1 - Choose your greens
Choose greens with various SpinneysFOOD options. Think beyond lettuce! Thinly sliced cabbage, kale, radicchio and herbs can replace your everyday leaves.
How to...
…Wash greens
Fill a large bowl or a clean sink with plenty of cold water. Add the lettuce or greens and swish them around to loosen and remove any dirt. Remove the leaves from the water and shake off any excess water, you can use a salad spinner here.
...Store greens
Line a container (large enough to hold all the leaves) with paper towels, add the leaves and place another layer of paper towels on top. Place in the crisper draw of your refrigerator. The leaves should last up to 10 days.
Grill it: To grill lettuce, place a griddle pan over medium-high heat. Slice romaine or little gem lettuce in half and generously brush the cut-side with olive oil before seasoning well with salt and pepper. Using tongs, place the lettuce halves cut-side down on the griddle pan and grill for 5 minutes. Flip and grill for a further 3 minutes before placing on a platter.
2 - Choose your veggies
Cucumbers, broccoli, mushrooms, fennel bulbs, radishes, cauliflower, green beans, courgettes, carrots, beetroots, or whatever veg catches your eye. Mix the shades up or arrange them in sections to create a rainbow effect or colour block and use ingredients with similar hues.
Don’t waste: Chop up stems of leaves or herbs or even pick leaves from vegetables and chop them up, dress with a simple vinaigrette and add to your salad. Beetroot stems, cauliflower leaves, celery leaves and carrot tops are all super tasty and innovative additions to your salad.
TOP TIP: Thinly sliced vegetables are all the rage in salads so invest in a mandoline to get paper-thin slices. Don’t forget to use ice water – it gives added crunch and also makes the veggies curl beautifully.
Veggie central
We source top-quality vegetables direct from local and internationals farms
To roast or not to roast: At this point you’ll need to decide if you want crispy, crunchy raw veggies or to add caramelised roasty notes – or both.
How to roast veggies:
- Preheat the oven to 220°C, gas mark 7.
- Prepare about 500g vegetables – cut softer quick-to-cook vegetables in big chunks and vegetables that need longer cooking times (such as sweet potato) into smaller chunks to make sure they all cook in more or less the same time.
- Place the veggies in a large roasting dish and toss with 1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Unrefined Sugar, a splash of SpinneysFOOD Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and seasoning.
- Place in the oven and roast. Softer vegetables (cauliflower, green beans, etc.) will take 10-20 minutes, whereas harder vegetables (butternut, potato, etc.) can take up to 30 minutes, so keep an eye on them.
3 - Add some grains or pulses
Quinoa, rice, kamut, farro, chickpeas, lentils or whatever catches your eye in the aisles at Spinneys.
Forgot to soak overnight? We’ve got a shortcut: Rinse about 450g grains or legumes and place in a large pot. Pour boiling water and 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda over and allow to stand for 1 hour. Rinse and then boil as usual.
Pantry superstars
Choose from a wide range of nutritious grains and pulses
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4 - Include something creamy and soft
Pick from cheese, yoghurt, feta, labneh, goat’s cheese, ricotta, soft-boiled eggs or avocado. There's also plenty of vegan options you can experiment with!
Creamy & soft
Find these products and many more in the chilled section of the store
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5 - Dress it up
For a classic dressing whisk 2 tbsp vinegar (apple cider or white grape) and 6 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Dress up the dressing!
- To make it creamy, use buttermilk instead of vinegar.
- For a sweet taste, whisk in 2 tsp of honey and 1 tsp Dijon mustard.
- Go green by blending together with 60ml thick yoghurt, a bunch of herbs and garlic cloves.
- For a smokey flavour, whisk in 1 tsp smoked paprika and 1 tsp honey.
6 - Add crunch
Use nuts, seeds, homemade croutons, cheese, crisps, or crackers.
To make homemade croutons, preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. Place 180g torn sourdough or baguette in a large bowl. Drizzle 50g melted butter over the bread and toss to coat. Season well and spread over a lined baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool before removing.
Make your own toasted seeds! Preheat an oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. Scatter 140g of seeds on a lined baking tray. Toss with 2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean ExtraVirgin Olive Oil and 1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Salt. Place in the oven and toast for about 15 minutes.
7 - Plate it up
Don’t toss everything into a bowl, use a big shallow platter and arrange the ingredients (you could even go by colour and segment the different ingredients), place the dressing on the side and only dress the salad just before serving.
