Like with everything we cook and eat, the key is to begin with good ingredients. Try to get into the habit of choosing a few different lettuce heads and making up your own salad mix once a week. And don’t be afraid to mix flavours and textures. It is hard to beat freshly picked ingredients from your own garden, or purchased in a farmers’ market. Store them in an airtight plastic container or ziplock bag to ensure they stay fresh. Alternatively, consider growing some in a large pot on the patio during the summer months.
Your hands make the best salad-tossing tool. Gently pick the herbs off their stalks and roughly tear on top or snip in chives with a scissors. Crumble or tear the cheese into small pieces and scatter on top. See right for my thoughts on how to dress a salad. Serve immediately, straight to the table.
A big thank you to all of the people who have had nice comments to make about my new book.
Happy cooking,
Neven
Neven Maguire’s Home Economics For Life is out now (Gill Books).
CRISP
Cos lettuce
Romaine lettuce
Little Gem lettuce
Loose-leaf lettuce (sometimes known as crisp)
SOFT
Buttterhead lettuce
Red or green oakleaf lettuce
Lamb’s lettuce
Watercress
VEGETABLES
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Avocado
Radishes
Fennel
CRUNCH
Toasted mixed seeds
Toasted pine nuts
Croutons
Crispy bacon lardons
CHEESE
Feta
Buffalo mozzarella
Parmesan
Cashel Blue
HERBS
Fresh chives
Fresh basil
Fresh flat-leaf parsley
Fresh rocket
How to dress a salad