Some grate salads!

First pun of the blog, you are very lucky I have held back so far.

So, now Spring is well and truly (and finally) under way, fresh, cool, raw lunches are back on the menu.  Here is a fab way to make a delicious salad which is easy, quick, healthy, scrumptious, filling, has endless combinations...need I go on?  Get the grater out!

Mandatory basics:

Coarse cheese grater

Mustard

Vinegar (cider vinegar, red wine, balsamic etc)

Oil (olive or nut will give a nice flavour, but you could also use sunflower oil)

Pepper (very good for you, always worth shoving a bit in)

To make a basic salad dressing for 1 person:

Mix 1/2 tsp mustard with 2tsps vinegar, then add 3tsps oil and mix well.  Once you've nailed that, go for sploshes rather than tsps to save time.

Optional extras: 2 large tsps mayonnaise, squeeze lemon/lime

Suitable vegetables (all RAW)

Celeriac

Carrot

Beetroot

Apple (crisp and sharp are best)

Radish

White/red cabbage (finely slice rather than grating - on the slicey bit of the grater or with a vegetable peeler)

Bean sprouts (no need to grate!)

Mange tout peas (finely slice)

Peppers (finely slice)

Extras:

Fennel (can be finely sliced or grated)

Spring onions (finely chopped)

Shallots (finely chopped)

Peanuts

Toasted seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, pine nuts etc)

Olives

Eat with:

Hard boiled egg

Pate

Thick sliced ham

Salami/cured meats

Tinned/smoked fish

Cheese

Warm crusty bread

Assembly:

See what's in the fridge, grate it.

It really isn't any more complicated than that!  Here are just a few tips for guidance:

• If you are making this to take to work for lunch or if it isn't going to be eaten straight away, make the dressing separately to stop it going soggy
• The grated beetroot can be gently squeezed to get rid of some of the excess liquid.
• Lemon goes particularly well with carrot
• Celeriac and apple goes very well with crumbled blue cheese
• Mayonnaise in the dressing goes well with chopped boiled egg stirred into the veg