4 Ways with Little Gems

A diamond of a leaf

Happy May my friends!

Often, we are so preoccupied with putting meals on tables and catering for all the different taste preferences that we forget one critical factor. Food turns into us. The stuff we eat, feeds the very cells inside us. We are what we eat.

I’m always conscious of delivering veg-forward, colourful, nourishing recipes into your inbox that help us fizz around our homes. So this week, I’m focusing on the simplest of salads - that ubiquitous Little Gem lettuce.

The trick to eating more salad is not buying more packets. It’s finding a range of kickass dressings that make you want to mainline salad leaves every single day! With the right dressing, you can easily turn a dreaded green salad into a firm family favourite.

When salads are this simple, you’ll eat more of them.

First up is a Thai dressing to drench Little Gems, and pool in their boat-like leaves. Teens love this one. Feel free to crank it up with juicy papaya, fresh coriander, mango, sesame seeds, cooked prawns or photo albums of island hopping across Koh Samui. The dressing is badass over a plate of sliced tomatoes and peaches too, especially the disappointing flavourless ones that unwittingly land in your shopping basket. Don't bin them! Just drown the tasteless toms or peaches in this fragrant, honeyed dressing.

Next up is red onion, olive oil and Little Gems. I offer you two ways of prepping red onion for this recipe, to save on time, patience, and onion breath! The sweet sharpness of these prepped red onions work deliciously well against cold, crunchy Gem leaves.

Thirdly, I’m linking my signature salad around BBQ season: Sweet Miso Butter Gems. It’s foolishly easy, and pleases everyone. It beats bringing a bottle of wine to a BBQ. On the same page, you’ll also find a swanky way to use those crunchy cool Little Gems - the vegan Caesar.

That’s it for today! Four fabulous ways with Little Gem lettuce.

Later this month, I’m doing a kitchen tutorial on one my favourite dinner party dishes. It’s effortless, easy to source ingredients at your local Lidl, can be prepped days in advance, makes a brilliant gift, and wildly inexpensive to do. If you have a pal, colleague, or fellow health geek who’d love an-in on the tutorial, you can send them this post so they can sign up here for a free trial …

Until then!

Love, light, and endless gems,

Susan Jane

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