I love salads. But substantial salads. Not a few iceberg leaves and a sad-looking tomato. A colourful, crunchy and fresh plate full of goodness! We’re talking hunks of cheese and chunks of meat covered in a blanket of sumptuous dressing! Something that is going to fill you up but is super-healthy at the same time.
And so here are seven salads that I like to make often. It’s a whole week’s worth of healthiness! You’ll just have to find another way to be bad!
1. Tuna Niçoise Salad
The base – Spinach, Watercress and Rocket
The rest – tomato quarters, trimmed beans, anchovies
The substantial stuff – rare tuna steak, Parmesan shavings, hard-boiled eggs
The dressing – extra virgin olive oil, dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, lemon juice
Not a traditional Niçoise, but a tasty one! Lay your base on a plate and top with your tomato quarters and some anchovy slithers.
Heat a saucepan of water on a high heat until boiling. Add a couple of eggs and boil for 8 minutes.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle pan until smoking. Season the tuna well with salt and pepper and lay not he griddle pan. For pink tuna, like this, 3-4 minutes on each side is good. At the sides of the pan, cook the trimmed beans so that they’re nicely charred.
Serve your tuna on top of the other salad ingredients and scatter over the trimmed beans. Peel the boiled eggs, chop and serve next to the tuna. Using a potato peeler, peel shavings of Parmesan onto your salad plate.
For a delicious dressing combine a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, half a teaspoon of dijon mustard, a little less than a tablespoon of white wine vinegar, the juice of half a lemon, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle over your salad before munching.
2. Chicken, bacon and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad
The base – Spinach, Watercress and Rocket
The rest – tomato quarters, sliced mushrooms
The substantial stuff – grilled chicken, smokey bacon, buffalo mozzarella slices
The dressing – extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice
Meaty chicken, smokey bacon and gooey mozzarella nom nom nom. Again, lay your base onto the plate and top with the tomato quarters and mushroom slices.
Season and put your chicken under the grill or use your George Foreman as I did. Grill your bacon as well until it’s nice and crispy.
When your chicken is cooked, cut on the diagonal and arrange onto your salad plate. Cut the cooked bacon into strips and then tear your buffalo mozzarella onto the salad.
For the dressing just combine a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and the same of extra virgin olive oil. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, season with salt and pepper and then drizzle over the scrummy salad.
3. Chilli and Garlic Prawns and Mango Salad
The base – Spinach, Watercress and Rocket (of course!)
The rest – cucumber ribbons and fresh mango
The substantial stuff – chilli and garlic Prawns, grated Parmesan
The dressing – extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice
You must be getting the hang of this now… lay your base onto your plate. To that add some fresh diced mango and ribbons of cucumber which you can make by taking your potato peeler to it.
For the Prawns, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan. When hot add a crushed glove of garlic and a finely chopped red chilli. When they are covered in the oil, add 250g of cooked King Prawns. After 4 minutes or so, the Prawns will be warmed through. Turn out onto the salad plate and cover with a good grating of Parmesan.
For the dressing, just mix the extra virgin olive oil with the juice of half a lemon and drizzle over.
4. Curry Spiced Salmon and Yogurt Salad
The base – Spinach, Watercress and Rocket (you guessed it, I love this stuff)
The rest – tomato halves and diced cucumber
The substantial stuff – salmon fillet and fat-free yogurt
The dressing – extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar and lemon juice
A super-healthy and tasty salad! Lay out your base and top with the cucumber and tomato.
Heat your oven to 180°/Gas Mark 4. Cover the salmon in a teaspoon of curry powder – hot or mild depending on your preference. Place your salmon on a foiled baking tray and cook for 20 minutes. Serve on top of the salad and add a dollop of yogurt onto the fish. Sprinkle some chilli flakes on the yogurt and a drizzle of olive oil. Then just cover the salad in a dressing of 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and the same of white wine vinegar and the juice of half a lemon. Serve with a lemon wedge as well.
5. Scallops, Smokey Bacon and Butternut Squash Salad
The base – Spinach, Watercress and Rocket (in case you were unsure)
The rest – tomato quarters
The substantial stuff – roast butternut squash, scallops and smokey bacon
The dressing – extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice
A warm salad of fab flavour combos. Set your oven to 200°/Gas Mark 6. Lightly coat a diced butternut squash in olive oil and season. Spread across a foiled baking tray and roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until tender and golden.
Lay the salad base on the plate and add the tomatoes. Grill the smokey bacon on both sides until crispy and then cut into strips and arrange onto the plate.
When the butternut squash is ready, take out of the oven and place half of the cubes onto your salad plate. Finally, put a frying pan containing a tablespoon of olive oil on a medium to high heat. Season 180g of scallops and cook according to the pack instructions. Scatter onto the plate before finishing with a dressing made of 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and the juice of half a lemon.
6. Roast Duck, Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad
The base – Spinach, Watercress and Rocket (was there ever any doubt?)
The rest – tomato quarters and pomegranate
The substantial stuff – roast duck and beetroot
The dressing – extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice
Season the duck well and cook according to the pack instructions. While it is cooking, lay your base out an top with quartered tomatoes. Dice some beetroot and add that too.
When the duck is cooked, slice on the diagonal and arrange on the plate. Tap the pomegranate seeds all over the top. Then just drizzle over the sticky balsamic dressing.
7. Sausage, Roasted Red Onion and Sautéed Potato Salad
The base – Spinach, Watercress and Rocket (it would be weird to use another base now)
The rest – roasted pomodorino or cherry tomatoes, roasted red onion
The substantial stuff – sausages and sautéed potatoes
The dressing – not much is needed, a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Sausages in a salad? Why not! Heat your oven to 200°/Gas Mark 6. Quarter the red onion and then cut each quarter in two. Put the onion into a bowl, lightly season and cover with a drizzle of olive oil and stir so that the onion is coated. Then place it on a baking tray and roast it for 30 minutes in the oven, turning occasionally. Half way through the cooking time, season and oil a handful of tomatoes and roast them for 15 minutes too.
Take a handful of new potatoes and boil for 10 minutes until soft but retaining their shape. Slice them up into small discs and set aside.
Put the onion and tomato on a lower shelf in the oven to keep them warm. Then put your grill on to cook the sausages. If you have a separate grill to your oven then lucky you are!! Cook the sausages according to the pack instructions – cook as many as you want in whatever flavour you like!
Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and splash some olive oil in there. Season the potatoes and then fry them on a medium heat for 10-12 minutes, turning every couple of minutes.
Lay out your salad base, scatter the tomato and red onion through it. Take your sausages out from under the grill, slice on the diagonal and dot them over your plate. Turn the potatoes out onto some kitchen paper to give them a quick drain and then put them through your salad as well. Finally since all of the components have already seen some oil, you won’t need much in way of a dressing, just a drizzle of some extra virgin olive oil and its ready to eat!
