Loads of left over salad stuff

squeaky

I don't like celery either... but to use some up from my veg box I made a celery and potato soup... and it was fabulous!

I'd definitely recommend that you try it once, honest

LameWolf

Cucumber is nice in Raita - dice up the cucumber, get a good handful of fresh mint leaves and chop them small, and mix with plain yogurt (I like Waitrose Organic). Dip poppadums into it as an interesting alternative to crisps with dippy sauce thingies.

viv0147

Over the last five weeks I have been doing a weekly menu and it has been really good and it has totally eliminated food waste and I find shopping so much easier and cheaper I print the weeks menu and I keep it on my fridge with a fridge magnet which makes it easier to follow and at the end of the day I know what to take out of my freezer for the following day.

I live alone and I am thinking about including salads into my weekly menu, going from past experience I always end up with too much waste, which is possibly because I am not picking the right variety of salad produce so I need advice in this department. It has crossed my mind to have a salad week! I am not a vegetarian so meat can be included, but I don’t particularly wants to leave the table feeling hungry so suggestions on filling salads ingredients etc. would be very much appreciated, and the best way to prepare a salad that could possibly last a week if stored correctly. Also I would like advice on the salad dressing! The truth is I have only ever used salt & vinegar & salad cream of course I am aware there are many salad dressings available but what are the best ones to complement a salad?

Thank you for reading this post and hopefully for the suggestions you will all contribute I look forward to them all.

madmary_2

My lastest and favourite salad is carrot and almond. Toast some flaked almonds in a dry pan for a couple of minutes. Mix with grated carrot and grated ginger and some chopped chili, squeeze over some lemon juice and mix in some extra virgin olive oil. You can keep this in a plastic storage box.

I also use crisp lettuce like Romain, or iceberg. They last quite a while in a salad box (just discard brownish leaves). You can make soup out of wilting lettuce and frozen peas, so no need to throw away if it's looking a bit sad.

Chopped up tomatoes, avocados, cucumber, celery, carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms, nuts, pinenuts, sultanas, almost anything really.

Dressing can be as simple as olive oil, or some lemon or lime juice or a mixture.

Throw in some cold bits of chicken, or other meats, rice or pasta.

And I use mayonnaise a lot. Aldi's is particularly nice although you can make it (bit of a faf imo).

Mary

sparrer

I too live on my own and love salads. I buy Little Gem, using 1/4 or 1/2 one at a time depending on size, good value and they keep well for at least a week. I choose loose tomatoes which are orange/red rather than bright red as those are already at their peak. I prefer them a little firm and under-ripe and they too will keep for a week or so. If they start to get soft they go in casseroles etc. Celery is a very good keeper, some stand it in a jug of water but I find it's just as good in the fridge. I only buy 1/2 cucumbers as they seem to go soft very quickly these days, anyone else find that? Beetroot in a jar will last well but I prefer fresh or vacuum packed as i don't like the vinegar taste of the jar ones. Bell peppers keep for at least a week, living on my own I often have some left over for cooking and they freeze well. Mushrooms of course, buy them very white and firm. The smaller ones go off a bit too quickly so another addition for cooking. Carrots last for weeks in the fridge, as madmary says they're good grated in salads and beansprouts are a nice addition, you can grow those on your windowsill. Watercress and spinach are tasty but best used on the day you buy them. Pine nuts keep for ages in an airtight tin, they're a bit pricey but you only need a few sprinkled on. If I buy a joint or chicken I slice some and freeze it so I always have some meat to add, or make a pie/quiche/flan which can be cut into portions and frozen. So much choice now, I love salad days!

I make my dressing with 2 parts olive oil, 1 part vinegar, a good twist of black pepper and a crushed garlic, leave it a couple of hours or preferably overnight to blend. It will keep for more than a week, but I read somewhere that garlic once crushed can cause toxins if kept in the jug for more that a week or two, don't know if that's true or not but I don't take the risk.

Happy Salad Days

BitterAndTwisted

If you're going to prepare salad vegetables and store in the fridge do not add any dressing to it until you're ready to eat it as the dressing will make the veggies wilt and release the water in them. I prefer salad with oil and vinegar dressing or sometimes mayo depending on what veggies I'm having.

I throw away more prepared salad than I eat at this time of year. Which is a terrible waste, really. Just as well that it's only 75 pence a bag. The issue when preparing food for one in this house is that salad veg will rarely last a full week between shopping trips if I don't eat some every day.

madmary_2

A tip I learned from a Twitter friend is roast a whole garlic bulb in the oven in a little oil. Put that whole bulb in a jar and cover with olive oil. You can eat the cloves and the oil will taste of garlic.

Mary

Eliza_2

An interesting question - you sound very organised Viv. I too live on my own but don't buy and plan meals, I just buy ingredients. That way I can always make a meal.

Today I did my weekly shop and did pretty well, £23 incl quite a few toiletries etc and cat and dog food. Make sure your salad stuffs are multi-purpose. I bought white cabbage to use both cooked with something and as a coleslaw of some description - takes no time to slice finely, add grated carrot, onion, peanuts and mayo. 10 mins or less after work. I also get little gems (50p for 2 in Morrisons atm) and they last really well, much more than a week though I've usually used them before then. Tomatoes can be used in cooking (bacon and tomato butty for Sunday brek, yumm!) and of course in salad. I did waste a bit of cue last week as the fridge overfroze, so it went to the chickens who weren't impressed. Spring onions last for ages and are also multi-purpose, as are peppers - watercress can go in salad as well as cooking, herbs can be cut and come again either in pots on the windowsill or in the garden. And of course fruit, dried, fresh or frozen is great in salad too.

I don't think I would want a 'just salad' week, but salads can accompany pretty well most things, I'm having mush omelette and salad tonight, no idea what I'll have tomorrow but if you also take lunches to work you'll probably find you don't have enough, not too much. I can't think when I last threw salad (or any foodstuffs) away apart from the poor sad cue.

I'd be interested to read other ideas, especially from others on their own.

Generali

2 great salads:

- carrot rapee (that's 2 grated carrots with 1tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp orange and 1-2 tbsp olive oil)
- beetroot n feta (1 tin of beetroot chopped up, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese)

Linda32

I leave everything as it comes and just put on the plate as I make the dinner.

The main part will be pork pie/quiche/cold chicken and couscous.

Then I buy a cucumber, pack of tomatoes, beetroot and coleslaw and just slice up and put on plate. These items all seem to last about 4 days until they are all gone.

If you go for the cold chicken, then roast a whole chicken and divide into portions and freeze. Defrost in the fridge the night before.

Salad dressing is mayo or salad cream in this house :rotfl: