Category: salad

Butternut squash, lentil and rice salad

I made this for a meal with my daughters, and then made it again for a party, with variations, partly because I couldn’t remember what I did the first time. Essentially, it is a triple-decker salad with toppings and a dressing, so there are many ways you can play with the ingredients, flavours and textures. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • One butternut squash, peeled and de-seeded, cut into 2 cm cubes
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • A pinch of chilli flakes, e.g. Aleppo pepper
  • 300g green lentils, such as puy lentils
  • 300g brown rice
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 bunch of mint, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp toasted nuts, such as almonds, or walnuts, or pine-nuts
  • Green salad leaves, such as lettuce, rocket, baby spinach, nasturtiums
  • Dressing – 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard (optional)
  • 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • Salt and pepper
  • Non-vegan option – a pack of feta cheese

METHOD:

  • Set the oven to a high temperature, 200C
  • Mix the squash with olive oil, chilli flakes, ground pepper and a little salt. Put this into a large baking tray, and bake for around 30 minutes. 
  • Meanwhile, soak the brown rice and the lentils for around 30 minutes in cold water, to hydrate a little, and to rinse off any extra starch. 
  • Drain the lentils and brown rice, and then cook in salted water for around 30 minutes. I mixed them together to reduce washing up, but ideally you should cook them separately as the rice might need a little longer than the lentils. Drain when cooked. You can add herbs to the water if you like, for example mint. 
  • Make the dressing. In a jar with a lid, mix together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, molasses and salt and pepper, and shake well. 
  • Assemble the salad:
    • Wash the salad leaves and make this the bottom layer. I like my lettuce very slightly salted, so you might want to try this yourself. 
    • Chop the red onion and mint and mix with the lentils and rice. Spread this over the salad leaves, leaving a border of leaves showing. 
    • Add the roasted butternut squash to the top, then sprinkle with the toasted nuts. 
    • Pour the well-shaken dressing over the top just before serving.

We had this at a barbeque and it went down very well. 

 

 

Lentil and walnut salad

So delicious. I made this for when I had invited colleagues and friends over, we had a buffet set up with lots of salads, this was the winner. I will be making it again for our community party later in the year. It is a Turkish recipe. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 100g green lentils
  • 300g tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 60g red onion, finely sliced
  • 4 large spring onions, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp pul biber – chilli flakes
  • 60 g walnuts, finely chopped. You could use a food processer, you are aiming for the bits of nut to be about the size of a large lentil.
  • chopped herbs – could be a mixture of basil, parsley, dill, fennel, 
  • 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • Salt and pepper
  • crisp lettuce leaves, to serve

METHOD:

  • Cook the lentils, boil them in water until tender but still firm. This takes around 20 minutes. When they are cooked, strain them and rinse them in icy water. Set them to cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
  • In a large bowl, combine the lentils, tomatoes, onion, spring onion, chilli powder, and walnuts. Mix in the chopped herbs.
  • In another bowl, mix the pomegranate molasses, tomato puree and iced water to make a sauce, and season with 1/2 tsp salt and grated black pepper. 
  • Mix the sauce into the salad, and serve on a bed of romaine lettuce leaves. 

Carrot salad with mustard seeds

This is a very simple recipe, great as a quick side-dish to add freshness to any meal. It is great to add to a summer picnic, a cold buffet, or with a range of Indian dishes. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Approx 350g carrots
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbs rapeseed oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

METHOD:

  • Peel and grate the carrots, and put them in a salad bowl, sprinkle in the salt and toss to ensure it is evenly distributed.
  • Heat the oil in a small pan, and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. Cook the mustard seeds until they begin to pop. 
  • Pour the hot oil and seeds over the carrots, and mix well. 

Lobster Salad

I have lovely neighbours. They gave me four small lobsters yesterday. They had been cooked the night before just after being caught. We had lobster salad for tea last night, just the best. One lobster each. We are going to do the same tonight. It is one of those things where simple is best. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 small to medium lobster per person, around half a kilo weight. 
  • 1 lemon, allow one decent wedge per person
  • Salad – include tomato, cucumber, lettuce. Optional extras include rocket, spinach leaves, celery, chives
  • Mayonnaise – this could be plain, or flavoured with lemon or tarragon. 

METHOD:

  • If you are cooking the lobsters yourself, plunge them into boiling water, and simmer for around 10 minutes. Drain them, and when you can handle it, remove the heads so they drain and cool faster. Keep the claws and discard the heads. Once cool, pop them in the fridge. 
  • I serve the lobster in a bowl on the table, with a plated salad, mayonnaise and a wedge of lemon for each person. I also like a slice of brown buttered toast with this. 
  • If you have people who can’t sort out a lobster, I remove the meat from the tail and claws, chop it into pieces around 1 cm cubed and stir in a good squeeze of lemon. I then mix this with the mayonnaise. Sometimes a little chopped celery or chopped chives can be added at this stage. The resulting mixture can then be served on a bed of lettuce, rocket, tomato and cucumber, with a side serving of hot buttered brown toast. 

Beetroot and carrot salad

This year has been a good year for me growing beetroot and carrots, so I made this salad. I think you could also add other root vegetables, for example celeriac. I also thought about adding pumpkin seeds for a bit of crunch. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Around 600g of root vegetables, for example carrots and beetroot
  • 1 red onion or 2 shallots
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • mixture of chopped herbs – parsley, mint, coriander leaves
  • 1/2 tsp salt

METHOD:

  • Peel and grate the vegetables on a coarse setting, and mix in a bowl
  • Finely chop the onion, and mix them with the grated vegetables
  • Toast the cumin seeds for about a minute and add to the vegetables
  • Chop the herbs and add them to the vegetables
  • Mix the salt, olive oil, lemon juice and pour over the vegetables. Let the mixture sit for around half an hour before serving. 

This is good with a sharp cheese. 

Raw courgette salad

Guess what – it is courgette season. This recipe is so easy. 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • a handful of rocket leaves
  • 4 small courgettes, chilled, washed and sliced into small rounds 
  • salt and pepper
  • Dressing of lemon juice and olive oil
  • Shavings of parmesan

METHOD:

  • Wash the rocket and spin dry in a salad spinner
  • Put the rocket and courgette slices in a bowl, dress with salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, and garnish with a good amount of parmesan shavings. 

Courgette and Yoghurt salad

It’s courgette season. I love raw courgette, so crunchy. I love it sliced into long strips and grilled, with lemon dressing. I love this salad, from Madhur Jaffrey. It is really easy and quick. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 courgettes, around 350 to 400g
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 red onion
  • 350ml plain yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • black pepper to taste
  • Cayenne pepper to taste and garnish. 

METHOD:

  • Use a food processor to grate the courgette coarsely. Put the grated courgette onto a tea towel in a heap and sprinkle with half a teaspoon of salt. 
  • Peel the onion, halve it and then slice thinly across the way. 
  • Beat the yoghurt in a bowl and add 1/4 tsp salt, a pinch of cayenne and a grate of black pepper
  • Wrap the tea towel around the grated courgette and wring out any excess water. Use your fingers to separate any clumps. 
  • Heat the oil in a pan, and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. As soon as the seeds start to pop, add the onion, and fry for a couple of minutes. 
  • Add the dried courgette, and fry for another three minutes or so. When it is done, turn the heat off and let it cool a bit, before stirring it into the yoghurt. Decant to a serving bowl and sprinkle with cayenne pepper. 

This can be served as a side dish with just about anything. It is as good cold from the fridge as it is warm.

 

 

Salad of flowers

This looks so beautiful, adding flowers to salad, and the extra flavour that they bring just lifts the whole thing. I usually make a basic Greek-style salad and layer the flowers on top. The ingredients depend on what is available. I add the ingredients in layers, only mixing together when serving. 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • Lettuce
  • Cucumber 
  • Spring onions
  • Chopped tomato
  • Black olives
  • Crumbled feta cheese 
  • Flowers – borage, nasturtium, chives, violas, dill, rocket, rose, rocket, stocks, pinks, kale, chamomile, marigold, dandelion
Salad of flowers

Greek feta salad

This is my version of a greek salad, it is quick to make and one of my favourites. I don’t usually refer to a recipe, so it is probably not that authentic. It has a lot in common with the Persian summer salad. 

INGREDIENTS

  • Half a cucumber
  • About the same weight of cherry tomatoes
  • About four or five spring onions
  • A small little gem lettuce
  • 50g feta cheese
  • Kalamata olives
  • Oregano or chive flowers
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD

  • Line a large salad bowl with lettuce leaves
  • Dice the cucumber, chop the onions, cut up the tomatoes and add them to the bowl, in layers with the tomatoes on the top. 
  • Add the olives and crumbled cheese, and garnish with herbs. 
  • Just before serving, season and add a drizzle of olive oil. 

 

Carrot and cumin salad

This is a classic going way way back to university. It is great with middle eastern meals. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 or 3 large carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
  • 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • A drizzle of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Toast the cumin seeds in a small pan for a minute or two, and then lightly crush
  • Mix the carrots and cumin seed, season with salt and pepper
  • Just before serving, mix in the lemon juice and olive oil