Trendy veggie ideas: carrot and ginger and summer spinach salads

For a fresh and light dinner, look no further than vitamin-rich carrot and ginger or spinach salad.

Carrot salads often feature lively flavours, and this one is no exception. Grated fresh ginger and the zests of orange and lemon give it plenty of perk. But the secret to balance here is the equalizing flavour and creamy texture of sour cream.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 4

Salad

• 125 g (1/2 c) raisins
• 175 ml (3/4 c) boiling water
• 375 g (3/4 lb) young carrots
• Salt
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) honey or sugar
• 50 g (2 oz) chopped almondsDressing
• 1 piece fresh ginger, 5 cm (2 in), peeled
• 125 ml (1/2 c) sour cream
• Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
• Zest and juice of 1/2 orange1. For the salad, put the raisins in a small bowl, then cover them with the boiling water and set aside.2. Peel and grate the carrots and add them to a serving bowl.

  3. Drain the raisins and add them to the ­carrots.

  4. For the dressing, finely grate the ginger into a small bowl. Stir in the sour cream along with the lemon zest, lemon juice, orange zest and orange juice.

  5. Stir the dressing into the carrot and raisin mixture, then season with salt to taste, and add the honey or sugar. Finally, stir in the almonds and serve.

To switch up the flavour, swap the almonds for pecans, walnuts or peanuts. You could also use plain yogurt instead of sour cream.

The secret to a great vegetable salad is to add a little something sweet to balance the flavours. Blueberries do the trick here as a delightful counterpoint to the savoury spinach and pungent blue cheese.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Serves 6

Dressing

• 125 ml (1/2 c) vegetable oil
• 50 ml (1/4 c) raspberry vinegar
• 10 ml (2 tsp) Dijon mustard
• 5 ml (1 tsp) sugar
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) saltSalad
• 275 g (10 oz) fresh spinach, torn
• 125 ml (4 oz) crumbled blue cheese
• 250 g (1 c) fresh blueberries
• 65 g (1/2 c) chopped toasted pecans1. For the dressing, in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the oil, vinegar, mustard, sugar and salt. Shake well.2. For the salad, toss the spinach, blue cheese, blueberries and pecans in a large salad bowl. Add the dressing and toss gently. Serve immediately.

Raspberry vinegar enhances the touch of fruit in this salad, but you can use another vinegar, if you like. Try sherry vinegar, champagne vinegar, white balsamic vinegar or red-wine vinegar.

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