10 Fresh spring salad recipes
1st Jan 2015 Recipes
When the spring sun arrives, we start to eat lighter dishes, traditionally packed with the first harvest of the year. Here are some delicious ideas for the first salads of the year.
Blueberry bacon and avocado salad
Image via Scrummy Lane
Blueberries pair so well with fresh green leaves and creamy avocado.
Add some smoked bacon and pretty purple coloured blueberry and mustard dressing and you have a delicious light lunch or first course for supper.
Apple kale and cabbage salad
Image via Zagleft
It seems appropriate to use the last of the winter vegetables in one of your first spring salads. The pairing of kale and cabbage gives texture and crunch and the apples add some sweetness.
If you are not used to raw kale then soften it by massaging the dressing with your hands.
Honey roasted rhubarb salad
Image via Cotter Crunch
Beautifully tart rhubarb makes its first appearance in the spring and once roasted it makes for an unusual, delicious and attractive addition to a salad.
It is also a nutritional powerhouse so there's no excuse not to try it.
Roasted Panzanella salad
Image via The Flavour Blender
Panzanella is one of my favourite ways to eat the season’s best tomatoes and use up some leftover bread. This spring version concentrates all the flavour by roasting the vegetables first.
Shaved asparagus and fennel
Image via Lindy Sez
You can make most vegetables delicious when raw with fine chopping, grating or slicing, including asparagus. Here it is paired with fennel, but it is also delicious with some mixed leaves and in most salads. Do try it.
Cauliflower cranberry salad
Image via The Nutrition Adventure
Cauliflower has to be one of the most adaptable vegetables out there. Dress it for spring by chopping finely in a food processor or blender to make “rice” then add to a salad.
Here it is mixed with chickpeas, dried cranberries, seeds and dressed with a simple vinaigrette.
Quinoa, lentil and feta salad
Image via Domestic Gothess
A mix of grains and pulses always makes a good base for a main course salad. Here quinoa and lentils are mixed with broccoli, kale and beans and topped with feta.
Add a salmon fillet to turn it into a more substantial meal.
Millet, watercress and lemon salad
Image via Strength and Sunshine
After spring cleaning your pantry, you might find that it's time to restock and try some new ingredients.
Millet is highly nutritious and mildly flavoured making it ideal to pair with fresh watercress and zingy lemon.
Roasted veggie farro salad
Image via Connoisseurus Veg
Another grain to try is farro, or the very similar, and frugal pearl barley. It is ideal for soaking up a creamy herb tahini dressing served with this roasted vegetable salad.
Rainbow grilled halloumi salad
Image via Two Purple Figs
No salad round up can be complete without some grilled halloumi. It is the perfect partner to salads with its robust saltiness. Here it is perfectly paired with sweet figs, raspberries and a balsamic dressing. A rainbow on a plate and a perfect centre piece for a lunch table.
Helen Best-Shaw" target="_blank">Helen Best-Shaw is a freelance food and recipe writer and blogger at Fuss Free Flavours.
