Vegetable Salad Recipe

Nigerian vegetable salad is number one on my list of Nigerian healthy foods. I could eat it every day if I had to 😀

When you combine it with jollof rice or fried rice, it’s to die for.

I realized that most Nigerians shy away from these natural foods and chose to spend more money on processed foods probably because they are often wrangled in extra sweeteners and sometimes look more delicious.

I made a decision some times back to replace a meal with either vegetable or fruit salad weekly.

Well, I gave up after some few months 😀

But I still make them often.

Vegetable salads will detoxify your body, improve your digestive system, make you feel lighter and even make you think smarter.

I have noticed that vegetables, when eaten in large quantity sought to awaken my neural pathway.
I am talking about raw vegetables and also some less sugary fruits, like cucumbers and watermelon.

Dressing for Vegetable salad

Hardly anything is added to mixed vegetable salad in Nigeria save for the store-bought conventional Heinz salad cream or mayonnaise. In some cases, we include some slices of boiled eggs.

What you find below is a plate of veggie salad, it looks delicious right? You can serve it this way or serve with any one of the rice meals.

There are basically two types of salads that are popularly eaten in Nigeria, Salads happens to be one of the healthiest set of foods that I know, especially the vegetable salad, I also like the fruit salad.

Below are the ingredients used in making Nigerian Vegetable salad, you can double or reduce it, depending on the number of people you are looking to serve.

Ingredients For Vegetable Salad

Medium size cabbage
4 medium size carrot
lettuce leaves
2 cups of chopped green beans
half cup peas (optional)
3 cooked eggs
one can of baked beans
2 big size of cucumber
salad cream (heinz, BAMA mayonnaise)

Just know that most vegetable salads are usually 50% cabbage, 30% carrot/green beans, 5-10% cucumber while the lettuce leaves, peas, eggs, and cream make up the other 10%

How to Prepare Salad

Chop the carrot /green beans/cucumber and set aside in different bowls, I like to peel off the greenback of cucumbers and also remove the center seeds, you will learn how this is done by watching the video at the bottom of this page.

Slice the cabbage too in a different tray (we use tray often in our home), slice the lettuce leaves, boil the eggs and remove the shell (3 eggs).

You then need to soften the green beans, carrot, and peas, most of the time we heat carrot, green beans, and peas together and soak the cabbage in warm water for a minute.

Soaking the cabbage in warm water was a trick to soften the cabbage, these days, I don’t use warm water. I just wash with cold water, slice and mix with the rest of the vegetables. Voila.

Here is how it is done – Add the carrot, green beans, and peas to boiling (small) water, and allow to simmer on low heat for 3-4 minutes (this is to soften them a little, this practice is elaborated in the video below).

Drain excess water from the carrot/green beans, peas and set aside in a bowl, now you are ready for the mixing part.

Most people choose to mix salad in a large plate/bowl or a tray.

How to Make Mixed Veggies Salad

The mixing is simple: sprinkle a handful of cabbage on the tray/bowl, and then sprinkle the carrot/green beans/peas, also the lettuce leaves and keep repeating the process until they are all in one place.

Then slice the egg and drop on the top of the salad. (the egg is mostly for decoration) The final mixing is done as people dish out the salad; you add the salad cream and baked beans. It is good for these two to be separate to avoid getting soured over a long period of time.

Salads must be eaten the same day it is made. It can’t be frozen or preserved with a chemical.

Nigerian vegetable salad is served best with either fried rice or Jollof rice it is also very delicious when served alone.

Thats how to prepare salad the Nigerian way.

Vegetable Salad Recipe | How to Make Salads

Chef Chidi

Mixed Vegetable salad is quite popular in Nigeria and would serve as food to any Nigerian when it is combined with either jollof rice of Nigeria fried rice.

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Mixing Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Nigerian Cuisine

Servings 5 People

Calories 125 kcal

Equipment

• Bowls

Ingredients

  

• 1 Medium size cabbage
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• Lettuce leaves
• 2 cups of chopped green beans
• 1/2 Cup peas optional
• 3 cooked eggs
• 1 cup baked beans
• 1 cup of sliced cucumber
• 2 tbsp Heinz salad cream or mayonnaise

Instructions

 

• Wash the vegetables first.
• Slice the cucumbers into two halves, remove the center seeds and peel off the greenback
• Slice the carrot, green bean, cabbage, lettuce leaves, and set aside in different bowls
• boil the eggs and remove the shell (2-3 eggs).
• To soften the carrot, green beans and peas, pour them into boiling half a cup of water. Allow simmering on low heat for 3 minutes while you stir.
• Set aside.
• You can mix vegetable salad in a bigger bowl - just spray the vegetables one after the other, simultaneously in layers.
• Once you start dishing the salads in the smaller plate for people, you can add the salad cream and baked beans. Drop two slices of egg per plate.
• Serve salad with jollof rice or fried rice.

Video

Notes

There is no standard measurement for a mixed vegetable salad. Most salads in Nigeria are 50% cabbage, 30% carrot/green beans, 5-10% cucumber while the lettuce leaves, peas, eggs, and cream make up the remaining 10%

Keyword How to make Salads, Mixed Vegetables, Vegetable Salad Recipe

Video For Vegetable Salad

This is just how to prepare vegetable salad, the video below will help you understand better, you also get to see all the ingredients used for making a salad.

Still on healthy Nigerian foods, try our Vegetable Soup – Vegetable Salad

Try My Favorite Spaghetti Recipe

Here is for All Yoruba Foods

Here is for Foods For The Igbo People