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Batch 014

Two-minute salad.

Light meal Batch 014
5 minutes Serves 1

Less a recipe than a way of putting lunch together. Leaves, something crunchy, something soft, an olive or two, a brisk dressing. It takes about as long to make as it does to read this. Add tuna, leftover chicken or sauteed mushrooms if you want it to be a meal.

A bowl of salad with leaves, peppers, avocado and olives
Tested by Sinead in our Lisbon kitchen.
Ingredients
  • 3 cups romaine and spring mix leaves
  • 1/2 cup bell pepper, sliced
  • 1/4 avocado, diced
  • 1 tbsp pickled pink onions
  • 6 olives, pitted
  • Sauteed mushrooms (optional)
  • Tuna, chicken or tofu (optional)
  • 1/4 lemon
  • 2 tbsp olive oil and vinegar dressing
  • A few drops of hot sauce, to taste
Method
  1. Pile the leaves into a bowl.
  2. Layer over the pepper, avocado, pickled onions and olives.
  3. Add any extras (mushrooms, tuna, chicken or tofu) on top.
  4. Squeeze over the lemon and pour over the dressing.
  5. Toss gently. Finish with a few drops of hot sauce if you want some heat.
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"Build it in the same bowl you eat from to save washing up."
— from the kitchen, on this recipe
Common questions

A few things people ask.

It's a workday lunch for one person, with optional protein on top. As a side salad, it'd stretch to two. If you're hungrier than that, double everything and add tuna, chicken or sauteed mushrooms; otherwise this is the small bowl on the desk by 1pm.
You can prep the components (chopped peppers, pickled onions, dressing) up to three days in advance and assemble in two minutes when you want it. Don't dress the leaves until you're about to eat; dressed lettuce goes limp within twenty minutes.
Yes, easily. Multiply everything to taste. For a crowd, put the leaves in a wide bowl, scatter the toppings over, and let people dress their own; centralised dressing on a big salad always over-dresses the bottom and under-dresses the top.
Three parts olive oil to one part vinegar (or lemon), a pinch of salt, a grind of pepper, half a teaspoon of mustard if you have it. Whisk in a jam jar. Keeps a week in the fridge. The honest weeknight dressing.
As written, yes. The optional add-ons (tuna, chicken) are not. With tofu, sauteed mushrooms or chickpeas, it stays plant-based and becomes a meal.

Cooked, tested and written by Sinead McInerney in our Lisbon kitchen. Last reviewed: April 2026.