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Beetroot and horseradish salad v
A curiously pleasant mixture of flavours and textures, this salad makes a good accompaniment to cold savoury dishes.
SERVES 4
700g (1½lb) cooked beetroot (with no added vinegar)
1 eating apple
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1–2 tbsp horseradish sauce
Peel and dice the beetroot and the apple. Put them into a bowl with the caraway seeds, sugar, vinegar and horseradish sauce and mix them all together lightly. Chill in the fridge before serving.
Raw beetroot salad v
Raw beetroot is said to contain enzymes that are particularly valuable for health, and features in many natural cancer cures. It is also said to contain a substance that helps to break up fat deposits in the body and thus aid slimming! In any case, I like the sweet, earthy flavour and vibrant ruby colour of it; try it in this tasty main course salad.
SERVES 4
225–350g (8–12oz) raw beetroot
4 eating apples
4 sticks of celery, finely sliced
4 tbsp raisins
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
peel of ½ lemon
1 lettuce
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives, to garnish
Peel and coarsely grate the raw beetroot and apples, add the celery, raisins, oil and vinegar.
Remove the peel from the lemon using a potato peeler, then snip into 1cm (½in) slivers using scissors; add to the mixture. Allow to marinate for an hour or so if possible.
Serve on a bed of lettuce, top with a sprinkling of chopped chives.
Roasted beetroot and goat’s cheese salad
This salad is a great combination of contrasting flavours and textures. I love to use baby beetroot if they’re available, but if not, just cut normal-size ones down through their stalks into quarters.
SERVES 4–6
450g (1lb) raw baby beetroot, preferably no bigger than plums
olive oil, for brushing
120g bag of mixed salad leaves, including some frisée and baby lettuce leaves
a few sprigs of fresh dill or lovage, if available
200g (7oz) soft goat’s cheese
freshly black pepper
balsamic dressing
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F), gas mark 5.
If the beetroot still has leaves attached, cut these off about 5cm (2in) from the root. Put the beetroot in a roasting tin, brush with oil and roast in the oven for 30–45 minutes or until tender when pierced with the point of a sharp knife.
Divide the beetroot between individual plates, along with the salad leaves, dill or lovage and the goat’s cheese. Coarsely grind a little black pepper over the goat’s cheese if you wish. Drizzle some balsamic dressing over the salad leaves and serve.
Broad bean, pea and feta salad with mint
This dish is the taste of summer on a plate and works equally well with fresh or frozen broad beans and peas. If the broad beans are much bigger than hazel nuts you could pop them out of their grey skins after cooking – a labour of love, but worth it for the brilliant colour and delicate texture of the skinned beans.
SERVES 4
250g (9oz) frozen or podded broad beans (500g (1lb 2oz) in their pods)
350g (12oz) frozen petit pois or podded peas (700g (15lb) in their pods)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1½ tsp white or red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
caster sugar, to taste
200g (7oz) feta cheese, cut into 1cm (½in) cubes
about 8 good sprigs of mint, chopped
Cook the broad beans in half a panful of boiling water for 2 minutes, until beginning to soften or then add the peas, bring back to the boil and cook for a further minute or so, until tender.
Drain the peas and beans and return them to the pan. Mix in the oil, vinegar, salt, a grinding of pepper and perhaps a pinch or two of sugar to taste, if necessary. Add the feta and chopped mint and stir gently. Serve immediately, still warm, or eat it when it’s cold. It’s lovely either way.
Butter beans and mushrooms with coriander v
This succulent and spicy salad makes an excellent starter. Serve it with some bread to mop up the delicious juices.
SERVES 4 AS A STARTER, 2 AS A MAINS SALAD DISH
225g (8oz) baby button mushrooms
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3–4 tsp ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, crushed
125g (4oz) dried butter beans, soaked, cooked and drained; or 400g can drained and rinsed
1–2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
TO SERVE
2 handfuls of salad leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Wash the mushrooms and halve or quarter them if necessary.
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the mushrooms. Fry for 2–3 minutes, just to tenderise them, then add the coriander and garlic, and fry for a minute or two more.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter beans and lemon juice, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
You can serve this salad straight away, warm and juicy from the pan, or let it cool. Pile it up on a base of pretty salad leaves and scatter with chopped parsley.
Butter bean, tomato and olive salad v
This succulent mixture of flavours is delicious as a first course for four people, or as a light lunch or supper for two, served with some bread and something green and leafy to make the meal complete.
SERVES 2–4
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 mild onion, sliced
450g (1lb) tomatoes, sliced
400g can butter beans, drained and rinsed or 125g (4oz) dried butter beans, soaked, cooked and drained
a handful of black olives
Put the oil and vinegar into a mixing bowl, or straight into a salad bowl, and add a little salt and pepper.
Add the onion, tomatoes, butter beans and olives and turn everything gently to mix the ingredients.
Serve from the bowl, or on individual plates.
Greek butter bean salad v
This tastes like the bean salads you get all over Greece, which I love, but without all the hours of slow cooking. In fact, it’s almost instant, though it does benefit from sitting for an hour or so. Enjoy it with Greek salad, kalamata olives and ciabatta.
SERVES 4
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 × 400g butter beans
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, garlic, tomato purée and lemon juice.
Drain and rinse the beans, and add to the bowl. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
If possible, let the salad rest for an hour or so for the flavours to develop.
Serve at room temperature, sprinkled with chopped parsley.
Roasted butternut squash salad with balsamic dressing v
A fabulous salad: meltingly tender pieces of sweet butternut squash bathed in a glossy tamari and balsamic dressing with a hint of chilli, a scattering of sizzling hot sesame seeds and some peppery green rocket.
SERVES 4–6
1 butternut squash
a little olive oil for brushing
4 spring onions, sliced
2 tsp sesame seeds
150g (5oz) rocket leaves, to garnish
FOR THE DRESSING
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp tamari or other soy sauce
½ tsp dried red chilli flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pre-heat the oven to 190°C (375°F), gas mark 5
Cut the butternut squash in half lengthways and brush the cut surfaces with oil. Put them, cut-side up, into a roasting tin and bake for about 1 hour or until the squash is soft.
Set the squash aside until it’s cool enough to handle, then scoop out and discard the seeds. Peel off the papery skin – it will come away easily – and cut the flesh into 2.5cm (1in) chunks.
Put all the dressing ingredients into a large bowl, with salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.
Add the butternut squash to the bowl, along with the spring onions, and mix gently, so that it is coated with the glossy dressing. Check the seasoning.
Toast the sesame seeds by stirring them for a minute or two in a dry saucepan until they smell toasty and start to jump around.
Put the butternut squash salad on to individual plates, top with a scattering of sizzling sesame seeds and garnish generously with rocket.
VARIATION
Roasted butternut squash salad with balsamic dressing and feta
A delicious variation is to add 200g (7oz) feta cheese, cut or broken into small cubes or pieces. The creamy saltiness of the feta contrasts well with the sweet tenderness of the balsamic-glazed butternut squash and the fresh peppery rocket.
Red cabbage and apple salad
A lovely salad for the autumn, sweet apples and sultanas with crisp red cabbage and walnuts, and a honey dressing.
SERVES 4
450g (1lb) red cabbage
2 sweet eating apples
1 celery heart
50g (2oz) sultanas or raisins (optional)
small handful of chopped walnuts
honey and cider dressing
Wash and finely shred the cabbage. Wash the apples and chop, without peeling if the skins look good, and slice the celery. Place all these in a salad bowl.
If you’re using the sultanas or raisins, cover them with boiling water and leave for 10 minutes, to plump them; drain, and mix with salad, along with the walnuts and enough honey dressing to make the mixture moist and shiny.
VARIATION
Primo cabbage and apple salad
Make as described, but using tender primo or pointed green instead of red cabbage. The walnuts are optional in this version.
Cauliflower and apple salad
Make as described, but use 450g (1lb) cauliflower (1 medium-sized cauliflower) instead of cabbage, and pine nuts instead of walnuts.
Cabbage salad with red pepper and raisins v
This colourful salad is excellent with jacket potatoes, onion quiche or quick cheese and tomato flan.
SERVES 4
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
350g (12oz) white cabbage, shredded
175g (6oz) carrots, chopped or coarsely grated
175g (6oz) red pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 heaped tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, chives or spring onions
50g (2oz) raisins
50g (2oz) roasted unsalted peanuts or cashews, or pine nuts or chopped walnuts
Put the oil and vinegar into the base of a salad bowl, add some salt and pepper and mix together.
Add the cabbage, carrots, red peppers, parsley, chives or spring onions and raisins, and turn everything over a few times with a spoon so that it all gets covered in the dressing.
If possible leave for an hour or so; this softens the cabbage and gives the flavours a chance to blend. Stir in the nuts just before serving.
Cabbage salad with mint and pomegranate
This salad is so pretty: pale cabbage with shiny ruby pomegranate seeds glinting among the bright green mint.
SERVES 4
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
450g (1lb) white cabbage, coarsely grated or finely shredded
1 pomegranate
3–4 sprigs of mint, to garnish
Put the chopped mint, honey, vinegar, oil and some salt and pepper into a large bowl and mix together to form a dressing.
Add the cabbage and mix thoroughly, so that it gets well coated with the sweet herb dressing.
Leave for at least 1 hour, so that the cabbage softens a little and absorbs all the flavours.
Just before you want to serve the salad, cut the pomegranate in two and, holding one half over a plate to catch the juice, bend the fruit backwards to make the seeds pop out, helped as necessary with the point of a sharp knife.
Add the pomegranate juice to the salad, and stir in some of the seeds. Then tip the salad out on to a large flat plate and decorate with the mint sprigs and remaining pomegranate seeds. Serve as soon as possible, while the pomegranate is bright and sparkling.
VARIATION
Sweet cabbage salad with lovage
Make as described, using chopped fresh lovage instead of mint. The pungent, aromatic flavour of lovage along with the sweet dressing makes this salad deliciously different. Lovage is not easy to find in the shops, but if you have the space to grow it, it’s easy because it comes up every year.
A great veggie Caesar
Caesar salad, with its sweet, crisp leaves, creamy mayonnaise dressing, cheese and croûtons, seems like a great vegetarian salad, except that often it isn’t. The mayonnaise may have Worcestershire sauce in it; there may be anchovies in the salad, and Parmesan cheese is not vegetarian. But it is possible to make a great veggie Caesar with Tabasco, capers and gherkins to pep up the mayonnaise, and Parmesan-style cheese or hard vegetarian pecorino to take the place of Parmesan.
SERVES 4
1 Cos lettuce, washed and torn into large bite-sized pieces
FOR THE DRESSING
6 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
a few drops of Tabasco or hot chilli sauce
125g (4oz) pecorino or Parmesan-style cheese, flaked with a potato peeler or coarsely grated
2 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed (or rinsed and drained if preserved in salt)
1–2 small gherkins, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE CROUTONS
2–4 slices of bread olive oil, for frying
Put the lettuce into a salad bowl.
Mix the mayonnaise with the lemon juice, garlic and enough Tabasco or hot chilli sauce to give it a pleasant kick. Add half the cheese, the capers and the gherkins, and add to the bowl with the lettuce. Scatter the rest of the cheese on top and season to taste with pepper and a little salt if necessary.
To make the croûtons, fry the slices of bread in olive oil in a frying pan, until they are crisp and golden, turning them to fry the each side. Cut the fried bread into pieces and add to the salad bowl. Toss the salad and eat at once.
Celeriac remoulade
Celeriac, that knobbly root with the delicious celery flavour, makes a classic, creamy salad. I like it with some lovely bright green watercress. It’s also delicious in a lighter, vinaigrette dressing (see the variation).
SERVES 4
450g (1lb) celeriac
6 tbsp mayonnaise: homemade or good-quality bought
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
Peel the celeriac and cut into quarters, then grate coarsely.
Put the grated celeriac into a bowl with the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, sugar, salt and a good grinding of black pepper, and mix well.
If possible, leave it for 30 minutes or so to give the celeriac a chance to soak up the flavour of the dressing, then serve.
VARIATION
Celeriac vinaigrette v
Grate the celeriac as described, then mix with vinaigrette, so that it is all coated and glossy with the dressing. This is good with plenty of pepper added; you could grind it in, or add ½–1 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper from a jar, or crushed using a pestle and mortar.
Chicory and walnut salad v
If you can get red chicory, this salad is lovely made with half red and half white; otherwise just use white chicory. Either way, it’s crisp and refreshing.
SERVES 4–6
350g (12oz) white chicory
350g (12oz) red chicory
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or half walnut oil and half olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g (2oz) shelled walnut pieces, roughly chopped
Wash the chicory, dry carefully, then slice, or pull the leaves apart.
Put the oil and vinegar into a salad bowl, add some salt and pepper and mix together, then add the chicory and walnuts and toss in the oil until everything is shiny with the dressing. Serve at once.
VARIATION
Salad of Chinese leaves with spring onions v
This salad is made in the same way as the previous one, using 700g (1½lb) Chinese leaves and adding a bunch of chopped spring onions instead of (or, if you prefer, as well as) the walnuts. I also rather like it with some raisins added too; they give a pleasant touch of sweetness.
Chinese leaf and beansprout salad
In this recipe, I have emphasised the Chinese theme by mixing Chinese leaves with crunchy beansprouts and a sweet and sour soy sauce and sesame oil dressing. It’s rather like a salad version of Chinese stir-fry.
SERVES 4
175g (6oz) fresh beansprouts
1 tbsp clear honey
3 tbsp sesame oil or olive oil
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper
2.5cm (1in) fresh root ginger, finely grated
350g (12oz) Chinese leaves, shredded
2 carrots, coarsely grated
Cover the beansprouts with cold water and leave them to soak and become crisp while you make the dressing and prepare the other ingredients.
Put the honey, oil and soy sauce into the base of a large bowl with a grating of pepper and the ginger, and mix together.
Add the Chinese leaves and carrots, mix well, then drain the beansprouts and add these. Mix again and serve.
Coleslaw
Homemade coleslaw is better than any you can buy, and it’s very quick and easy to make. You can control the richness – using mayonnaise gives the creamiest, most delicious result but for lighter versions you can replace some of this with natural yoghurt.
SERVES 4
350g (12oz) white cabbage, shredded
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
1 small onion, finely sliced
50g (2oz) sultanas (optional)
3 rounded tbsp mayonnaise
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the cabbage, carrot and onion into a large bowl with the sultanas, (if using).
Add the mayonnaise and some salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
Cover and leave for 2–3 hours before serving, if possible. This allows the vegetables to soften and the flavours to blend.
Endive salad v
Curly endive makes a lovely salad. I wish that we could buy it as easily in the UK as one can in France. The lovely round, untidy green and yellow heads taste wonderful with a simple walnut vinaigrette.
SERVES 4
½ head curly endive
walnut vinaigrette
50g (2oz) shelled walnut pieces, lightly chopped
Wash the endive, discarding any discoloured or damaged leaves. Break up or chop roughly.
Put the endive into a salad bowl with the vinaigrette, add the fresh walnuts, and toss together. Serve immediately.
Fatoush v
This Lebanese dish contains the usual ingredients of Middle Eastern salads – cucumber, tomato, green pepper, onion, parsley and mint – but also toasted pitta bread. Sumac is a traditional Lebanese spice that can be bought from Middle Eastern shops or, increasingly, many supermarkets.
SERVES 2–4
1 Cos lettuce, roughly chopped
a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
leaves from a small bunch of mint, roughly chopped
3 tomatoes, diced
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1 cucumber, diced
1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 bunch of spring onions, chopped
1 pitta bread
FOR THE DRESSING
juice of 1 lemon
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1–3 tsp sumac (if available)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put all the prepared vegetables into a salad bowl and mix.
Make the dressing in a small bowl by combining the lemon juice, oil, garlic, sumac – start with the smaller quantity and add more to taste – plenty of salt and a grinding of pepper.
Open out the pitta bread and toast under a hot grill or in a toaster until crisp, then break into bite-sized pieces and add to the salad.
Give the dressing a final stir, then add to the salad. Toss the salad to combine everything, then serve.
Fennel, carrot and spring onion salad v
A refreshing salad that’s quick to make, especially if you have an electric grater.
SERVES 4
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large fennel bulb
225g (8oz) carrots, coarsely grated
4 spring onions, chopped
Put the lemon juice and oil into a large bowl with a little salt and pepper and mix to make a simple dressing.
Wash and slice the fennel, trimming off any tough outer layers but keeping any feathery green tops; chop these green bits and add to the bowl.