Composed Warm Chicken Salad with Beetroot, Fennel and Orange

I love salads where you distribute everything on a big platter, pour over the dressing and dig in - everything gets well blended as you dish up, and you can layer the dish with texture, colour and flavour.  This was a great example with a base of Batavia lettuce leaves, sliced freshly-boiled beetroot, shaved fennel and fillets of orange.  Topped with chunks of chicken marinated in lemon, rosemary and garlic, then quickly sauteed, and little croutons of bread sizzled to golden deliciousness in olive oil, and then all dressed with a vinaigrette made from the orange juice, you end up with a vibrant and healthy supper.  You can vary this so much, and I could have used smoked or grilled mackerel, poached salmon, chunks of good tinned or fresh tuna, strips of juicy steak, chunks of fried chorizo, garlic prawns, or feta or goats' cheese for a veggie option, instead of the chicken.  Use your imagination and whatever is best in the market and in season.  Just think about the overall colour and make sure there is textural variation as well to keep things interesting.  As well as crunch from croutons, you can get the same effect from cucmber or red pepper, and spring onion adds texture and a sharp savour too.

Asian Carrot and Cabbage Slaw

A super recipe from Hugh F-W, this - I am sorry if you are all getting sick of his 'Veg Every Day' cookbook, but it is so good.  This sounded unpreposessing - grated carrot, shredded white cabbage and spring onion in a soy and sesame dressing - but the texture and flavour was marvellous, and a great counterpoint to a coconut chicken curry and noodles.  You shred or grate 3 medium carrots, half a small white cabbage (a really sharp knife here helps) and 3 spring onions, including some of the green tops.  Then you make a dressing of a tablespoon of soy sauce, a dessertspoon of toasted sesame oil, a tablespoon of rice or white wine vinegar, a dessertspoon of runny honey, and the juice of half a lime.  Add a small chopped clove of garlic and a good thumb of fresh ginger, peeled and grated.  Mix together well to ensure the honey dissolves, then pour over the shredded veg, stir well, and leave for 30 minutes to 'relax' as Hugh puts it.  Now stir again, add some chopped coriander and mint leaves, and dish up.  The veg releases a lot of liquid during its steeping, but you end up with tender yet crunchy, sweet yet pickled fresh veg that would also be great at a barbecue.  The two of us hoovered it up, but it would probably serve 4 comfortably as a side as part of a spread of other things.

Rocket and Orange Salad

What is your view on frozen fish?  Living in land-locked Oxfordshire, our fresh fish supply is not brilliant.  Sometimes, you get good stuff from Hayman's fishmonger in the city's Covered market, but not always.  I long to live by the sea where you can get fish fresh from the harbourside, but until then, I certainly don't eschew frozen fish - some of it can be very good and cooks from frozen.  For example, Waitrose do fillets of Scottish mackerel, and they are superb - juicy, fresh-tasting, and crisply-grilled from frozen in 10 minutes.  We had some last night with a mustardy potato salad, and this lovely zingy green salad.  Get good, organic rocket with a bit of texture please, and a summer navel orange from South Africa.  Peel the orange with a sharp knife and then cut out the segments, over a bowl to save the juice.  Now, in a salad bowl, put the orange juice, salt and pepper, a tablespoon or so of chopped parsley and a tablespoon of rinsed nonpareilles capers.  Add a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil.  Toss in a couple of handfuls of washed, dried rocket and the orange segments.  Serve with the mackerel and spoon the orangey juices left in the bowl over the fish as it comes sizzling from the grill.

Chicken Waldorf Salad

One of my favourite scenes from the peerless 'Fawlty Towers' involves an irascible American man, ordering Waldorf Salad.  A baffled Basil Fawlty disappears to the kitchen and re-emerges, declaring that Waldorf Salad is off because they are 'out of waldorfs'.  As well as being very funny, it says a great deal about British food in the 70s!  We are much more comfortable with such exotica now!  As the American angrily barks, the recipe is 'celery, apples, walnuts, grapes - in mayonnaise' and this is pretty much what you do.  I like to cut the richness of the mayo (good old Hellman's) by mixing it with equal quantities of 0% fat Greek Yoghurt and lemon juice to taste - about 2 tablespoons each of mayo and yoghurt and the juice of half a lemon for two people should do it.  I roast chicken breasts for about 20 minutes until cooked but still juicy - season well and drizzle with olive oil before roasting, cool, then cut into chunks and fold through the mayo sauce along with a diced apple, quite finely chopped celery sticks (2), a handful of red grapes, halved, and about 50g of roughly-chopped walnuts, toasted in a dry frying pan.  Pile onto a bed of Batavia lettuce leaves and serve with crusty ciabatta. 

Asian Rice Salad with Salmon

A chat with a friend on Facebook inspired me to knock this salad up for lunch tomorrow - it consists of cooked basmati rice (about 100g dry weight for 2), mixed with a dressing of coriander, lime juice and zest, a little olive oil and some sweet chilli sauce (the same as I used to dress the pasta with crab earlier).  This was mixed with grated carrot, chopped cucumber, a spring onion and some chopped mint.  I had some cooked salmon so that has been popped on the top to be flaked and forked through as we eat it for lunch.  Smells divine, and the spoonful I tasted was pretty good too.  Season well with salt and pepper - cold rice always needs it.  Dunno the cals - probably around the 450 mark because of the salmon, but it is good fat, man!  Omegas and all that sh!t.

Beetroot and Orange Salad with Goats' Cheese

Beetroot and orange go so well together, and the juice from fresh oranges makes a lovely dressing mixed with some grain mustard and good olive oil.  Lovely fresh Batavia lettuce and watercress arrived in the Riverford box today, and I had beetroot from a delivery the other week.  So, simply boil the beets in their skin until tender, about an hour.  Cut the peel from a couple of oranges (a navel and a blood orange was what I had), saving any escaped juice for the dressing.  Cut some cucumber (also in the box) and slice or crumble a small goats' cheese - as fresh or as whiskery and goaty as you like.  Simply layer it all in a bowl or on a large platter with any other greens you have about (some rocket in our case), whisk up your dressing and pour over.  I meant to make croutons for a crunchy element, but forgot - never mind, still lovely and fresh and light to follow the spicy soup.  If you don't like goats' cheese, lots of others would work - Wensleydale, a good cheddar or even some blue cheese if that rocks your boat.

Smoked Sardine Salad with Beetroot and Apples and a Honey Mustard Dressing

Marks and Sparks are currenty selling smoked Cornish sardines, so we had them tonight in a lovely salad just bursting with goodness from our wonderful Riverford delivery - the freshest lettuce, mellow cucumber, sweet earthy beetroot, freshly boiled and still warm. Added to the mix were some finely sliced spring onions and a crisp Discovery apple. This was all tossed together with a honey and mustard dressing - a classic vinaigrette of 1 part cider vinegar to 3 parts light olive oil, a dash of honey and mustard and some salt and pepper. Just lovely for a beautiful late Summer evening.

Chicken and Asparagus Salad with Garlic and Parsley Dressing

Another great way of using asparagus - chargrilled this time, and then tossed with chunks of roast chicken in a dressing made from loads of finely chopped parsley, some grated garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Served on a bed of fantastic lettuce from our Riverford veg box, with some Jersey Royals and roast tomatoes. I must say, the veg box is really inspiring me - just the most fantastic seasonal veg which included, this week, some Swiss chard (making a gratin of that for Sunday to accompany roast duck), the lettuce we used here, the freshest and most pungent spring onions I have ever seen, more asparagus, vigorous leeks, mushrooms - it is very exciting. Next week promises kohlrabi, which I've never used before, so watch this space for a recipe!

Celeriac and Walnut Remoulade [#179]

Nigel's recipe suggested using creme fraiche instead of the usual mayonnaise, which seemed a bit too rich and creamy to me, so I did half-and-half, using Hellmann's and half-fat creme fraiche instead. It needs a bit of poke, with Dijon and grain mustard, lemon juice and salt and pepper. It was very good, although next time I'll cut the celeriac even finer (I don't have a mandolin grater) to avoid having to chew QUITE so much! I served it with smokey applewood ham and lots of watercress for a healthy salad. We started with vegetable and barley broth to get some warmth into us!

A Crisp Salad for a Cold Day [#171]

A sparky little salad, this, made for Hubby's lunch tomorrow. Using left over roast chicken from Sunday (in addition to a potato-topped pie and Cock-a-Leekie Soup), mixed with cucumber, tomatoes, carrot and salad leaves with a lime, sweet chilli, ginger and coriander dressing to toss through at the last moment. Can't find this online, but scarcely a recipe anyway, more of an idea

Hot, Sour Beanshoot Salad [#167]

This recipe had been put off time and again since we came across it in the May section, as honestly, raw beansprouts really don't appeal to me. However, Nigel suggested something similar to accompany the chicken (see previous post) so we took the plunge. As always, with me, I slipped in some variations. For a start, I quickly stir-fried the beansprouts and spring onion with some julienned carrot, and I also cooked some slim ramen noodles to give some carbs. Along with a handful of spinach and lots of cucumber, mint and coriander, this came together into a very nice salad/stir-fry hybrid. The dressing was a revelation - the sourness of lime juice, the salty lick of nam pla and the kick of red chilli went very well with the sweetness of the honey-glazed chicken. Low fat too, as hardly any oil, other than a teaspoon or so for the stir-fry. Nom-nom.

Fennel, Watercress and Pear Salad [#163]

We had doubts about Nigel's suggestion of serving this salad with a dish of haddock, bacon and parsley, so served it, instead, with his Macaroni with Fontina and Mustard, a much more satisfactory combination. Dead simple salad of watercress topped with shaved Florence fennel (it HAS to be paper-thin) and thin slices of a delicious crisp Williams pear from Italy. The dressing was nice too - lime juice and olive oil, simply seasoned with salt and pepper. I think, next time, I might sprinkle over some toasted walnuts or similar for even more texture. Really nice salad, though, do try it!

Fresh Borlotti Salad with Focaccia [#143]

Well......OK, we don't live in Notting Hill or Florence, so the chances of getting fresh borlotti beans were well-nigh impossible. As a consequence, I used excellent tinned borlotti from Valfrutta - if you see them, then get them - they are steamed in the tin, so no gloopy liquid around them, and they have a wonderful texture. I gussied them up with a lemony parsley dressing, blanched green beans, onions and good albacore tuna from a jar, not a tin. I did make my own focaccia, however, using an amazing method where you leave a very wet dough with hardly any yeast in to rise in the fridge over 18 hours. Very nice, and lots left for tomorrow. I guess this was stretching Nigel's recipe almost to breaking point, but I think I am allowed after all this ruddy effort!

Carrot Salad [#142]

No online recipe for this, and it hardly needs one. The idea is to grate some lovely juicy new season's carrots, dress with lots of lemon juice, walnut oil, and seasoning, and pile onto watercress. I added mint leaves too, and toasted pine kernels rather than the peanuts Nigel suggested, as they were more in keeping with the overall Middle-Eastern vibe of the meal. Lovely, healthy and refreshing.

Roast Aubergines with Tahini [#141]

Really nice way to prepare aubergines - roasted or chargrilled with a bit of olive oil, and then dressed with Greek yoghurt, tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic and chopped coriander. The dressing, in particular, went really well with the Lamb flatbreads (see previous recipe)

A Salad of Fennel, Winter Leaves and Parmesan [#139]

I know, I know, it isn't Winter! But this recipe has been hanging around since the January pages of The Diary, and I needed to get it done. It is more or less a Caesar Salad with finely shaved fennel. You can see why I didn't want to eat it on a cold January evening. I made it into more of a main meal salad by grilling some boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I had marinated in olive oil and garlic. I also tossed the hot little croutons in grated Parmesan for an extra savoury touch. Felt good to get this recipe out of the way! By the way, the Caesar-style dressing is INCREDIBLY rich, we only used a spoonful or two, and dressed the bulk of the salad with ordinary vinaigrette. I can't find the recipe online so, you know what I'm going to say by now, go buy the book!

Bread and Tomato Salad [#134]

A rare warm day this summer, so we tackled one of the salad backlogs - as usual, I fiddled with this recipe - well, added to it really. I thought it was the Italian classic panzanella but Nigel toasted his ciabatta rather than soaking it in water, olive oil and chopped tomatoes, as the Italians would do. I also decided to roast the tomatoes and pepper, along with some onion and courgettes. This created a luscious mass which was spooned over watercress, topped with crunchy cucumber, some really good albacore tuna from a jar, marinated artichokes, black olives and basil. With a simple red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing, this was a fantastic, flalourful salad, full of colour and texture, and perfect for a warm - finally - summer's evening.

A Refreshing Salad for a Hot Day [#130]

.......just a pity we didn't have the hot day to go with the salad. I scaled down the recipe to make it a starter. This was essentially a blend of ripe charentais melon, Italian prosciutto cotto, good buffalo mozzarella and watercress, with a lemony dressing with chopped parsley. Very nice and refreshing. No online recipe, sadly, but I'm sure you get the picture.

Cannellini Beans with Coppa, Spinach and Mustard [#125]

As usual, I took some liberties with this recipe. No coppa as I don't really like it - too fatty - so used some delicious roast gammon leftover from earlier in the week. Also, I used tinned cannellini beans 'cos life is just too short to soak and boil! Also, I just couldn't bring myself to use a whole TABLESPOON of Dijon mustard in a dressing for two people, so it was cut down to 1 teaspoon - perfectly nice with that, thank you. So, a nice easy salad, with great local spinach from the pick-your-own. We accompanied this with some delicious courgette and feta fritters, just because we are greedy and wanted something hot too. Well-seasoned with chilli, garlic, shallot, mint and coriander, we have loads left over for lunch tomorrow, including some for my mate Dibbles, whose magnificent courgette was used for the fritters.

Radish, Mint and Feta Salad [#99]

As feta was supposed to be served with the lamb cutlets (see previous recipe) I decided to combine the cheese with this salad, which was a lovely crunchy accompaniment to the tender meat. I also used pea shoots, just because we had a bag that needed using, but it also added a very nice, complementary taste to the whole proceedings.

photo courtesy of www.rhs.org.uk/images/gyo/recipes/radish