Category: Salad

Pea, Snowpea, Almond and Feta Salad

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

What a great salad!

190 calories a serve, really colourful and bursting with flavour.

This is a real win.

From Toby and Georgia Puttock’s book The Chef gets Healthy, this is a great salad. I mean, who doesn’t love peas – and snowpeas – and with the toasted almonds and some feta?!

Try it and you’ll understand why!

(Slightly adapted to our steam/microwave lives.)

Ingredients

150gm snowpeas, ends trimmed
150gm frozen (baby) peas
½ red onion, thinly sliced
50gm reduced fat feta
30gm flaked almonds, toasted
Handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
1 ½ tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Handful of rocket or watercress

Method

  1. Blanch – steam, boil, microwave –the snowpeas and peas until bright green and tender crisp; drain and refresh with cold water. Drain again.
  2. Put the snowpeas, peas, onion, feta, almonds, basil, olive oil and vinegar in a large bowl and toss to combine, Season and carefully toss through the rocket or watercress.
  3. Enjoy.

Glazed Salmon with a Cucumber Sesame Salad

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

My fourth Bill Granger dish from his book, Everyday Asian.

And with a ‘great’ recipe strike-rate of three out of four and an easiness factor of ten out of ten, Bill Granger is officially no longer the suspect cook I had him for prior to cooking from this book. Going forward, i’ll trust him at his word and cook his recipes without worrying.

Donna Hay on the other hand…

Anyway, this is another really healthy, really tasty weekday number. The salad is really fun and served with some rice and a glass of white, this is a great couch/dinner/TV dish.

Ingredients

4 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 salmon fillets, skin off

Cucumber Sesame Salad

1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 Lebanese cucumbers

Method

Salmon

  1. Combine the mirin, soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Put the salmon fillets in a shallow dish, pour the mirin mixture over and set aside in the fridge for 15 minutes or more.
  2. Heat a pan on high heat and cook the salmon until nice coloured and pink inside.
  3. Meanwhile, pour the marinade into a small pan and heat over a high-heat for 4 minutes until it has reduced to a glaze. Pour over the cooked salmon and serve with the salad.

Salad

  1. Whisk together the mirin, vinegar and sesame oil.
  2. Use a vegetable peeler or mandoline to peel long ribbons from the cucumber.
  3. Toss the cucumber ribbons with the dressing.

Marinated Korean-style barbequed beef with miso slaw

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 6

Another fabulous Bill Granger recipe and so easy. And healthy!

Another weeknight dinner locked in.

It is from his book Everyday Asian and thus far, not only are the dishes simple enough to be done every day, you’ll want them every day.

A few hours of marinating and the steak is so tender and ready for that sort of hot grill BBQing that makes this sort of marinade sing. Luscious.

The slaw is great too – really great – and pairs well with the steak.

It isn’t Rockpool (RIP 2016) though it is easily achievable, fun to make and nobody will complain.

Because if they do…

According to Bill, the kiwifruit is to help tenderise the meat. I guess so: I think it is a bit of a wank though you enjoy cooking and it is a bit out of the ordinary right? Plus people will know you’re a Masterchef inserting such unusual ingredients!

Ingredients

Beef

½ ripe kiwifruit, peeled and mashed
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
3 steaks, 2.5cm thick (about 800gm) (We used scotch, though maybe rump?)
Chinese chilli relish (we used hot sauce)

Miso slaw

200gm white cabbage, shredded
200gm red cabbage, shredded
4 celery sticks, cut into batons
1 red onion, thinly sliced
(Or of course, being the middle of the week, use a bag of raw slaw mix from the supermarket)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp white miso paste

Method

Beef

  1. Put the kiwifruit, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sugar and vinegar in a small bowl and combine. Place the mixture with the steaks in a ziplock bag and massage the marinade into the steaks. Set aside and marinate in the fridge for 3 hours or more.
  2. Heat the grill to high. Shake the marinade off the steaks and grill for 3 minutes each side.
  3. Rest and then slice on the diagonal.
  4. Serve with the miso slaw and Chinese chilli relish (or hot sauce).

Miso slaw

  1. Place the cabbage, celery and onion in a large bowl.
  2. Combine the vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and miso paste and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
  3. Pour over the vegetables, stir to combine and serve with the beef.

Not as good as Ellen’s Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves 4

Nothing beats my mother’s Caesar Salad recipe though pretending you had eaten it for 10-days straight – which I believe you could – then this is not a bad alternative for a day.

I adapted it by adding the poached egg and seriously, why shouldn’t you?!

Stop worrying about Caesar Salad being so bad for you and focus on the positives: life is short and so eat well.

Ingredients

650gm chicken breast (skinless)
8 slices prosciutto
Quarter to a third of a baguette, cut into largish croutons
4 eggs
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp anchovy paste (chopped anchovies)
2 baby cos lettuce (the recipe asked for Romaine which would be better)
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (or Parmesan)
Pepper and Salt

Method

  1. Blend garlic, lemon juice, mustard, anchovy paste, pepper and salt in a blender until combined. With motor running, add 7 tbsp of olive oil in a slow stream, blending until emulsified.
  2. Heat a large pan with oil over a medium-low heat, add enough olive oil to barely cover the pan and cook the croutons until lightly golden: the croutons should have absorbed the oil, and oil should be added if too dry.
  3. Poach the eggs, drain and reserve.
  4. Heat a large pan over a medium-low heat, and cook the prosciutto until slightly crispy. Tear.
  5. Pat the chicken dry and coat with 1 tbsp oil, and season. Heat lightly oiled grill pan (or BBQ grill) medium high and grill the chicken. Cut into ½ inch slices and let cool slightly.
  6. Toss the chicken with two tbps of the dressing in a large bowl.
  7. Add the lettuce, cheese, remaining dressing, croutons, prosciutto and toss. Serve in bowls, placing an egg over the top of each.

KFC Slaw

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Serves: 6 – 8 as a side

No need to say much else except that this is pretty close to that horribly good coleslaw you get at KFC.

Thank me later.

Ingredients

8 c finely sliced or diced white and red cabbage
½ c grated carrot
4 tbsp minced onion
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper
¼ c milk
¼ c buttermilk
½ c mayonnaise
1 ½ tbsp white vinegar
2 ½ tbsp lemon juice

Method

  1. Process all the ingredients (except the vegetables), pour over the vegetables, mix thoroughly and chill for several hours or overnight.

Parmigiano Sformato with Piquillo Peppers and Almonds

.Reading time 2 minutes.
Serves: 8

Wow these are good!

This recipe by Anne Burrell is awesome and was one of the dishes we had when our parents – Deb and Rob/Ellen and Bill – met for the first time. A dish, awesome in not just in how elegant and sophisticated it all looks but in the nutty yet beautifully creamy textured taste.

(The meeting of the parents was a complete success for what it’s worth!)

People will know you’re a cooking star and you’ll put the leg-of-lamb-rosemary-garlic crowd to shame when you show them some real preparation, cooking and style.

Move over braised meat. This is preparation and sophistication and it shows.

Do it as a starter and start it right!

(Tip: the cayenne is the zinger here: don’t overdo it though it is the zinger…)

Oh… fast forward two years: we cooked this for our long lunch/wedding and it was THE standout dish. Well. Done. Ellen.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups heavy cream
4 eggs
1 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt
1 pinch cayenne
1 jar piquillo peppers, julienned
1/4 c sliced almonds, toasted
2 c arugula or mesclun
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tbsp chopped chives

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180c. Spray your ramekins with nonstick spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, add the heavy cream, eggs and Parmigiano and whisk to combine. Season with salt and cayenne. Divide the egg, cream, cheese mixture between the ramekins.
  3. Place the filled ramekins in a baking dish and fill halfway with hot tap water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on racks.
  4. Place the cooled sformato in a warm oven for 10 minutes to reheat.
  5. While the sformato is reheating toss the peppers and almonds with the greens and a sprinkle of oil, vinegar and salt.
  6. Arrange some of the pepper mixture on individual serving plates. Unmold the sformato on the serving plate and arrange the peppers against the sformato. Drizzle with olive oil.
  7. Sit back and observe your slightly stunned guests.

Chicken Salad with black grapes, walnut and celery

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

I whipped up this salad a few years back and it was great. I did it again a few weeks ago and it was just as good. Time to type it up, right?!

It is originally from Gourmet Traveller whose recipes have always seemed slightly adventurous and daunting to me; though which have almost always turned out fabulous, much like this recipe.

Make Saturday lunch special and give this dish a go.

P.S. I used Neil Perry’s aioli recipe and have included it below.

Ingredients

1 celeriac (500gm), diced
2 tbsp olive oil
100gm walnuts
170gm seedless black grapes, halved
1 celery heart, thinly sliced, leaves reserved
3 golden shallots, thinly sliced
140gm good-quality aïoli*
Juice of 1-2 lemons
1 tsp Champagne or Dijon mustard

To serve: crusty baguette

Roast chicken

1 chicken (1.5kg) (cornfed if you can)
4 thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, bruised
1 tbsp olive oil

*Aioli (Neil Perry)

3 egg yolks
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Sea salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
375ml half olive oil and half extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground white pepper

Method

  1. For the aioli: Put a saucepan large enough to hold a stainless steel bowl on a bench. Place a tea towel around the inside edge of the pan and place the bowl on top of the pan to hold it steady while you whisk.
  2. Put the yolks in the bowl and whisk. Add the garlic, sea salt and lemon juice and while whisking, slowly drizzle in the oil. As the emulsion starts to form, add the oil in a steady stream. Don’t let the oil sit on the surface as this can cause the aioli to split. Add a grind of pepper and check for salt and lemon juice.
  3. Or do all of this in a food processor, starting with all the ingredients but the oil and then drizzling the oil in slowly with the motor running.
  4. For the roast chicken: Preheat oven to 180C. Rinse chicken inside and out and pat dry with absorbent paper. Season to taste inside and out, place in a roasting pan, stuff cavity with thyme and garlic and drizzle skin with oil. Roast until chicken is golden and cooked through (1-1¼ hours).
  5. Meanwhile, cook celeriac in a saucepan of salted boiling water until tender (3-5 minutes). Drain well, then transfer to a large bowl.
  6. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat, add walnuts and stir occasionally until golden (2-4 minutes). Drain, cool and add to celeriac with grapes, celery and shallot.
  7. Coarsely shred chicken (discard skin, bones and sinew) and add to bowl. Add aïoli, lemon juice to taste and mustard, season to taste and toss to combine. Scatter with celery leaves and serve with crusty baguette.

BBQ Thai Basil and Ginger Pork Chops (with Tomato Salad)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

There is this wonderful website (well, Instagram) I follow called What to Cook.

It is by a father/daughter team where he cooks really simple, fresh and fun food and she takes great photos of the food. They look like they have so much doing it and they are obviously eating well.

I have only cooked one of their recipes (this one) though I have a bunch more lined up. Its modern, bistro-quality food and during the week, that’s just fine.

I let this marinate for two nights before BBQing and together with the salad, a bottle of white we opened and my favourite travelling companion Nat, we had a perfect weeknight in.

Ingredients

4 large pork chops,
1 Thai chilli, finely diced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
½ c fresh thai basil leaves
Pinch of salt
Juice of 1 lime

Tomato salad

1 bunch butter lettuce, leaves torn
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
1 oxheart tomato, sliced
2 baby cucumbers, sliced
½ cup bean sprouts
¼ cup fresh mint leaves

Salad dressing

3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp palm sugar, grated

Method

  1. Place the chops in a dish, then add the chilli, ginger, garlic, salt Thai basil, lime juice, cover and marinate in the fridge for 2 hours (or as long as you want).
  2. Preheat your BBQ over a high heat. Once preheated, BBQ the chops until cooked and then cover with foil and rest for 5 miutes.
  3. To serve; assemble the salad on the plates and drizzle with the dressing. Add the chops and (in their words) “enjoy”!

Green salad with simple vinaigrette

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

This is a really simple yet really vibrant salad I whipped up today. It looks – and is – so healthy.

I served it with grilled, tandoori chicken and potatoes which I sliced thinly, salted and oiled and cooked until golden in the oven.

What a winner of a Saturday lunch!

Ingredients

1 butter lettuce, leaves torn
2 cucumbers, brunoise cut
6 spring onions, whites thinly sliced
1 avocado, brunoise cut
Small bunch of basil, thinly sliced
Bunch of asparagus, blanched, refreshed and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Vinaigrette

2 cloves garlic, mince
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp heaped wholegrain mustard
1 tsp heaped honey

Method

  1. Combine the salad ingredients.
  2. Whisk together the vinaigrette.
  3. Combine and serve.

 

Neil Perry’s barbequed butterflied lamb leg with cumin, lemongrass and ginger, Italian-style coleslaw and vine-ripened tomato salad

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

I pulled this recipe collection from The Good Weekend magazine in 2010 and only managed to get around to cooking it last night.

It is a real, Friday-night treat. Marinate the lamb during the day, pull it out of the fridge when you get home, get the grill clean and hot and whilst chargrilling the lamb, prepare the really simple and elegant salads.

With a glass of red, this is – and was – a great way to say hello to the weekend.

Ingredients

Lamb

1 lamb leg (about 2kg) butterflied
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 lemongrass stems, peeled and sliced into fine rounds
3cm piece fresh ginger, chopped
2 tsp roasted cumin seeds, half crushed to a powder, the rest whole
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
3 tbsp chopped mint
¼ c extra virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked pepper
Lemon wedges to serve

Coleslaw

1 baby cabbage or half Savoy cabbage, finely shredded
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to season
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Shaved parmesan

Tomato salad

4 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into chunks
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to season
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Method

Lamb

  1. To make the marinade, put the garlic, lemongrass, ginger, cumin and salt in a motar and pound into a rough paste in the pestle. Add the herbs and pound for a further minute then stir in the olive oil and mix well. (You can also process in a food processor but don’t make too smooth a paste.) Spread the marinade evenly over the butterflied lamb and leave in the fridge for at least an hour to infuse, remember that the lamb need to be removed from the fridge an hour prior to cooking.
  2. Preheat the BBQ medium-high. Cook the lamb for about 6-8 minutes per side depending on your preference of rare to medium-rare. Remove and cover with foil. Rest for 10 minutes.
  3. Carve the lamb into 5mm slices and arrange on 4 plates, pouring over any of the resting juices onto the slices of lamb. Give a good grind of pepper, place a lemon wedge on each plate and serve immediately… with the…

Italian-style coleslaw

  1. Finely shred the cabbage.
  2. Put in a large bowl and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
  3. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar over, at a ratio of three parts oil to one part vinegar. Start to toss the cabbage ensuring that it doesn’t become wet and only moist.
  4. Toss through the shaved parmesan – the more the better people – and serve… with the…

Vine-ripened tomato salad

  1. Season the cut tomatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and serve immediately… with…
  2. A bottle of red wine!