Cheap salads

Raksha

The only problem I can foresee is that things may start going brown at the edges - particularly lettuce. These salads tend to be packed in an inert gas to prevent the contents oxidising. A bit of brown lettuce has never stopped me though.

llh189

Have just been and done my shopping - no carrots or tomatoes in my supermarket at 8pm on a Saturday night - not one - how odd.

Must be a local shortage - salad stuff came to about £6 - but have quite a lot off it - cheaper than the packaged stuff - thanks guys for your responses!

radiohelen

• Ground Elder - cooked as spinach - aromatic flavour.
• Nettles - When washed, can be cooked and eaten as spinach - makes a great soup!

Oh my life tomterm8!!!!! I have sooooooo much ground elder i could probably flog it as organic hedgerow greens at a farmers market!!!!! Sell it to chefs as an exotic ancient vegetable.

I could be a millionaire in the next month! :rotfl:
Instead I'm going to make soup...in the morning...and quiche...maybe even beer......:beer:

tomterm8

nettles aren't really worth it, IMHO, except for beer. They are a real pain to collect. Literally. And when cooked down, half a bag full turns into about a teaspoon of spinach.

Ground Elder is worth it, see http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Finding_food/Ground_Elder_Recipes_-_Eat_Your_Way_to_Eradicating_a_Troublesome_Weed/ .

clutterydrawer

My housemate used to make a huge salad and take a bit to work with her every day for lunch. I used to partake of it too sometimes, it still tasted fine even towards the end of the week.

things that went in were:

iceberg lettuce (goes a long way for the money)
grated carrot
sweetcorn
cherry tomatoes
cucumber
pickled beetroot.

I always throw in some couscous/quinoa/green lentils as well to make it more filling and add protein.

Cullumpster

lynzpower wrote: »

Honestly, the carrot on those salads has been grated a hell of a lot longer than 3 days! The salads can be stored in the supermarket for up to a week, god knows when the carrot was actualy grated.

I actually know someone who worked in a place that used to sort out foods like pre packed salads fruits etc...he said that they used to have to open the packets and take out the manky bits and throw them away and then basically stick a few more good bits in and seal them up :eek: or something along those lines - put me off pre packed stuff afetr that - apparently some of the stuff was mouldy :eek:

Patchwork_Quilt

I find the unwashed lamb's lettuce and rocket from Tesco is fairly cheap and lasts all week if you wash it as you need it.

If you tear your lettuce it won't go brown at the edges as quickly as if you cut it with a knife. Also if you cut things more thickly they stay more juicy in the middle.

rach

I buy the cos or Romaine lettuces...a bit nicer than Iceberg but last quite a while.

something i do for my lunches might suit you: celery and carrot sticks, sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes plus some ryvitas and soft cheese. great meal, cheap and healthy but filling.

I also am shattered when I get in as I have a long commute but I find meal planning helps and bulk cooking, so I rarely have to spend more than 15 mins cooking. Stir frys are easy and sometimes I cut up all the veg the night before and pop it in a sealed tub.

greenbee

I take a salad to work every day (I also take my breakfast, so I'm making two packed meals every night before I go to bed).

I usually cook some pasta (I do a batch of this twice a week), then add in beansprouts (which I grow myself), lettuce (either mixed leaves from the organic farm shop or little gem/romaine), chunks of tomato, celery, cucumber, radish, thin slices of fennel, some sunflower or pumpkin seeds and then either cottage cheese, an egg, goats cheese, some kind of hard cheese, smoked mackeral, tuna, tofu etc.

You can have plenty of variety, and it should only take you a matter of minutes to make each night!

lynzpower

Justcoll wrote: »

lynzpower wrote: »

While you are at supoermarket get a smalll bag of compost and the seeds for a mixed bag of leaves - should cost about a pound, seeds for spinach and tray them up, nows the time to sow them , soon youll have your own salads growing throughout the summer for a princely quid or so and no nasty chemicals! They will grow all spring to summer and never run out or go off! /quote]

Do these have to be planted in a bed or could it work in some sort of container? I am new to gardening and would love to have a variety of salad ingredients on tap but they would have to go in pots.

TIA

No absolutely any old contrainer will do. I got some value seed trays las year for 10 for a £1 from B&Q so im using those, but Ive also used the trays you get meat in from supermarkets and plastic punnets you get mushrooms and the like in from supermarket. My nana used to grow her seeds in anything, chopped off empty pop bottles, yoghurt pots etc. just pop a few holes in the bottom for drainage you are away- seriously.You dont need even an outside, theyll do fine on a window ledge. All you need to do is water regularly. Few weeks- eat.

There is a brilliant thread, growing veg in pots and grobags on the greenfingered board- quite long now though have a look its filled with brilliant tips. IM lso doing mange tout again, and these crop like wildfire We did get a bit sick of them last time :rotfl: and they dont freeze well but we gave them to our neighbours