Good salads are essential to help you stay cool and healthy during the hot summer months and they do not have to be boring and tasteless.
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| SIMPLE SALAD DRESSING |
I was pleasantly surprised walking around my local supermarket the other
day at the many different varieties of lettuce and salad leaves available. You
don’t even have to go through the hassle of cleaning your lettuce as you can
buy ready mixed salad leaves, full of different flavours, textures and colours
all cleaned and ready to eat. All you need to do is drizzle the leaves with a
little dressing at the last minute and tuck in.
A good
salad must have texture, so mix it up a little and try tender, baby spinach
leaves with an anchovy dressing or curly endive with crispy bacon and a mustard
and lemon vinaigrette. Iceberg, a crisp head lettuce with an excellent dense,
crunchy texture and a pale green colour is great for seafood cocktails and adds
a crunch to mixed salads. Little gems, a small compact lettuce with crispy,
round leaves and a distinct flavour is perfect in waldorf salads with chopped
celery, apple, walnuts and mayonnaise. My favourite salad leaf is rocket, a
strong, peppery leaf with jagged-edged leaves and a pleasant bite. It goes well
with Mediterranean ingredients such as sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and
pine nuts. Mallorca produces a wonderful wild rocket called “rucula selvetica”:
the leaves are smaller than standard rocket leaves and have a stronger, peppery
flavour. They go particularly well with goat's cheese but can also be included
in pasta, fish or meat dishes. It’s a rich source of iron as well as vitamins A
and C.
When buying lettuces look for fresh, blemish-free leaves and avoid those
that droop or wilt. Buy them on the same day as they are highly perishable and
deteriorate very quickly. Salad leaves do a body good, some have high levels of
vitamin c (such as watercress) and calcium. Others contain substantial amounts
of potassium, vitamin a, beta carotene and add much-needed fibre to the diet. So break out the salads this summer, stay
cool and stay healthy.
Vinaigrettes, tossed with salad
leaves, drizzled over poached fish, pooled around a nest of steamed vegetables,
or adding just a touch of gloss to plateful of boiled potatoes, help to jazz up
the most elementary of foods. They are the simple yet sublime components of
countless appetizers, salads, main courses, and even some desserts. At first glance, making vinaigrettes
could not be simpler: just a swirl of oil, a dash of vinegar, seasoning, and
perhaps some mustard and herbs. But the making of a good dressing needs a
little care and attention. They should be sublime and smooth with just a hint
of tartness to coat and coax the flavour of all the other ingredients.
Mastering the art of the vinaigrette
Mastering
the art of the vinaigrette relies on a few basic rules
that are easy to follow. Firstly it is important is that the ingredients should
be of the highest quality, top quality olive oil, vinegar and the balance of
those ingredients is crucial.
For me, the proportions of these
ingredients depends on the dish, but the general rule is that there should be
four parts oil to one part vinegar. Once the basic formula is grasped, all
manner of variations can be used. I like to make my vinaigrette with fresh
lemon juice, lime or grapefruit juice instead of vinegar but balsamic vinegar
makes a sweeter dressing and aged sherry vinegar is also a fantastic option.
It’s always a good idea to add a
little flavour and bite to a vinaigrette by adding diced tomatoes, chopped
shallots and fresh herbs.
To add different flavours you could
use walnut oil, hazelnut oil or even avocado oil in place of the olive oil or
infuse the oil with spices, garlic, truffles and other flavourings for a
tastier dressing. For a complete change substitute creamy natural yoghurt for
the oil in a dressing and add lemon juice and herbs.
SALAD OF SQUID, NEW POTATOES,
ROCKET LEAVES, CHORIZO AND PASSION FRUIT OIL
Ingredients:
serves 6
3 fresh
squid, cleaned and scored
18 new
potatoes, boiled
18 thin
slices of chorizo "iberico"
2 bunches
of rocket leaves
pulp of 6 passion fruits
150ml orange
juice
150ml olive
oil
Sea
salt and pepper
To make the
passion fruit oil:
Place the passion fruit pulp and orange juice in a
saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer gently and reduce until it just starts
to thicken. Pass through a fine sieve and whisk in the olive oil. Season to
taste.
Heat a grill pan. Cut the cooked potatoes in half
lengthways. Toss them in a little olive oil and season. Place the potatoes on
the grill and mark for 1-2 minutes. Grill the squid for 30 seconds on each side
then add the chorizo slices to warm through. Place all the warm ingredients in
a bowl, add a few tablespoons of passion fruit oil, rocket leaves and mix well.
Drizzle with a little passion fruit oil and serve.
Salad of Bresoala with grilled peaches
& soft goats cheese dressing
Bresoala is cured beef from Italy,
the taste is more delicate, yet a little sharper, than Parma or Serrano ham –
both though would make a delicious alternative here, as would beef carpaccio
Ingredients serves
4
12 slices of
Bresaola
110g Mixed salad
leaves (rocket, watercress, curly endive etc)
2 fresh peaches,
stoned & cut into large wedges
Salt & freshly
ground pepper
Soft Goats Cheese Dressing
100g soft goats
cheese
1tsp sherry vinegar
4 tbsp cream
5tbsp olive oil
1tsp Dijon mustard
Salt & freshly
ground pepper
For the salad
dressing, place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a light
puree.
Glaze the peaches
with a little olive oil. Heat a heavy bottomed griddle pan and place the
peaches on the grill for 30 seconds on each side or until grill marks appear
but peaches are still firm. Remove from grill; set aside.
Arrange the Bresoala
slices over 4 plates. Top with grilled peach wedges and salad leaves. Drizzle
with soft goats cheese dressing and serve.
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