Living Greener: Make the most of seasonal salads

A FEW months ago, I wrote about how spring brought a plethora of shoots and herbs that could be picked for salads — young linden leaves, hawthorn shoots, sorrel, chives, borrage, dill, burnett, parsley and coriander, all of which could be missed together with early lettuce and some natural yogurt to make great spring salads.

This time of year is even better for salads, but with very different ingredients; this is the time to use your cucumbers, tomatoes and root vegetables.

Cucumber salad 

Three large cucumbers 

Salt 

½ cup yogurt 

½ cup mayonnaise 

Salad herbs – mint, burnett, dill, sorrel, borrage 

Scallions 

One tablespoon Lemon juice 

The secret to this is to peel the cucumbers and slice them as thinly as possible – with a mandolin, if you have one – and then mix them with salt and let them sit for two to three hours. You can also shred them in a grater. When the two hours are up, wash the salt out and squeeze the rest of the juice out – this gets rid of the astringent cucumber taste.

Then, just chop and mix herbs — mint, burnett, dill, sorrel, borrage and chives if you have them, but try different combinations and see what you like. Finally, mix in yogurt and mayonnaise for the dressing.

Carrot and beetroot salad 

Two large carrots 

Three red beets 

Two apples 

Four spring onions 

One tablespoon of lemon juice 

One tablespoon of soy sauce 

Four tablespoons of sesame oil 

First mix together the sesame oil, lemon juice and soy sauce into a vinaigrette. Peel the apples – freeze and save the peels, as you’ll need those for making jelly later. Then shred the carrots, beets, and apples. Chop the green onions finely. Mix everything together and enjoy. Here too, try different combinations for your taste, and if you plan on making a lot and saving some for later maybe skip the soy sauce, as the salt wilts the vegetables.

Light potato salad 

One kg new potatoes 

Three eggs 

Three apples 

Four stalks celery 

Fresh salad herbs 

Scallions 

One cup mayonnaise 

One cup yogurt 

Two tablespoons light oil – walnut if possible.

Four tablespoons lemon juice 

Mix the lemon juice with the yogurt, mayonnaise and herbs until you have a smooth sauce.

Then, boil the potatoes until tender all the way through.

Next, slice them finely while still hot and mix them into the sauce and mix in well. The hot potatoes will soak up much of the flavour of the When that is done and cool, slice the eggs, celery and apples and mix in well.

Tomato salad Eight large tomatoes One medium onion One garlic clove Salt and pepper Parsley One & ½ tablespoon lemon juice Three tablespoons olive oil Chop onions and parsley finely, mince garlic, add them to a bowl with the juice and oil.

Chop tomatoes in half and squeeze out the excess juice, then chop them finely and mix them in.