciting combination of both taste and texture.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Rocket, baby spinach and chard salad leaves

225g block Halloumi

small tin of salad crisp sweetcorn

4 eggs boiled

Fresh Gourmet Crispy Onions

Olive oil flavoured with herbs

Balsamic vinegar

Ground black pepper

Method

Slice Halloumi and fry in a dry pan until the liquid has evaporated and the cheese is browned.

Cut hard boiled eggs into quarters.

Make dressing by mixing one part oil to one part vinegar.  Season with pepper to taste.

Dress the salad, sprinkle over sweetcorn and arrange the cheese and egg on top.

Sprinkle over the crispy onions.

Fresh Gourmet add some extra bite to salad dishes with their crunchy croutons and toppings.  The American brand has launched in the UK with four delicious varieties that transform meals quickly and easily.  A sprinkling of Fresh Gourmet's robustly flavoured and crunchy toppings adds taste and texture to soups, salads, sandwiches or other meals.

Cheese and Garlic, Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper and Ciabatta Basil pesto Croutons are made with artisan bread and baked, not fried, for a lighter touch.  The Crispy Onions are lightly salted.  

The range is so tasty I've been nibbling them on their own as a quick snack!  They make an excellent addition to so many meals.  You can sprinkle them onto anything you fancy: soup, mash potato, chilli, pasta bakes etc.  They let you get a bit more experimental in the kitchen!

The 80g resealable bags are priced between £1.79 and £1.99 in Tesco stores.

I was sent some to create a salad recipe in the Fresh Gourmet recipe challenge.