Salads for Beltane + Extra Ideas!

It's almost Beltane! This year it's Wednesday 1st May, or Tuesday 30th April (tomorrow), depending on when you celebrate. (Many people consider it to be from sundown on 30th April to sundown on 1st May.) In the past I've written posts with ideas for celebrating the sabbats. While I stopped doing that last year (since I felt I'd covered them all and didn't want to repeat myself), I thought it would be nice to write something when I felt inspired to, so today I'm sharing some salads for Beltane (plus some extra ideas). :)  

 

Here are my most recent Beltane posts:

Winter-Spring Update + Beltane Round-up (2021, scroll down for the round-up): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/04/winter-spring-update-beltane-round-up.html

Happy Beltane! (2022): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/04/happy-beltane.html

I also included a Beltane section at the end of last year's winter-spring update (at the bottom after P.S.):

Winter-Spring Update (2023) + Happy Beltane!: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/04/winter-spring-update-2023-happy-beltane.html

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, Samhain is coming! Check out my last few Samhain Celebration posts here:

Samhain/Hallowe'en Round-up (my round-up post from 2021): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/10/samhainhalloween-round-up.html

Happy Samhain/Hallowe'en! (2022)): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/10/happy-samhainhalloween.html

Summer-Autumn Update (2023) + Happy Samhain/Hallowe'en! (section at the bottom): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/10/summer-autumn-update-2023-happy-samhain.html  

My main celebration for the sabbats is having/making food and drink. For Beltane I usually have some kind of salad, since it's a spring festival, moving towards summer. Salads are a lighter food that lots of us feel more like eating in the warmer months. (If you're not into salad though, you can find alternative ideas for food and celebrating in general in my past posts, and also in the Extra Ideas section at the bottom of the post!). 

I normally have my salad with some other foods like chicken, crisps (chips), dips etc., I also like to have some kind of sparkling drink, like elderflower or lemonade.

 

Salads

Chicken Salad

In 2014 I made a chicken salad sandwich. You can see a pic here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2014/05/beltane.html

Here is an Asian chicken salad from Julia of Lemon Stripes. I haven't made it but it looks nice: https://lemonstripes.com/recipes/asian-chicken-salad/

 

And here are a few more chicken salads that look good:

BLT chicken salad: https://natalie-mason.com/blt-chicken-salad/

Healthy chicken salad (can be eaten as a salad, wrap and or sandwich: https://www.eatyourselfskinny.com/healthy-chicken-salad

Honey mustard chicken salad with bacon and avocado: https://cafedelites.com/honey-mustard-chicken-salad/

 

Potato Salad

I normally make potato salad for Samhain/Hallowe'en, using a recipe from the book The Kitchen Witch by Soraya. You can see a picture of it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2015/11/halloweensamhain-2015.html

While I don't usually make potato salad for Beltane, it's Samhain's counterpart (they're opposite each other on the Wheel of the Year), so it makes sense to include it! The recipe is a rosemary and garlic one but since rosemary can be quite strong, I normally use chives instead. I don't think the recipe is online but here are a couple of similar ones (you could also use chives or another herb instead of rosemary if you prefer):

https://www.createdby-diane.com/rosemary-garlic-potato-salad/

You cook the potatoes for this one: https://www.boorooandtiggertoo.com/garlic-and-rosemary-potato-salad-recipe/

 

I also like this potato salad from Apply to Face Blog, which uses chives and red onion:  https://applytofaceblog.com/potato-salad/

I first made it to have with some shop bought food while watching the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019. You can see a photo in my 2019 May Update post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/05/may-update.html

And this potato salad from Happily Eva After looks good: https://happilyevaafter.com/my-famous-potato-salad/

Guacamole/Avocado Salad

For Beltane 2015 I made guacamole using a recipe from The Kitchen Witch by Soraya and had it with some potato salad (from the supermarket), chicken and other bits. While it's a dip rather than a salad, I thought I'd include it. You can also put avocados in a salad, as with kachumbari (see below). 

I made guacamole for the next few Beltanes, mostly using The Kitchen Witch recipe. Then in 2019 I used a recipe from Don't Waste the Crumbs instead, I liked that as well. Here is in the DWTC recipe: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2018/03/simple-guacamole-recipe/

I don't think The Kitchen Witch recipe is online, but the difference between it and the Don't Waste the Crumbs one is that Soraya's uses cream cheese and lemon juice, whereas the DWTC recipe doesn't have any cream cheese and uses lime juice, cumin and garlic. 

You can actually see all the ingredients for The Kitchen Witch recipe in this post (I couldn't copy the whole recipe legally but I linked to a similar one): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2015/05/beltane-2015.html

In 2020  and 2021 I made an avocado salad, a recipe from Precious Core, whose recipe I also use for kachumbari. You can see it here: https://www.preciouscore.com/simple-healthy-avocado-salad/

Kachumbari (Kenyan/East African Salad)

Beltane 2019 was the year that I made kachumbari for the first time. It's a Kenyan/East African salad (popular in Kenya but also other East African countries such as Uganda and Tanzania). It's similar to the Indian kachumber salad, which is probably due to the fact that there are Indian populations in East Africa.

The "base" for kachumbari is tomato and onion but you can add other things too. Most recipes I've come across use red onion but you can use what you prefer. :)

My favourite recipe is by Precious Core and her version has avocados and cucumber in. See it here: https://www.preciouscore.com/kachumbari/

Her recipe is quite similar to the avocado salad one linked above but with that, avocado is the main focus. 

Some years I've made both guacamole and kachumbari for Beltane and other years just kachumbari. 

Here is another kachumbari recipe that looks good: https://eatwellabi.com/kachumbari-east-african-tomato-salad

And here is a recipe for kachumber, the Indian version of the salad: https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/kachumber/

 

Tomato and Onion Salad

I also like to make tomato and onion salad for Litha/the Summer Solstice (another Kitchen Witch recipe). This is a basic recipe made with tomato and onion, garlic, salt and black pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. I normally use brown onions but a couple of times I used red onion instead, like with kachumbari.

Here's a similar recipe for Italian tomato onion salad, that I linked to in past posts for Litha: https://thisitaliankitchen.com/italian-tomato-onion-salad/

And here's an Indian style one: https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/tomato-and-onion-salad/

 

Plus, here are a few more salad recipes:   

I included a few more salads in my 2020 Litha/Summer Inspiration post (under the Make/eat salad section): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/06/litha-summer-inspiration.html

Tuna salad from Lemon Stripes: https://lemonstripes.com/recipes/the-best-tuna-salad/

Cameroonian vegetable salad and salad cream from Precious Core (I am part Cameroonian, so it will be cool to make this in the future!): https://www.preciouscore.com/cameroonian-vegetable-salad-and-salad-cream-video/

Summer Garden Salad (Happily Eva After): https://happilyevaafter.com/our-summer-garden-salad-recipe/

Update 8/5/24: Here is a keto and gluten free salad: https://thehumbledhomemaker.com/keto-egg-salad/

 

And if you want to make a dressing to go with your salad, check out these posts: 

Everyday Salad Dressings (Lemon Stripes): https://lemonstripes.com/recipes/everyday-salad-dressings/

4 salad dressings to make at home (Happily Eva After): https://happilyevaafter.com/4-favorite-salad-dressings-to-make-at-home/

 

Hope that gave you some inspiration if you'd like to make a salad for Beltane! :) If you'd like more recipe ideas, see below (under Extra Ideas). While I've previously written two posts with baking ideas (for Lammas and Madron), I hadn't done one all about salads before, so that made a change! These salads would also be good for Litha in June or any time during the spring and summer really.

I'm going to make kachumbari again this year and have it with some other foods for my lunch (bread, chicken, guacamole and crisps etc.) I'll probably have an elderflower drink as well. I'll do a post about my celebrations next week. You can of course just buy a salad if you prefer/find it easier. Or if you want to do something else altogether, I've included some extra ideas for celebrating in the section below. :)

 

Extra Ideas

For the sabbats in spring and summer/the warmer months, I often like to go to the countryside or the beach and take sunset pics. I'm planning to go to the beach this Beltane, maybe tomorrow depending on the weather.

Another thing I like to do is light a candle since Beltane is a fire festival. I usually light a white one but green and yellow are also spring colours. 

You could also have a picnic, depending on how the weather is in your area. This time of year can be very changeable in the UK (and other countries too). Today it was warmer at 14C (57F)  and supposed to be up to 17C (61F) on Beltane. Some years it's much hotter during April though, up to 25C/77F.

If you want more food ideas, here are a couple of posts with lots of recipes to make:

Recipes to Celebrate Beltane https://awesomeon20.com/recipes-to-celebrate-beltane/

63 Beltane Recipes: https://www.pagangrimoire.com/beltane-recipes-foods/

 

You can find more ideas for celebrating in my posts linked above and here are a couple more posts with inspiration: 

Beltane Blessings: https://www.letsgoireland.com/beltane-blessings/

Beltane/May's Eve celebration ideas from Afura Nefertiri/The Writing Witch (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGR-s4LG_qo

 

Happy Beltane! (Or Samhain!) :)

 

Photo is kachumbari from last year's Beltane.