Summer Salad Season VI

The MacBook is still not fixed, but hope is not yet lost (and I was secretly pleased when the man in the Apple Store referred to it as 'vintage') and so we venture into the final summer salad season post, wonky photos and all. This week's salads are not for those of you who eat lunch in close proximity to your colleagues as the theme seems to be 'slightly whiffy'!

Egg and mackerel on mixed leaf salad

Pesto pasta salad - leave stirring on the pesto as late as possible to keep it tasting fresh, but you can cook the pasta and prepare the salad the night before 

Tomato and mozzarella - can't wait to start growing basil again for the perfect accompaniment to this classic salad

Healthy home made coleslaw salad - mix shredded white cabbage with grated carrot, 2tbsp plain yoghurt and a dollop of mayonnaise

Tandoori chicken - I love how the avocados take the edge off of the spice in this salad (and 6 avocados for £1 in my local green grocer makes this deliciously thrifty!)

Next time, we're onto more hearty autumn salads (and I may have my eye on a few soup recipes too!) but for now, let's enjoy the last of the warm weather :)

Home Made Houmous

Making your own houmous is a no-brainer. A tub of houmous costs at least £1 and a tin of chickpeas to make your own can cost as little as half of that. Plus it's fresh and you can flavour it however you like.

Ingredients
1 tin chickpeas
1 glug olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of nutmeg

It couldn't be easier- simply drain and rinse the chickpeas, then blend with a generous glug of olive oil and seasoning until your achieve the desired consistency.

I made houmous and roast vegetable wraps with sweet potato, butternut squash and peppers:

This would make the perfect picnic lunch. Store leftover houmous in an airtight container in the fridge, where it should keep for a couple of days.

PS When I have some more time on my hands, I want to try this butternut and harissa houmous, sounds delicious!

Summer Salad Season IV

This week, I'm mixing it up a bit a bit with some picnic leftovers and also using up some veg from the fridge for five super thrifty, super tasty salads:

1. Simple mozzarella, cherry tomato and pesto

2. Grated carrot, olive and mozzarella

3. Pork pie (yes this might slightly defeat the point of eating salad)

4. Courgette

5. Couscous, red pepper and goats cheese

Happy salad making!

Summer Salad Season III

Still in need of summer salad inspiration? Here are five more ideas for your lunchbox this week...

1. Cheese and pickle

2. Roast potato and sweetcorn

3. Mozzarella and beetroot

4. Super thrifty cheat's potato salad

5. Mushroom and goats cheese

I've seen loads of good offers on salad cheeses in the big supermarkets this week, so stock up! The goats cheese for the salad above was £1 in Tesco, but I've also seen offers on ricotta, feta and mozzarella in the last couple of days.

Super Thrifty Cheat's Potato Salad

This potato salad would be fairly thrifty at the best of times, but when you manage to grab some supermarket bargains (and these items are ones I commonly find in the reduced aisle, not just a one off), it costs just pennies!

Ingredients

One quarter of a tub of dip

2 spring onions

Handful of new potatoes*

Salt and pepper

*I went to thrifty extremes as I had a tin of potatoes that my Grandma had given me (don't ask why, it's a Grandma thing!) but I would recommend normal potatoes, as tinned ones are a little questionable, if very thrifty!

1. Cook and drain the potatoes (or open the tin!)

2. Dice the spring onions

3. Put the potatoes and spring onions into a bowl and mix thoroughly with the dip, season to taste

As you can see, I only paid 11p for 4 portions of dip and 11p for 3 spring onions, which makes this a pretty good way to disguise the taste of tinned potatoes make a cheat's potato salad!

Summer Salad Season II

As the beautiful weather continues, so too do the summer salads...

Tuna & sweetcorn pasta salad

Lemon & rosemary potatoes with roasted pepper

Spicy tomato, spinach and sweetcorn pasta salad

Sausage, avocado and feta

Sausage, olive and feta with pesto

This week the theme has been 'thrifty leftovers' for the salads, which has also helped to minimise prep time.

What has been in your lunchbox this summer season?

Summer Salad Season

With the sunnier weather, this week has been all about salad. Take a sneak peak in my lunchbox...

Avocado and pesto
Thrifty tip: shop in Lidl or at the greengrocer for your avocados, supermarket prices are always hideous

Egg and ham
Thrifty tip: buy eggs in bigger quantities, they tend to have a long sell-by date and if you're not sure, you can always do the float test

Mozzarella and olive
Thrifty tip: buy a jar of pimento olives, they're delicious and keep well in the fridge, so you can enjoy olives in your salad any time they take your fancy

Potato salad
Thrifty tip: make your own with a little bit of cream or mayonnaise, lemon juice and chives

Let's hope the nicer weather lasts so I stay inspired to stick with salad!