A pair of summer salads

Here in the UK we’re having an unusually hot summer that seems to be going on forever!

Summertime needs summer food, so here are two easy, quick salads adapted from the excellent Once Upon A Chef that you can put together in just a few minutes.

They work well individually but also together; try one bowl of each salad with some falafels and toasted pitta breads.

These recipes scale up too – just double the quantities if you want larger amounts.

Thai Cucumber salad (serves 2)

Ingredients

• One cucumber, halved lengthways and de-seeded (just scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon)
• Juice of a lime
• Olive or vegetable oil – 2 tablespoons
• Soy sauce – 2 tablespoons
• Brown sugar – 1 teaspoon
• Coarse salt
• Four spring onions, sliced thin
• Large handful of salted peanuts
• Handful of fresh herbs – I used a mixture of mint, basil and parsley

Method

1. Mix together the lime juice, oil, soy sauce and sugar in a cup and put to one side while you assemble the other ingredients. Check the taste – it should be tangy from the lime juice but also slightly salty from the soy sauce. Adjust as required.
2. Chop the deseeded cucumber into half-moons about 1/2cm thick and put into your serving bowl.
3. Add the peanuts and the chopped spring onions, and a pinch of coarse salt to taste.
4. Sprinkle the herbs into the bowl, pour over the dressing and mix everything together well. Check the flavour again (more lime juice? more coarse salt?) and serve.

Summer sweetcorn salad (serves 2)

Ingredients

• Two cups of sweetcorn. Obviously you can use fresh corn if you’ve got it. However, it’s probably easier for most of us to use tinned sweetcorn, or frozen sweetcorn that you’ve cooked and let cool slightly.
• Half a red onion, finely sliced
• Three chopped spring onions
• Olive oil – four tablespoons
• White wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar – two tablespoons
• Handful of fresh basil, torn or chopped
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. Mix together the olive oil, vinegar and a little salt & pepper in a cup and put to one side while you assemble the other ingredients. Check the taste – it should be slightly tangy from the vinegar.
2. Put the sweetcorn, red onion and spring onions into your serving bowl.
3. Season with a little salt, pour over the dressing and mix well.
4. Scatter over the basil leaves and serve.

Excellent song choices for these salads:

Mungo Jerry – In The Summertime

The Undertones – Here Comes The Summer

Like this? Try these recipes next:

• Vegan Sunday breakfast – the legendary avocado toast
• Creamy sweetcorn soup (vegan)
• Vegan tuna mayo!

 

 

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