Nigerian Salad Recipe

 

Nigerian Salad also known as ''Nigerian mixed vegetable Salad'' is one of the richest salad recipes you can ever find. It is prepared with more than five vegetables, combined together and enriched with the classic Baked Beans and Cream.  
Believe me, this Salad is not complete without Baked Beans and Cream(or mayonnaise). So make sure you have these two ingredients at hand, if you really want to get the original Nigerian Salad.

Ingredients:

 
- 5 medium sized Carrots
- 1 medium bunch of Lettuce 
- 1 medium bunch of Cabbage
- 2 Handful green Peas
- 4 Medium sized Tomatoes (hard tomatoes)
- 3 pieces of Irish Potatoes 
- 2 pieces of Cucumber
- 4 Eggs 
- One tin of Baked Beans in tomato sauce  comes in a 415 gram can)
- 300g of Sweet Corn (2 small tins) 
- A bottle of Salad Cream  or Mayonnaise
 (Nigerian salad is usually served with Heinz  original Salad Cream, and comes in a bottle, but here in Spain, it is sold in a plastic bottle. In the absence of this, Mayonnaise or condensed milk can also be used)

It is very common to see extra ingredients added to Nigerian salad, such as corned beef,onions, canned red beans, boiled macaroni, green bell pepper and a lot more. So feel free to experiment with more or less.

Preparation:

Before you start with the  Salad

-Wash all the vegetables separately in sufficient water (add a spoonful of vinegar, baking soda or lemon juice to the water to help kill harmful bacteria) . Rinse thoroughly in fresh water.

- Boil the green peas for 2 minutes, strain it out and using the same pot, boil the eggs and potatoes together, the potatoes might cook before the eggs , so take it out when it is done and let the eggs boil until hard boiled.
 Set the peas aside for later use.
Peel of the egg shells and slice the eggs as thinly as you can.
Peel of the skin of the boiled potatoes and cut into small cubes.

- Slice the cabbage into tiny strips, then wash again and strain to remove excess water. Set aside for later use. 
Tip: (the cabbage might store ants or pesticide in its leaves, that's why it needs to be washed again after slicing) .

- Slice the lettuce into thin shreds.  
(make sure you washed  each leaf thoroughly, before use)
 
- Scrape the carrots and shred with a grater . Set aside for later use.

- Scrape off the green skin of the cucumber, cut into two equal halves , remove the seeds(you can eat it if you like) and then cut into small cubes. Set aside for later use.

- Cut the tomatoes into two halves, remove the seeds and cut into small cubes. Set aside for later use.


- Open the can of sweet corn, pour into a sieve to strain out the preservation water. Set the corn aside for later use.

- Open the can of  baked beans, pour into a small bowl and set aside for later use.  

Now that you have all the ingredients ready, it's time to put them together.  
  
1. Get a large salad bowl and place the vegetables in the bowl, layer by layer until there's nothing left.  
 
2. Place the sliced eggs on the prepared salad, and also spread the baked beans.
(Note: even though baked beans is symbolic to Nigerian salad,not everyone likes it in their salad, so it's better to serve it on demand)
 
 3. Now, cover the salad bowl and chill in the fridge until needed.
 
4.  Finally serve with the salad cream(or mayonnaise) and Enjoy.
 
 Nigerian salad is usually served as an accompaniment for Jollof Rice, Fried Rice and other Nigerian rice recipes. It can also be eaten alone or served with bread as a sandwich. 
 
 Nigerian salad like most raw vegetables can be preserved in the fridge but will only keep for 24 hours. So eat it while it's fresh and enjoy☺.