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Mixed
Leaf Salad Bags
A balance of taste, texture
and aroma |
Ripple Farm Organics 'Mixed Leaf Salad Bags' are harvested
by hand at the Farm in Kent, early in the day to benefit
from any dew, packed with care taken in their presentation,
and packed the same day.
The ingredients are all grown on the farm to the Soil
Associations Organic Standards. From December to May
the majority of the salad leaves are grown in polytunnels.
What's in a Bag?
The salad bag contents are carefully chosen to give
a balance of tastes, textures, aromas and colours to
please the palette and the eye. Edible flowers are often
included for appearance (they taste good too) and a
variety of herbs are added sparingly to complement the
salad leaves. The mix of ingredients changes gradually
through the seasons. The 'summer' bags tend to be milder
and sweeter, a typical bag may include mizuna, green
wave, rocket, lolla rossa and oakleaf lettuce with a
taste of nasturtium leaf and flower. The 'winter' bags
rely on more of the hardy, and often hot, Chinese and
Japanese leaves, a bag may include the hot giant red
mustard, bright red chicory, green wave, pak choi and
the delicate yellow flowers of purple flowering choy
sum. No two bags are the same, with ingredients changing
from week to week according to the seasons.
See below
for a description of ingredients.
Preparing the Salad
The salad leaves are packed un-washed. To prepare we recommend washing, then cutting or tearing all the leaves and mixing together, and serve with a dressing of your choice.
Eat as fresh as possible to conserve taste and nutritional
value. Otherwise store in the bag in the fridge, or
after washing, spin off excess water and store in an
airtight container, again in the fridge.
Ingredients
| Salad Leaf |
Appearance |
Taste |
Availability
|
Mizuna
Brassica rapa var "Japonica" |
Dark green fern-like leaves, long
and thin
|
Juicy, only slightly spicy
|
All year
|
Green Wave
Mustard
Brassica juncea |
Green, frilled leaf
|
Distinctive, mustardy taste.
|
All year
|
Giant Red
Mustard
Brassica juncea var rugosa |
Colourful leaf ranging from deep
purple to green with purple veins
|
Very hot
|
Nov – May
|
Rocket
Eruca sativa |
Dark green, lobed leaves, long
and thin. White flowering shoots also used
|
Unique, peppery taste
|
All year
|
Pak
Choi
Brassica rapa var chinensis |
Dark green leaf, with white stem.
Flowering shoots also used
|
Stem is juicy, leaf has a hint
of mild mustard, shoot is sweet.
|
Nov. - May
|
Shungiku
(Chop suey greens)
Chrysantemum coronarium |
Feathery, green leaves with yellow
flowers
|
Strong, aromatic, flowery taste
|
Jan. – May
|
Claytonia
(Miner's Lettuce)
Montia perfoliata |
Small, heart-shaped green leaves,
on a long stem, with delicate white flowers at
the centre.
|
Succulent, mild tasting leaves.
|
Dec. - May
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Nasturtium
Tropaeolum majus |
Delicate, lobes round green leaf
with flowers of all shades of yellow, orange and
red.
|
Both leaves and flowers are tangy,
peppery
|
Jul. – Oct
|
Purple
Flowering Choy Sum
Brassica rapa |
Green leaves with purple stems,
and leaf veins, and yellow flowers.
|
Flowers sweet with a hint of brassica.
|
Dec. – Apr
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Chicory
Chichorium intybus |
Bright red/pink leaves, some variegated
– very beautiful
|
Characteristic bitterness
|
Sep. – Mar.
|
Endive/Frissee
Chicorium endiva |
Frizzy, green leaf
|
Crisp, bitter
|
Jan - Jul
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| Lolla Rossa
Lettuce |
Red, frilly lettuce leaf
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Bitter
|
All year
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| Oak-Leaf
Lettuce |
Red/green lobed leaf
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Crisp taste
|
Jun. - Oct
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The above are the main ingredients of the mixed salad
bags with the following included occasionally through
the year :-
Baby spinach, sorrel, baby chard, Russian red kale,
a whole variety of lettuce leaves
And the following herbs are used to compliment the
salad leaves :-
Fennel, dill, coriander, celery leaf, French parsley,
chives, basil, wild garlic leaf, thyme, borage.
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