In 2024, a salad can be anything you want it to be.

A salads place on the table is to provide freshness, texture and acidity. A good salad is all about balance; the perfect dressing, a flavour pop from herbs and spices and that all important crunch.

We find that when it comes to finding the motivation to get into the kitchen and cook, there really is nothing more inspiring than seasonal, fresh ingredients – from gloriously juicy tomatoes to beans in every shape and colour. They also don’t need much preparation to turn them into a ridiculously delicious and nourishing meal.

As Dr Jenny Goodman says, “summer is raw food season” - so make the most of it and eat lots of salads! This handy wheel will help you to make truly delicious salads (which means balancing flavours, textures and nutrients), and by selecting ingredients from each segment of the wheel you’re guaranteed to make an excellent salad.

Recently we spoke about biodiversity, and in order to support demand for a wider variety of ingredients we have to start cooking with them. That means instead of choosing a cos lettuce choose a red slanova lettuce. Instead of a cauliflower choose a romanesco. Instead of couscous choose buckwheat! Screenshot this wheel and take it to your local grocers and select ingredients that are British, seasonal and a slightly different variety than what you’re used to. Not only will it lead to the discovery of new flavours, but you’ll be increasing the demand for lesser known plant species and making your contribution to improving biodiversity.

Cooking with whole ingredients straight from nature is about so much more than just eating food: it helps connect us to our environment and to the seasons, it encourages us to listen to and follow our intuition and gives us the opportunity to be creative with flavours and textures in the kitchen.

If you're in need of some further salad inspiration, our blog is a treasure-trove of hundreds of delicious salad recipes - here.

Try out our Fridge Fills for summer: pick 6 healthy, balanced meals of choice from our daily-changing menu to keep you nourished throughout the week when busy with summer plans. We're currently running 20% off for our summer sale - use code SUMMEROFFER at checkout for delicious, fresh, ready-to-eat summery meals, for less!