TRIO OF SINGLE-VEGETABLE SALADS: fast, frugal, vegetarian with vegan option

•  Crisp tart single vegetable salads add pizazz to any meal...
  first posted 2018; updated 12.24

  

  Radish Salad: one of three fast, feisty single-vegetable salads
  

  photos 12.11.18

  It's always good to have something raw on the table, whatever season we are in.  Arguably in winter, it's even a better idea for a healthy gut and immune system.  
  
  We might not always have the time to prepare a multi-ingredient salad but these single-vegetable salads are just as good.  All are simplicity itself and can be part-prepared ahead of time.  All are easy on the wallet and offer alternative ingredients in case the cupboard is getting bare.  And all are delightfully delicious.
  
  
  • Salad 1: Radish 
    Prepared in this way, radishes don't even taste like radish!
    
    
    Here's solution to the problem of leftover rubbery, sad-looking radishes languishing in the back of the fridge.  Use up the entire bag early on in a simple tangy bowl of crunchiness.  Sliced and bathed in a tangy creamy dressing, the radishes don't even taste of radish and the kids won't complain.  Prepare at least 2 hours ahead.
    
    Cost: £1.75'ish (12/24)
    Serves: 4-6 as side, easily multiplied 
    
    
    

    

    Soak 2 cups (1x 200gm/7oz) topped & tailed radish in a solution of 9 parts water, 1 part vinegar 20 mins; drain, slice thinly (multicoloured radish look very pretty but are more expensive than common all garden)
    coarsely ground black pepper
    1/4 cup creamy lemon or lime dressing (below)
    2 tbsp parsley, chives or mint
    1/4 c nuts or seeds; eg toasted walnuts,  sunflower or pumpkin seeds (opt but adds something special) 
    
    
    
    Creamy lemon or lime dressing
       2 tbsp strained 0-fat dairy or plant yoghurt
       1 tbsp mayonnaise
       1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
       1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice or vinegar (white, cider, balsamic)
       1/2 tsp finely grated lemon/lime zest 
       1/4-1/2 tsp sugar (opt)
       pepper & salt 
    
    An hour or two before serving, mix ingredients.  Refrigerate.
    

    
    

    
    

    Salad 2: Sweet & Sour Exotic Cucumber
    

    

    
    

    The humble (frugal!) cucumber takes on hidden depths in this delightedful recipe.  Start at least four hours before needed.

    
    

    Cost: £1.75'ish (12/24)

    Serves: 4-6
    
    Ingred:

        1 cucumber, thinly sliced

      
    Dressing      

        1 tbsp white wine vinegar (or any vinegar in the cupboard or white grape juice )

        1 tsp maple syrup, honey or sugar

        1tbsp toasted sesame oil  

        1 tsp soy sauce (reduced-salt for oldies)

        1 tbsp chopped parsley or cilantro or chives

        half small fresh chilli, finely diced OR generous pinch chilli flakes

        2 tsp light veg oil 

        2-3 grated cloves garlic (opt) (If on a fodmap diet, steep whole peeled garlic cloves in the oil for 2 hours then remove without piercing the cloves)

    
    Garnish (opt)

          toasted sesame seeds

    
    Method:

    
    

    1. If cucumber is not organic, soak 20mins in a 9-1 solution of water and vinegar; drain & rinse
    2. Slice cucumber thinly (a mandolin is useful here). salt lightly; leave 10 mins; rinse well, drain  
    3. In a separate bowl, mix vinegar, sugar and other aromatics; stir 
    4. Press cucumber slices between layers of kitchen paper to remove excess moisture; add to dressing, tossing until all are coated 
    5. Pour into a sealable plastic bag; refrigerate at least 4 hours, turning now and again
    6. Serve with strips of raw bell peppers and whole radishes or other salad ingredients (opt)
  • 
    
    Salad 3: Lettuce with Green Herb Dressing
    

    

    
    

    If you've managed to find English lettuce, the kids will love watching chef mum or pop twist the lettuce's knob and the leaves fall, petal-like onto the serving dish 
    
    
    Cost: £1.50'ish
    
    Ingredients: 
    
        1 round English lettuce or Romaine or other
    
       6 tbsp dairy or plant Greek or Icelandic strained 0-fat yoghurt
       2 tbsp mayonnaise or dairy-free mayo
       3-4 tsp fresh or dried herbs: parsley, chives, basil, spring onions
    
    Method:
    Make ahead at least 4 hours
    

    1. If using English lettuce: Remove scruffy, limp outer leaves but leave lettuce whole.  Run cold water over the leaves and shake thoroughly.  If preparing a day in advance, wrap the lettuce in paper towels or a clean tea towel. When ready to serve: Have a good sized plate ready.  Bang the lettuce's bottom sharply on a hard surface and hold the lettuce, leaves side up, over the plate.  Twist the knob and remove.  The leaves will fall - flower-like - onto the plate.
    2. All other lettuces, remove scruffy outer leaves,  soak 20mins in a 9-1 solution of water and vinegar; drain & rinse, wrap in paper towels or clean tea towel until almost dry.  When ready to serve, arrange around the bowl of dressing. 
    3. Blitz the yoghurt, mayo and chosen herbs until the mix turns pale green and is flecked with herbs. Season.  Pour into a small bowl and place in the middle of the lettuce leaves.
       
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  These recipes have been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.

OVEN- ROASTED SPROUTS, BABY CORN & PARSNIPS

Getting the right texture for sprouts can be difficult but oven-roasting this way works...

Oven roasted sprouts with parsnips & baby corn: perfect texture & flavour 

Please note: 2018 prices

The blogger has not been a great fan of oven-roasted veg; it's so easy to end up with charred edges, impenetrable centres and a weird combination of over-cooked and half-cooked veg.

But 67goingon50's fuss-free method of combining sprouts, fingers of parsnips and baby corn produced perfect textures and flavours.  

Sprouts are one of those love-them-or-leave them vegetables - probably because they're not the easiest to cook.

But careful preparation ensures that the dense round sprouts combine beautifully with starchy parsnips and crunchy baby corn.  

Cross in body of sprout as 
as well as in (unseen) base

The sprouts are given two crosses: one in the base, not very deep; the other in - but not through - the body of the sprout.  The second cut allows the heat to penetrate and the sprout to cook in the same time as the parsnips & baby corn.  

The parsnips are cut in spears, encouraging a golden crispness at the edges while the baby corn is cut vertically into thirds or quarters, moderating the firm inner centre. 

Covering the veg during the first stage of cooking helps everything cook evenly.  

Cost: £3'50 ish 
Feeds: 4-6 as a side


Ingreds:    
   150gm/5.2oz sprouts, trimmed of outer leaves 
   100 gm/3.5 oz parsnips, in spears no thicker than 3/4 inch/2cm at its widest 
   100gm/scant 3oz baby corn, in thirds or quarters depending on thickness

   olive oil
   pepper & salt

   juice of half an orange or lemon  
   1-2 tablespoons cashews/pumpkin seeds (opt)

Method:

KID-FRIENDLY CRANBERRY CINNAMON & ORANGE SAUCE: 2018 SIDES, VEGAN

Kid-friendly cranberry sauce with orange 'jewels'...

Updated 12/25; Posted 2019 

Cranberry Sauce designed for kids: lower in sugar & preservatives
 Adults will love it, too

Cranberry sauces come in all shapes and sizes but once you've tried home-made  or artisan/deli, it'll be your first-choice.  

Neither difficult nor time-consuming, it's healthier, too -- lower in sugar and free of the usual preservatives.  

Fresh berries make all the difference.  

350gr/12oz of Canadian berries are about £3.50 (2025) and the result really is a cut above.  It's enough for two separate dinners, can be made in advance and/or frozen.   

Cranberry Cinnamon and Orange Sauce is a lighter version of 67goingon50's popular but punchy Cranberry & Red Wine Sauce.  Cranberry Cinnamon will be more appealing to kids but is no less tasty and more-ish.

The Sauce lasts 3-4 days in the fridge -- although several tasters reported the fresh sauce still 'great' after a week.  

It freezes well but may need to be thickened a little, and the seasoning refreshed, after defrosting.

Cost: £3'ish (2025)
Serves: several

Ingred:
   2 tbsp olive oil
   2 small red onions, finely diced or lightly processed
   1 tsp finely grated fresh peeled ginger
   scant 1/2 tsp 5-spice powder
   1 tbsp cinnamon
   gratd zest of 1 good sized orange
   125 gr/4.5 oz fresh cranberries (for a fruitier version, add up to 75g more) 
   
   100gr/3.5 oz sugar
   112 ml fresh orange juice
   112ml brandy/white grape juic
   
   150 ml good stock
   1 tbsp Worcestershire/veggie Worcestershire sauce
   1 peeled orange, segments separated and free of membranes, cut in coarse chunks 

 Method:

HOW TO...ASK IF YOU REALLY NEED TO BE ON A STATIN

ASK IF YOU REALLY NEED TO BE ON STATINS - from the Daily Mail

+4

Did you know? Spanish researchers found that statins were not associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease or death in healthy people aged over 75

NHS nurse discusses the benefits and side effects of statin

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These cholesterol-lowering drugs, which include atorvastatin and simvastatin, are prescribed to at least seven million people in the UK to lower levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.

In 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended that everyone with a 10 per cent or higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next ten years should be prescribed 20mg a day; those with established heart disease should start on 80mg a day.

In practice, this means almost all men over 60 and all women over 75 qualify for statins prescriptions — in total, 11.8 million people, according to U.S. research published in the Journal of British General Practice in 2017.

And it’s not just older people. More than a third of 30 to 84-year-olds exceeded the thresholds, 9.8 million of them healthy and with no history of heart attacks or strokes, the same study found.

THE CONCERNS

Some GPs are concerned about ‘medicalising’ so many people, especially when some complain of side-effects such as muscle pain and mental fogginess (although many experts claim side-effects are rare).

A review of 300 trials carried out since 1990 and published in The Lancet in 2016 concluded that prescribing statins to people who hadn’t previously had a heart attack or stroke prevented 80,000 heart attacks and strokes a year in the UK, and that the benefits far outweighed any harm from side-effects.

However, critics such as Dr Malcom Kendrick, a GP in Cumbria and author of A Statin Nation: Damaging Millions In A Brave New Post-Health World, maintains their benefits have been overhyped and the side-effects are underestimated.

‘There has not been one positive statin randomised controlled trial since 2005 — all the studies are just “data dredges” going back over old research and looking for positive associations,’ he says.

An analysis by Dr Kendrick of the landmark 2002 Heart Protection Study which concluded that taking statins saves 50,000 lives a year revealed that ‘if you took statins for five years after having a heart attack, it would extend your life by only 4.2 days; and if you were healthy and took a statin for five years it would lengthen your life by 3.1 days.

‘The people saying statins don’t cause many side-effects are not clinicians. They are not seeing people complaining about muscle pain like I am.’

The West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study found that 25 per cent of people on statins had stopped taking them within five years.

Dr Kendrick said the latest study on statins published in the Annals of Internal Medicine is further proof that they are being overprescribed: ‘Is it worth taking statins? The answer is no — unless you are a man who has had a heart attack or stroke. There are no proven benefits for women at all.’

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, says the evidence is ‘very strong’ that if you have had heart or bypass surgery, or have coronary artery disease (for example, people with angina), statins can reduce future events.

‘There is also good evidence that statins can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people with risk factors including high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

‘In the general population those who have not had heart attacks or don’t have heart disease or risk factors, there is evidence that taking a statin can, over time, reduce the risk of an event by 30 per cent.’

But your age and health are key considerations, suggests a study published in October in The BMJ.

Spanish researchers found that statins were not associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease or death in healthy people aged over 75. However, there was a benefit for people with type 2 diabetes, reducing death from any cause and cardiovascular disease up to the age of 85.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU

Talk to your GP, especially if you are older and otherwise healthy.

‘Age becomes an important risk factor, but I am not advocating that all older people who are healthy have to take a statin because of their age alone,’ says Professor Samani. ‘A bit more sense must prevail.’

The most common side-effects — muscle aches, insomnia and erectile dysfunction — are very common in the population anyway, he adds. ‘People may hear about statin side-effects, then experience muscle pain or insomnia and think it must be the statins causing it.

‘If patients believe they are experiencing side-effects, they may want to stop the tablets for a while and see if they feel better, or swap to a different statin.’

B Lee/Bright Sun Enterprises accept no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.