lunch for work(salads)

We usually make our own salad dressing and keep it in the fridge - lasts a while. We don't stick to a particular recipe, usually a combination of wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and mustard. We pop it in a jar and adjust quantities to suit taste.

For a basic French dressing the ratio is 4 tablespoons oil to 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, half teaspoon french mustard, pinch of sugar, salt and black pepper.

I take a lot of salads to work, I always add tinned beans to a salad - chickpeas, kidney beans, butter beans, etc.

Another nice salad, is a Nicoise salad, my version consists of lettuce, green beans (cooked), new potatoes (cooked), tuna, hard-boiled egg, tin chick-peas, cherry tomatoes (obviously you would omit these!) onion - eg red or spring onion, & black olives. I drizzle any type of salad dressing over this. You could also use tinned salmon or cooked prawns instead.

You could prepare a pasta salad the night before, I sometimes prepare things in advance but keep some of the ingredients in separate tubs in the fridge, then mix them all together when I'm ready to eat. That way my lettuce doesn't go soggy!

For a pasta salad you could mix cooked pasta with chopped peppers, onions, mushrooms, tuna, sweetcorn then add a dollop of mayo and a bit of black pepper. You could make this one the night before, it would keep fine.

i find the best way to make a salad dressing is to mix everything up in a jam jar, put the lid on and shake like mad!!!!!!

This is also an easy way to transport the dressing for picnics, or to work.

Oh, and one last plug - it means less wahing up as no bowl, whisk etc!!!!!