If you don’t like salad, I don’t get you. But I still love you enough to get in the kitchen and develop a few recipes that will make you happy. Happy with your salad that is.
Unsalady salads,perfect for packed lunches, even more perfect for small gatherings,great background music,hungry friends,honest conversations, where you get to bond over a big bowl of boiled potatoes drizzled with mint dressing.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm. Drain, cool, peel and chop roughly. Symmetry is not important at this point, we are going rustic.
Make the dressing: Shimmer the wine with a pinch of salt and pepper and reduce it to the point where it looks like a semi-thick glaze. Allow to cool, add the olive oil and vinegar and give it a good whisk. Add the dressing to the warm potatoes and toss to coat.
Garnish with sliced radishes,onions and chopped herbs of your choice. I used dried mint and lemon balm to enhance the acidity and bring all the flavours together.
Unplug the devices and pour a glass of wine. When I was a kid, my family and I used to play cards with beans instead of money..We had more beans to go around than money. So I’ve learned to utilize what was available and make the most of what we had. In that case beans. Frugal, but amazingly filling,wholesome without weighting you down.So good, you won’t even care about money.
If you have plenty of time start from scratch and boil the beans. If you can’t be bothered, we are not going to judge, get a couple of cans. I used black-eyed peas and kidney beans,I find that they go perfectly well together because that’s what I had in my pantry, yes this is how we roll. Use a large bowl to mix the beans, chopped roasted peppers,capers and chopped avocados.
Whisk the dressing: Vinegar, oil,dill,a pinch of sugar or (non-vegan) honey, mustard, garlic powder,salt and black pepper.Add some greens to your salad to make it nice and healthy. Share a glass of white wine with someone and talk about what was the best part of your (plural) day.
On sunday mornings my kitchen feels quiet and unrushed.Undisturbed I’m free to ponder over the though of cooking an elaborate 3 course meal for myself, and I always end up having a simple salad,along with a bottle of beer,soaking up the yellow sunlight that comes through my kitchen window at five.
Grab a few firm tomatoes, cut them in half, heat some good olive oil into a frying pan and dip your tomato halves into a bowl of sesame seeds. Saute them to seal in the flavours. I like mine charred,sprinkled with a heavy dose of coarse salt a big chunk of toasted bread on the side.
These tomatoes would be perfect as a side dish as well. No dressing needed here, just some good old olive oil to dip your bread and to enhance the richness of the juicy tomatoes. Black olives and parsley if you have them. I turn the radio on. I always listen to BBC radio and pretend I’m back in the U.K.
A bottle of Brewdog PUNK IPA helps as well. Bottoms up.
A lovely mix of textures and colours, bitter greens, sour purples,crispy yellows, nutty ivories. Whichever wild greens happen to be in season at the moment, mineral-rich romaine lettuce, frisée,mesclun,tangy apples,juicy blueberries,bell peppers and homemade croutons.Each bite brings out a different, fruity combination of ingredients.
This refreshingly versatile salad makes for an excellent summer lunch or super quick light dinner.Big chunky croutons are brushed with garlic oil and then baked in the oven until crunchy. Give it a good toss and if you are a purist like mychelf and happy with the understated juices that squeezed from your fruit, you are good to go. If you are after a more decadent version a tahini dressing would be indescribably delicious.
Happy with your salads? You’ll find all the recipe cards below,save, download, print or pin them as you wish and please make sure to share your recreations and ideas on my social media using the #chelfrecipes or simply by tagging me on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, follow my food board on Pinterest and don’t forget to join the Chelfdom.
Potato Salad
perfect for small gatherings,great background music,hungry friends,honest conversations, where you get to bond over a big bowl of boiled potatoes drizzled with mint dressing
- 3-5 potatoes
- 7-9 radishes
- 1 onion
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1 glass white wine
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 3-4 tbsp dried herbs
- 1 pinch salt &pepper
-
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm. Drain, cool, peel and chop roughly. Symmetry is not important at this point, we are going rustic.
Make the dressing: Shimmer the wine with a pinch of salt and pepper and reduce it to the point where it looks like a semi-thick glaze. Allow to cool, add the olive oil and vinegar and give it a good whisk. Add the dressing to the warm potatoes and toss to coat.
Garnish with sliced radishes,onions and chopped herbs of your choice. I used dried mint and lemon balm to enhance the acidity and bring all the flavours together.
Frugal Bean Salad
Unplug the devices and pour a glass of wine. When I was a kid, my family and I used to play cards with beans instead of money..We had more beans to go around than money. So I’ve learned to utilize what was available and make the most of what we had. In that case beans. Frugal, but amazingly filling,wholesome without weighting you down.So good, you won’t even care about money.
- 2 cups mixed beans
- 2 chopped roasted peppers
- 2 tbsp capers
- 1/2 avocado
Dressing
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey/maple syrup or a pinch of sugar
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tbsp chopped dill
- 1 pinch garlic powder
- 1 pinch salt & pepper
-
If you have plenty of time start from scratch and boil the beans. If you can’t be bothered, we are not going to judge, get a couple of cans. I used black eyed peas and kindey beans,I find that they go perfectly well together because that’s what I had in my pantry, yes this is how we roll. Use a large bowl to mix the beans, chopped roasted peppers,capers and chopped avocados.
Whisk the dressing: Vinegar, oil,dill,a pinch of sugar or (non-vegan) honey, mustard, garlic powder,salt and black pepper.Add some greens to your salad to make it nice and healthy.
Charred Tomato Salad
On sunday mornings my kitchen feels quiet and unrushed.Undisturbed I’m free to ponder over the though of cooking an elaborate 3 course meal formyself, and I always end up having a simple salad,along with a bottle of beer,soaking up the yellow sunlight that comes through my kitchen window at five.
- 2-3 tomatoes
- 1 slice bread
- 3-4 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- Grab a few firm tomatos, cut them in half, heat some good olive oil into a frying pan and dip your tomato halves into a bowl of sesame seeds. Saute them to seal in the flavours. I like mine charred,sprinkled with a heavy dose of coarse salt a a big chunk of toasted bread on the side.These tomatoes would be perfect as a side dish as well. No dressing needed here, just some good old olive oil to dip your bread and to enhance the richness of the juicy tomatoes. Black olives and parsley if you have them.
Fruity Greens
A lovely mix of textures and colours, bitter greens, sour purples,crispy yellows, nutty ivories. Whichever wild greens happen to be in season at the moment, mineral-rich romaine lettuce, frisée,mesclun,tangy apples,juicy blueberries,bell peppers and homemade croutons.Each bite brings out a different, fruity combination of ingredients.
- 2-3 cups mixed greens
- 1 cup wild greens
- 1 apple
- 1/4 cup blueberries
- 1 bell pepper
Tahini dressing
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2-3 tbsp water
- 1/2 juice
- 1 pinch sugar
- salt pepper
-
toss the greens in a large bowl. Blend all the dressing ingredients and pour over! Simple as that!
This all looks so good, healthy and easy to make. Too cool. Will try some of these this week, as it will be a busy week for us.
I hope that these recipes will make your meal prep a bit easier this busy week Darin!Thank you for stopping by!
Wow..can’t be happier to find so many salad recipes in one article ? please tell what can i use to replace the wine.
Hi there! How about some balsamic vinegar? Follow the same steps to reduce it to a semi-thick glaze. It’s acidic enough to spice up the potatoes. Any kind of vinegar would also work!
You’re such a wonderful cook! All of your food looks delicious. Can’t wait to try some of these recipes.
Always so kind Tasheena! Love ya!
All of these look amazing but the bean salad would probably be my first thing to try! I love anything made with beans. I’m guess the maple syrup/sugar is to cut the bite of the dressing? Looks divine. I’m gonna try it!
Ah, beans are amazing aren’t they? the perfect staple! Yeap, the syrup works as a binding agent and helps with the acidity as well!
We love our salads, it’s our default lazy day meal. These are fantastic options. Can’t wait to try that charred tomato salad first.
I cannot wait for you to try them out Jolina!
Each of these looks great, but I love potatoes, so would have to go with that potato salad! And I like a regular salad, but have never cared for fruit in a salad before. It just seems like such an odd mix of flavors to me.
If that’s not your cup of tea you could sub the fruit for a variety of seasonal veggies! A green salad is so versatile, isn’t it? Thank you for stopping by!
Amazing recipes written by a gifted Author. You filled up my mind with beautiful pictures and tasty meals. I am not sure what I enjoyed more the recipes or your talent to depict themPlease never give up doing this !!!
Thank you for the kind words, file Dimitri!
These salad recipes are the perfect go-to summer meal. They’re quick, nutritious, and best of all don’t require much time to prepare (who wants to slave over a hot stove when it’s boiling outside ?). And contrary to what you might think, salads can be substantial entrees even without any meat 🙂 Thanks for sharing those recipes. I really love this fruity combination of ingredients of the Fruity Greens recipe.
I could not agree more! They are so easy to make and fuss-free, no excuses not to eat your veggies 😉
These look great. I love different types of salads. I will definitely have to try these out!
Hey Holly! I love experimenting with my salads as well I had so much fun developing these recipes! I hope you’ll love them as well!
The potato salad sounds wonderful. I am a huge fan of not green salads especially in the winter!
Then this post is perfect for you Angela! Skip the last recipe and we’re good 😉
All of these dishes look so delicious and the presentation is beautiful! I would love to try some of these yummy recipes!
I hope that you will Taylor!
I love the sound of the potato salad. I would like to try the recipe. Sounds very delicious.
It’s so yummy even as a side dish, it’s definitely worth a try!
These look so good! I love salad but don’t know how to make them tasty. I will try these!
I hope these recipes will help Ayana! Give it a go and let me know how it went. I’d be more than happy to help you modify any recipe according to your taste!
This must be fate that I’m reading this perfect post. I have a bunch of radishes in the fridge that I’ve had absolutely no idea what to do with. And voila, your perfectly selected potato salad is my solution. Can’t wait to make this tonight.
Hey gorgeous! Good to see you back on the Chelfdom! I’m so happy to provide the inspiration! I love radishes, crunchy and a bit spicy, yum!
Yum! I love throwing some fruit into my salads. It adds a little sweetness without the need to add dressing
Oh yum! I’m suddenly super hungry after reading your post lol. I’m definitely a lover of huge salads. The recipes you shared are just in time for summer. Thank you!
Lol, yeap I tend to do that to people 😉
Yum! This looks so good, anything with potatoes wins in my book and these are perfect
I agree i find this salad delicious and healthy. I love it and nevermind eating it everday.
Glad you liked them Blair!
Who doesn’t love potatoes, right?
These look so good. I want to try the roasted tomatoes.
Oh they are so good Rachel! In fact I think I’m gonna make some for lunch tomorrow
I love salads! Your photos are fabulous!
Thank you!
That potato salad looks amazing! I think people who hate salad need to search for salad on Pinterest. Lol.
very true! Pinterest is the all time fave source of inspo!
I definitely understand what you mean about the salads. I love them. But my daughter is not much into those leafy greens, which is kind of sad. These are some good healthy alternatives though. I love your potato salad with radishes. Looks and sounds amazing.
I agree with what someone said above, I love potatoes! I’ve never had a potato salad but this looks very good.
No time like the present then!
Oh yum! These salads look so yummy and refreshing! Ill have to try some of these
Some great ideas here. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you liked it, thank you for stopping by!
Excellent article and I love your cooking for one,
Thank you Avion!