Slow salad

If you have the best, freshest ingredients any dish – salad or otherwise – needs very little fuss to make it taste incredible.

And if you’re already growing salad leaves, you don’t need me to tell you that they taste a million times (approximately) better than anything you get in those shop-bought bags. Salad leaves grown organically in healthy, full-of-life soil, and harvested just before you eat them are going to be at their peak of flavour and nutritional value.

When my kids were at primary school, I helped run the gardening club. We grew vegetables, flowers and fruit in small raised beds. One weekend we were tasting some of the peas we’d grown, straight from the pod. One of the girls asked me what they were and, when I said they were peas, explained that they couldn’t be because she didn’t like peas… but these were delicious. When peas are harvested, the sugars begin to break down and this was the difference she was tasting.

Pretty much anyone can grow some fresh food… in a raised bed, or a pot on a balcony or windowsill. You need seeds, compost or soil, light and water. It takes a little time and some effort, but the results can change the way you view food.

If you aren’t already growing salad leaves, here’s my easy-to-follow recipe for probably the slowest salad you’ve ever made.

Recipe for a slow and simple salad

Ingredients

1 packet lettuce seeds, I like ‘Black Seeded Simpson’ and ‘Freckles’ but a packet of mixed salad leaf seeds is good for variety and value for money

1 packet spinach seeds, try ‘America’ or ‘Matador’

1 packet rocket seeds

1 packet dill, coriander or chervil seeds (or all three)

1 handful walnut pieces

a few shavings of pecorino cheese

For the dressing –

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon runny honey

2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste

1 small handful fresh parsley leaves, very finely chopped

sea salt flakes, to taste

(Adjust the dressing ingredient measurements to suit your own taste.)

Method

Sow a short row, or a large pot, each of lettuce, spinach and herbs. When you see signs of green growth, sow a short row of rocket (it grows much faster, so you need to give everything else a head start). Save the remaining seed – keep it somewhere cool and dry, and repeat these sowings every month for a continuous supply of leaves.

You can start harvesting leaves after a few weeks, as soon as they are large enough. When you pick the lettuce leaves, take only the outer ones leaving the centre to continue growing and producing more for your next salad. With the spinach, herbs and rocket take no more than one third of the leaves from each plant and leave the rest to grow.

Gently wash the leaves in cold water. Drain and dry any remaining water with a clean tea towel. Tear the lettuce, spinach and rocket into bite-size pieces. Chop the herbs fairly finely. Mix all the leaves in a large bowl. Bash the walnut pieces to break them up a little, then scatter over the top of the salad along with the pecorino shavings. Make the dressing by putting all the ingredients into a jar. Put the lid on tightly and give it a good shake to combine. Dress the salad just before serving.