LEAFY SUMMER SALADS

Salads are so easy to make. To make them well, just remember

Be creative with your salad. If you enjoy a crunchy texture, then go for a crisp lettuce, such as an iceberg, and add in chopped radishes, red pepper, cucumber or grated carrot. Alternately, enrich your salad with chunks of soft, ripe avocado or sweet tomatoes or add in a handful of fresh herbs. It’s your choice.

Here are more salad ideas for you:

Fennel

This white, close-textured, crunchy bulb has a slight but distinctive aniseed flavour. For a refreshing Italian-style salad, try slicing it finely and combining it with slices of fresh orange or use it to add texture to green leafy salads.

Iceberg lettuce

This mild-flavoured, pale green lettuce is noted for its crisp-textured leaves. Use it to add crunch to a leafy green salad or shred it and use it in wraps.

Little gem lettuce

This small lettuce has a slightly sweet flavour and pleasantly crunchy texture. Use it in salads or, for an unusual vegetable side dish, cook a couple of Little Gems by halving them and braising in stock with fried shallot.

Radishes

Deep pink, crisp-textured radishes add a touch of colour and crunch to salads. Simply slice them finely and mix them in. Alternatively, serve whole radishes with salt for dipping in as a nibble.

Romaine lettuce

A long-leafed lettuce with a crunchy texture and mild, sweet flavour. In America it’s classically used in Caesar Salad, tossed with a rich dressing made from anchovies, egg yolks and grated Parmesan.

Rocket

This fashionable salad leaf (also known as rucola or arugula) is easily identified by its jagged leaf. With its distinctive peppery flavour, rocket is the marmite of the salad world, either loved or loathed. Add it to salads, use it instead of basil to make pesto or use it to garnish grilled meats, such as steak.

Watercress