00:00:01bit about salads get you into it get you
00:00:04understanding it a lot of people a lot
00:00:06of restaurants a lot of shops do salads
00:00:09so so bad and they can be exciting
00:00:11colorful tasty and I eat them every day
00:00:13because I want to not because it’s
00:00:15healthy okay so I want to get your head
00:00:17around a few principles so first things
00:00:19first if you want to save money and have
00:00:20a better product and have you know just
00:00:22better quality salad leaves by salad
00:00:24heads it’s a tiny bit more of a faff but
00:00:27let me talk you through that you can buy
00:00:28heads of oak leaf radicchio watercress
00:00:32you know and Eve little gem lettuce like
00:00:36this and there’s many many more
00:00:38different types of salad what you do is
00:00:41you just take the outer leaves off take
00:00:42the core out wash them in clean water
00:00:44and – and maybe wash them in different
00:00:47batches of clean water until it’s all
00:00:48nice and clean and then just drain it in
00:00:50a colander and then that way you’re
00:00:52going to save a load of money to be
00:00:54frank the bag stuff is convenient but at
00:00:57the same time if you want to save money
00:00:58and have a better product that’s the way
00:00:59to go now
00:01:00one of the things that a lot of people
00:01:01don’t have that I absolutely swear by is
00:01:03a salad spinner and basically it’s a
00:01:06little bowl like that with a spinner
00:01:08with a basket here like that
00:01:11and you just spin them like that and
00:01:16it’s not one of those annoying gadgets
00:01:18that look good but you never use the
00:01:20whole reason this is important is
00:01:22because all of that water there right
00:01:26that wall here
00:01:29isn’t sticking around your salad leaf
00:01:31and the reason that that’s good is when
00:01:33you do a dressing it’s going to stick to
00:01:35that leaf and also the water if it was
00:01:37left on would make your dressing even if
00:01:39it was good really bland if you haven’t
00:01:41got one of these you don’t have to buy
00:01:43one they’re convenient what you can do
00:01:45is get a nice clean tea towel put it in
00:01:47the middle take up the corners and just
00:01:48spin it around on that case and all the
00:01:50water will come off and it’ll be great
00:01:52so let’s get your head around what makes
00:01:54a good salad right and it’s dead simple
00:01:56right you can vary it you can change it
00:01:58you can tweak it to however you like it
00:02:00or whatever you like and whatever is in
00:02:02season but let’s just start off with a
00:02:04basic everyday salad here I’m using a
00:02:07round lettuce it’s one of the cheapest
00:02:09lets in the world right a little bit of
00:02:11radicchio slightly bitter but it’s
00:02:13nice in contrast and it’s good color if
00:02:15you ever want to use herbs soft herbs a
00:02:18rock and roll I’m using mint here you
00:02:22could use basil you could use parsley
00:02:26and there’s many other soft herbs you
00:02:28could use dill fennel tarragon stuff
00:02:32like that that’s going to give it a
00:02:33little bit of fragrance a little bit of
00:02:34a kick vegetables
00:02:36right of course there’s things like
00:02:38tomato and stuff like that but you don’t
00:02:40exactly have to just chunk it up or
00:02:41slice it up like you get it everywhere
00:02:43else a really cheap speed peeler like
00:02:45this means that you can get something as
00:02:47lovely as a cucumber and just slice it
00:02:50and you can just make it look different
00:02:52and interesting and exciting and it
00:02:55looks like something that a chef would
00:02:57do even if you’re a rubbish cook so just
00:02:59by doing that I mean I don’t know any
00:03:01chefs even the Japanese boys that can
00:03:04knock that out every single time look at
00:03:06the thinness of that right you can do
00:03:08that and it’s cheap carrot fennel
00:03:11celeriac celery beet roots any kind of
00:03:16nice beautiful sort of root veg that you
00:03:19think that will be good in a salad have
00:03:21a go but again the speed peeler
00:03:23brilliant and you know things like
00:03:26watercress here you know they’re nice
00:03:28and peppery and some on dthe or you
00:03:31could use the radicchio you know they’re
00:03:33more sort of mustardy and bitter and
00:03:35maybe just on its own you wouldn’t like
00:03:38it but sort of lost amongst a mixed
00:03:40salad you know it’s going to give it all
00:03:41sorts of different flavors and it will
00:03:43really really work and then also texture
00:03:45right crunch okay and that can come in
00:03:48different forms here I’ve got some pine
00:03:50nuts I’ve got some different roasted
00:03:53seeds they’re like sunflower seeds and
00:03:55bits and pieces like that
00:03:56stale bread or croutons as you want to
00:03:58call it even you know taking an Indian
00:04:00poppadom and just like smashing it up
00:04:03it’s all good it’s all good stuff and
00:04:06also dairy you know cheese you know feta
00:04:09cheese mozzarella cheese any blue cheese
00:04:11parmesan you name it just about any
00:04:12cheese actually can work you can crumble
00:04:14it slice it grate it but you don’t have
00:04:17to do basically what I’m saying to you
00:04:19is a salad does not and should not be
00:04:21boring get different types of leaves
00:04:24possibly a herb possibly a vegetable pot
00:04:26to be something crunchy like a seed or
00:04:28or crouton of something’s and dairy and
00:04:30if you do any one or two of those
00:04:32elements it’s going to be rock and roll
00:04:34it’s going to be delicious but if I just
00:04:37ate that now boring and some of the good
00:04:39news is is that actually if you eat your
00:04:44salad in the presence of oil and acid
00:04:47your body can digest more of the
00:04:49goodness from this so actually like it’s
00:04:51almost like we were supposed to have a
00:04:52salad dressing you know I mean so I want
00:04:54to give you my basic basic version of a
00:04:56salad dressing basically I do three to
00:04:58one
00:04:58so what I mean by that is I use a good
00:05:00olive oil I’m going to put in three
00:05:05parts olive oil to say that olive oil is
00:05:07three parts and then I’m going to use a
00:05:09this Sayer a vinegar here let’s use a
00:05:13lemon juice all right the acid can be
00:05:15bold stomach vinegar red wine vinegar
00:05:17white wine vinegar champagne vinegar it
00:05:19could be grapefruit juice lemon juice
00:05:20lime juice right so acid can be in many
00:05:23different forms as soon as I put that
00:05:26lemon juice in you can see exactly how
00:05:32much there is that’s why I quite like
00:05:33using the jam jar especially for big
00:05:35beginner cooks you can see exactly how
00:05:39much is in there if you look in there
00:05:41now that’s pretty much that’s nearly two
00:05:46to actually let me top that with a bit
00:05:48of oil you can see the oil and the
00:05:53vinegar separating that’s three to one
00:05:56so you’re on a good way to address in a
00:05:58nice pinch of pepper and a good pinch of
00:06:01salt now my advice chew on dressings is
00:06:03always make it just slightly too salty
00:06:06and slightly too acidic right and the
00:06:09reason for that is when you put it on
00:06:11your salad and basically salad leaves is
00:06:13like 90 98 percent water right it’s
00:06:16going to knock it right back down to
00:06:17being bland again so if you’re slightly
00:06:19too acidic and sorry by the time it’s
00:06:21knocked it down it’s perfect okay the
00:06:24other thing is that is your basic olive
00:06:26oil and lemon juice dressing
00:06:32and once you’ve shaped it actually be
00:06:35bothered to taste it so lemon juice
00:06:38that’s a good olive oil and lemon juice
00:06:41dressing if I wanted to turn it into
00:06:43like a French style dressing you know
00:06:45just by putting a nice teaspoon of Dijon
00:06:48mustard into that like that and maybe
00:06:52swap out lemon juice for red or white
00:06:56wine vinegar will give it another shake
00:07:03and you’ll have a nice thick French
00:07:06style dressing different again and of
00:07:11course if you wanted to lighten it with
00:07:13a little bit of yogurt you can really do
00:07:15all of these things so as long as you
00:07:17stick to three parts olive oil one part
00:07:19acid salt and pepper you can put things
00:07:22like mustard in or yogurt in or chopped
00:07:24herbs in or chopped chilli in and you
00:07:26can kind of like vary your dressings
00:07:28which makes it exciting and fun and it
00:07:29means that you can own your own dressing
00:07:31but just to finish this basic salad all
00:07:33I want to do now is dress it the
00:07:37important thing about dressing is you
00:07:38don’t want to over dress if you over
00:07:41dress a salad it’s gonna be heavy it’s
00:07:44going to cut the acid will cook the
00:07:46salad leaves and it will just just
00:07:48bureau ball right and also you don’t
00:07:50want too much of this all right so just
00:07:52a little bit of dressing in use your
00:07:54fairy fingers right as you’re tossing it
00:07:56just twinkle your fingers and the reason
00:07:59for that isn’t to sort of be silly it’s
00:08:01to literally just beautifully clip coat
00:08:04every single little piece that’s in that
00:08:07salad take yourself a nice bit of that
00:08:10salad and honestly I mean that is a
00:08:13really humble salad so good luck and
00:08:15remember salads aren’t for Nancy’s
00:08:17sellers a call good luck
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