2 "robust" salads, featuring the "anti-cancer? salad".

One of the things that I dislike in summer is "soggy salad syndrome". So many salads if made at one point and dressed cannot be served later as they "go soggy or limp" as the dressing adversely affects the ingredients and wilts them.

With a busy chap like Richard in the house I try to make food in advance. He often comes home starving and I am expected to conjure up a filling meal in minutes if not sooner! So here are two salads that are quite robust and will last in the fridge for a couple of days requiring nothing more than a quick stir to refresh them.

Anti-cancer? salad.

There is a lot of talk about the anti-cancerous properties of cruciferous vegetables especially broccoli and cauliflower. I have an opinion on the value of these vegetables but that's not up for debate here. This is just a yummy crunchy salad that we both like.

You need to use very FRESH broccoli and cauliflower as flabby veg will lead to a disappointing result.

1 head of cauliflower, washed and dried, leaves removed, stalk cut short.
Then cut up into very small pieces.

2 large heads of broccoli washed and trimmed of leaves and a slice off the base of the stalk. Cut stalk up into very small pieces and chop the heads. You want the veggies to be small enough that you can get 2-3 pieces per mouthful.
2 large trimmed and washed leeks (optional) shredded or in rings.
1 large ripe large avocado. (1/2 peeled and chopped and 1/2 for dressing. (see below).

Optional -
I wanted to make this more of a main course so added some cooked quinoa. It makes it go further, adds a nutty flavour and gives you buckets of protein.

Dressing -
1/2 avocado
1 clove of garlic
4 tablespoons of cider, white wine or lemon vinegar.
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
1-2 tablespoons of cold water (you want the dressing to be a loose mayonnaise consistency).
Salt (or Braggs Aminos) and black pepper.

Mix salad ingredients.

Blend dressing ingredients until you get a mayonnaise consistency.

Pour dressing over veggies and mix.

You might need more dressing and a slightly thinner one if you add the quinoa.


Nutty red cabbage
1/2 a red cabbage
1 small onion or leek shredded
2 handfuls of nuts (peanuts or cashews roasted and bashed up).
Green pepper, deseeded and shredded (optional).
1 Clove of garlic.
Squeeze of agarve/sugar substitute or 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Oil if you want it (1 Part vinegar and 2-3 parts oil is the classic mix but I just used no oil and all balsamic which I think goes well with the crunch of the cabbage.
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.

Mix salad ingredients well.
Blend salad dressing add some water if using oil to make it go further. Dress salad.

Remmber that 1 tsp of oil is 100 calories and that Olive Oil whilst it is supposed to be "better for you" is still oil and that oil is fat. A tsp of any oil is 100 calories.

Just remember that when you are tucking into your "healthy salad" drowned in olive oil!