When the weather warms up, salads are just what the body craves but it’s easy to get caught in a salad rut: Same old lettuce, same old dressing.
Here the answer: our current favourite salads, from a nutrient-packed red rice, nut and goji berry salad to a fried chicken number with THE best buttermilk dressing. They're all packed with fresh ingredients, just the ticket for a bit of balance for the time of year when all the festive partying, eating and drinking can take a toll!
Hetty McKinnon’s salad takes everything you love about pho and turns it into a vegetarian salad bowl packed with noodles, wombok, broccolini, tofu, bean sprouts and herbs, tossed with a punchy dressing.
Hetty McKinnon's salad is a clever vegetarian version of pho. Source: Luisa Brimble
If you like fried chicken, say hello to your new favourite salad. Cos, fennel, cucumber and apple balance the slices of crisp-fried chicken and the rich buttermilk dressing in this recipe from Donna Hay. She makes it with her home-made buttermilk fried chicken (tune in to Donna Hay: Basics to Brilliance, Monday nights on SBS Food Channel 33 from December 10 for Donna's guide to making "the best crunchiest fried chicken ever" - see the program guide for details), but you could use poached chicken, and we reckon the dressing would be a winner on any salad that boasts crisp, fresh ingredients.
Southern-style crispy chicken salad with buttermilk dressing, Source: Donna Hay: Basics to Brilliance
Red rice not only adds colour to a dish but adds anthocyanins and antioxidants to your bowl, too. Match it with goji berries and hazelnuts in this Bhutanese salad by Peter Kuruvita and you’ve got a really easy way to pull together a salad that’s tasty, good for you and just a bit different. (You can also make the recipe with brown rice, if you don’t have red rice).
Bhutanese red rice, goji berry & hazelnut salad Source: Alan Benson
The dukkah and dressing will keep for 2 weeks, so this recipe from Guy Turland is a great template for making a bowl full of flavour with whatever salad ingredients you have to hand. Guy uses chickpeas, kale, carrots, zucchini, radishes and mint, but you can add the pistachio dukkah and turmeric and citrus dressing to all kinds of combinations.
Guy Turland's chickpea rainbow salad with turmeric and citrus dressing Source: Bondi Harvest
“I love the umami flavour of miso, and my many trips to Japan have shown me how versatile it is,” says Maggie Beer. “Miso has a natural affinity with eggplant, and also with noodles.”
Maggie Beer's soba noodle salad Source: Simon & Schuster / Dragan Radocaj
Salad’s don’t get much more eye-catching than this vibrant purple Turkish tabouleh (kisir)! Kisir is traditionally made from burghul, tomatoes, capsicums and fresh herbs; this version, from Istanbul, is a wonderful balance of sweet (from the beetroot) and sour (from the pomegranate molasses and balsamic vinegar).
This tabouleh is a vibrant sweet-and-sour feast for eyes and tastebuds Source: Murdoch Books
This salad is a double winner – it’s 11/10 for taste (ginger caramel sauce!) and it’s a great way to use up leftovers. “What I love about a dish like this is that while we use the hero parts of the vegetables in the salad, all the leftovers can go into the dressing. It's also great way to turn leftover pork and rice into a new meal,” says chef Nick Halloway.
Find hundreds of other ideas in SBS Food's salad recipe collection.
Nick Holloway's pork salad Source: Tropical Gourmet
Donna Hay: Basics to Brilliance shows how to perfectly execute must-have basic recipes from meringue and brownies to pork belly with crackling, then create clever variations.
Watch on SBS Food (Channel 33) with a double episode 8.30pm Wednesdays, with streaming available after on SBS On Demand.
