I quickly learnt that salad are a great dish and can add so much colour, flavour and texture to a meal. I sometimes think that salads are a last-minute decision. Today, with chefs like Yottam Ottolenghi giving us great ideas and recipes they can become more than a side dish, a meal in themselves. There are many great recipes that you can use, change to suit your tastes and mood. These are some of my favourites!
Salad Recipes.
CLEMENTINE, FETA and LEAF SALAD
Delicious salad with lots of different flavours and textures. Goes well with a BBQ or a more relaxed dinner.
Ingredients
- 6-8 seedless clementines
- 2 heads red chicory or 100g red chard leaves
- 100 g watercress
- 1 fennel bulb halved cored and very finely sliced
- 1 red onion halved and finely sliced
- 200 g feta cheese cut into cubes
- 20 g parsley finely chopped
- Optional: add diced cured meat, chorizo, salami and the like or add some cooked prawns or smoked salmon or trout. Also add some of your favourite nuts such as pine, or sesame seeds and so on. You could even toast them.
- For the dressing:
- Juice 1 clementine
- Juice 1 lemon
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
Instructions
- Whisk the dressing ingredients in a jug, season with salt and set aside.
- To make the salad, start by peeling the clementines and removing the white tendrils off of each segment.
- In a bowl, gently mix the watercress with the fennel and onion. Using a large round or square platter, place leaves of the chicory around the edges of the platter. Then add some of the dressing to the mix of salad and toss to coat it all.
- Then pile the salad in the middle of the chicory soldiers. Scatter the feta over the salad. Stir the parsley through the remaining dressing and drizzle over the salad.
Notes
If you cannot get red chicory, use white chicory. You can use mixed salad leaves if you do not want to use watercress. I like to use watercress with a mix of another salad, say pea shoots.
The fennel is an unusual taste, but is gives a fresh taste to the salad. You can also use blue cheese as an alternative to feta. Also, some toasted pine nuts on top add a lovely extra crunch to the salad.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
COLESLAW
A classic salad dish for summer. Any picnic or BBQ is not complete without a dish of coleslaw. Always use a good mayonnaise as that is at the heart of the coleslaw. Salad cream just does not do it for me!
Ingredients
- 1 small white cabbage – finely sliced
- 1 Small red cabbage – finely sliced
- 500 g carrots – grated
- 2 white onions – finely sliced optional
- 2 large jars of mayonnaise
- Season with salt and pepper
Instructions
- Use as much of the white and red cabbage as needed. A quarter of each will serve up to 4 people.
- In a large bowl mix the cabbages, carrots and onion together with the mayonnaise. Ensure the mayo covers the mixture well. It needs to be quite a wet mixture. It will last for 3 days in the fridge.
- You can add other flavours and textures such as diced apple, raisins, pine nuts and so on.
Notes
Serves 10-12
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!