Green salad

GREEN LEAVES | how to create a salad repertoire

Serves as you like | 10mins wo-to-go Greens are the most fast and fabulous beauty food and when combined with fruit, vegetables & seeds or cheese they are bursting with flavour and phytonutrients to help your skin look the best. We all know we need greens daily - but who has time to make a green smoothie every work day morning? Instead, toss leaves together, add some goodies, drizzle with an oil & a tasty 'vinegar' and relax in the evening knowing you will wake with wonderful skin! BEAUTY BOOST: Why green? Because it creates gorgeous skin, supercharges your energy and helps to keeps you clean by eliminating waste. Greens - spinach, rocket, parsley, watercress, beet leaves etc are packed with antioxidants to that stop free radicals from causing wrinkle-forming damage to your skin. They are also loaded with vitamins eg Spinach contains A, K & C not to mention minerals such as iron essential for carrying oxygen around your body and producing energy - essential for skin repair and regeneration. Greens also provide stress-fighting B vitamins. If you do things like combining Spinach (iron) with citrus (vitamin C) they will work well together, allowing for optimal nutrient absorption in your body. YOU'LL NEED..... This is a non-recipe! It is about you creating a repertoire of salads that go 'on-the-side' with whatever you are cooking. The following are ideas for flavour combinations. Use just one or some of these leaf types suggested, add some goodies and dressing ...beauty-ful! 1. Start with a style | flavour by selecting your leaves
  • Asian: eg baby spinach, watercress, coriander, mint, mizuna, spring onions or chives
  • Italian: eg rocket (wild or large leaf), cos, basil, oregano, thyme, radicchio
  • French: eg witlof, chervil, parsley, dill, marche rosettes,
  • Classic: eg butter, mignonette, iceberg, mixed leaves, cabbage, sprouts - mung beans & alfalfa, micro salad - eg mustard or broccoli
2. Add goodies to go with your style | flavour selection
  • Fruit: pear slices, mango, lemon or lime zest, orange or grapefruit segments, avocado.
  • Vege's: tomatoes (sliced or baby), capsicum (fresh sliced or shaved - red or yellow), cucumber (thinly sliced), carrot or beetroot (grated raw - long & thin), finely sliced baby mushrooms, sugar snap peas, asparagus, shaved fennel, spanish onion.
  • Nuts and seeds: toasted pine nuts, sesame seeds &/sunflower seeds (toasted in tamari) or cashews, macadamia nuts, etc, toasted coconut.
  • Cheese: crumbled goats cheese, crumbed marinated fetta, slices of boccinicci, shaved parmesan.
3. Dress to compliment
  • Oils: EV olive, avocado, avocado with lime oil, walnut, sesame,
  • Vinegars: balsamic, white balsamic, balsamic glaze, juice of lime or lemon or pink grapefruit or orange, raspberry vinegar,
  • Seasoning: Salt flakes such as Murray River or Maldon + ground black pepper, garlic.
TO MAKE....
  1. Into a large open bowl, add greens, 'chopped' herbs, toss gently.
  2. Add 'goodies' of choice.
  3. Drizzle oil & vinegar of your choice. Season
  4. Toss & Serve.
Lost for ideas?Here are some of my favourite combinations. It all depends on what is in your fridge & fruit bowl! To go with
  • Asian style bbq fish or or chicken: baby spinach + mint + coriander + mango (summer) + cucumber + lime zest + lime juice + EVOO + S&P.
  • BBQ lamb chops or NY steak: mixed baby leaves + avocado + parsley + toasted sunflower & sesame seeds + walnut oil + white balsamic vinegar + S&P.
  • Pasta: Cos lettuce + tomato + basil leaves + olives + EVOO + balsamic glaze + shaved parmesan + S&P.
  • Savoury tart or omelette: butter lettuce + radicchio + pear + pinenuts + EVOO + chives + raspberry vinegar + S&P
TIPS & TRICKS - Have one of those cheap bright orange 'mandolin' slicers to quickly & effortlessly slice ingredients like cucumber, fennel, mushrooms like a chef! - Have one of those hand-hand held micro-graters to hold above salad bowl to zest lemon or lime - Don't make up a dressing in a jar or bowl - that's extra work inc washup time you can save for a 'special occasion', just drizzle the oil then vinegar over the leaves, add S&P and toss before eating. - Use scissors to chop your herbs - Make sure you have several different oils & vinegars on hand so you can always mix n' match. - Grow some herbs so they are always on hand to add that zing and change of flavour. - Buy loose leaves & whole lettuce as the latter lasts longer. That way you can buy & store at least 5 days of salad greens. - Rub the inside of the bowl with a clove of peeled garlic - helps inhibit inflammation that causes wrinkles! - You can also add roasted tomatoes or pumpkin or mushrooms but these take at least an hour to prep and lift the tone! KIDS To get my kids started on greens I took out a selection of goodies before the dressing goes on and popped them on their plate. I'd make them fun, use inner cos leaves and turn them into boats or get the little ones to make 'roll-ups' as they eat. Now most of the time they eat salad straight from the bowl. Kids love to help in the kitchen - get them involved in making salad by going into the garden to collect 'goodies' eg go on a herb hunt.
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