Every month this year I’ve been attempting to create a new salad recipe as part of Veg Plottings fabulous Salad Days series. Well this month due to a combination of work commitments and a complete lack of imagination I failed to come up with anything new. So as an apology this weeks Top 5 is dedicated to salad leaves which often just need a simple vinaigrette to become absolutely delicious. In no particular order this is my Top 5:
Watercress – Highly nutritious, peppery, grows well in our winter, tolerates shade – what more could you want in a plant. Oh and did I mention that it equally good in soups and salads.
Herbs – I know its a bit of a cop out grouping them together but if I didn’t mint, parsley and basil would have been 3 of my top 5 and then I could only have had 2 more. I use herbs in everything but I particularly love the leaves strewn through salads. I also love salads where they are the ‘hero’ (don’t you hate that use of the word hero – even I find the concept of parsley as a hero absolutely ridiculous….) like my favourite salad, taboulleh.
Loose Leaf Lettuce – Salad Bowl – If I could only grow one loose leaf lettuce it would probably be salad bowl (although I would be upset not to have oakleaf lettuce which I also adore). I find it reliable, relatively slow to bolt, easy to harvest with a nice mild flavour.
Cos (Romaine) Lettuce – Freckles – I really like Cos lettuce, I find it versatile to make salads with and easy to grow. My favourite variety is Freckles, a Trout back lettuce which looks great. The one above is bolting but you can still see its cool freckly leaves.
Radicchio – A little bitter, fabulously pretty and great wilted with a bit of oil, salt and vinegar. I am relatively new to growing radicchio but I’m really glad I was enthused enough by Marks posts to give it a try.
Which leaves would you not be without?
In a completely different vein entirely The New Goodlife’s Top 5 this week is about the delights of bringing up a 3 year old.
