Salad Days

I should say salad DAZE, as I have been dreaming about them alot lately.... and day dreaming.... I am thinking a great deal about food in general lately! 


And of course, a gratuitous Monty Python link in reference to 'Salad Days'. Never miss an opportunity. I have much to thank Monty Python for, so I am glad to reference them as opportunity arises. And when I am talking or thinking, it usually does. Meh, I am who I am :)


ANYWAY!


I have two salad recipes to post here. Sadly, no photos for the first one - yet. Our camera is C-rap. Really. I cannot take a good photo. It is bugging me immensely. And I am sure it is the camera and not me. Well. A little bit sure :/


Recipe the first :)


I have no name for this one, so you'll have to make one yourself. I am sure it had one.... but my darling friend and I enjoyed a FABULOUS lunch at Tasca in Newmarket not too long ago. It is one of my favourite restaurants, I am getting warm fuzzies just thinking about it! And of course the company was wonderful, and it is that reason, not the Corona, that I am blaming for not remembering the name! However, I committed to memory the contents of the salad as it was orgasmic. Of course that could just be me. But what do I care? It was delicious. And would have been improved only by more Corona, if I hadn't been driving :( Clearly I am not in the know of the salad dressing ingredients, but I will share with you what I recreated tonight; which was ALMOST as good!


2 small chorizo sausages
Baby gherkins/pickles/cornichons (pick your corner of the world for correct interpretation!)
Eggs
Salad leaves
Baby (gourmet) potatoes
Aioli
Artichokes (from deli, not fresh)
Salad dressing (vinegarette)


Method:


Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces, oil and salt and bake in 220C oven until golden. Meanwhile, slice and fry chorizo until almost crispy.  Boil your eggs, or poach if you prefer. I like the yolks a bit runny. 


Wash salad leaves, and add small amount of dressing. On the plate, place leaves, then gherkins and artichokes (break them into pieces), potatoes and chorizo, cut boiled egg (or whole poached) and top with a small spoonful or aioli, (and lets be honest, who only has a small spoonful of aioli??)


Now put the kids to bed and woof it down. With a cold Spanish beer!


I also have to put a plug in here for Zino's Old Fashion Foods. They sell at various markets around Auckland, including Coatsville, and they make the most delicious vinegarette I have tried in years. No idea what is in it.... (ignorance can be bliss...) But if I didn't already love going to markets, they are a good reason to go back :)


Israeli Couscous  and Tandoori Chicken Salad 

I have a name for this one, because I made it up! It was a mad - 'what is in the fridge' kind of lunch day. The answer was a little of everything below! And hello! It was lovely. Even the MOTH went back for seconds. Happy dance!


There are only a few portion sizes, you have probably guessed I use recipes as a guideline....


Courgettes/Zucchini
Sweet baby peppers
Cold tandoori chicken slices (from deli, or leftovers)
1 cup Israeli couscous
Avocado
Strawberry tomatoes
Lebanese cucumbers

Salad dressing (vinegarette)



Method:


Fry couscous in oil in a pot until it is starting to go a bit crunchy (of course, there are various ways to cook it, do it your own way if you have one, but this way the couscous still has a little bite, which I love). They add 1 cup of boiling water and cook for 5-7 minutes with the lid off, stirring occasionally. Then turn off the heat, add sliced chicken and leave to sit for another 5-7 minutes.


In a frying pan, fry courgettes and peppers until cooked to your preference. Add the couscous and chicken and stir through.


Serve with salad of avocado, tomatoes and cucumber that has had a small amount of vinegarette tossed through it.


This is my way of pretending we a) actually had a summer this year, and b) it is not actually going to get any colder this year..... so I'm a winter denier. Let me go and hibernate and you can keep it!

In the beginning there was Roast Beetroot Salad

I am UBER technologically challenged. This first post, if it appears, will be an outstanding personal achievement. So you can all post comments telling me how amazing I am and maybe I will be encouraged (word 'du blog', btw!) to continue - instead of hoping someone else takes up the self appointed editor post I have given myself, (is that a double negative?). Maybe I should quit while I'm, er, ahead?

This blog seemed like a really good idea- it is no secret that I need help and suggestions on a regular basis... so hopefully we can 'extend the blessing' of those awesome recipes we invent serendipitously, read online or in a magazine (am I the only one always in recipe scout mode?), or filch from someone else. I may have to name names and make a 'requests' list....

So, I had to put up something to start off, didn't I? As it happens, my laptop is dead. So I am borrowing my husband's, on a semi-permanent basis. Long story short, all MY recipes are on my now inaccessible hard drive. Unless by some miracle my MOTH (Man of the House) backed it up somewhere. Heaven knows where right now, so until I do, I thought I would share a salad I made - let's just say more than once, over the Christmas period. Cheap. Easy. Delicious. And it does have nuts. Not really kid friendly, well, not my picky wee darlings, but the adults all had seconds. And then some. I started making double amounts just so I had some for left overs. And, as it happens, I ripped it off the net. Don't judge me ;)

Roasted beetroot & baby spinach salad with walnut dressing

6 medium beetroot, ends trimmed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup walnut halves
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper
1 x 150g pkt baby spinach leaves
100g goat's cheese (or feta), crumbled

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the beetroot on a baking tray. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until tender when pierced with a skewer. Remove from oven and set aside for 15 minutes to cool slightly. (Wearing rubber gloves to avoid staining your hands), peel beetroot and cut into wedges.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the walnuts and cook, tossing, for 2-3 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Add the vinegar to the walnut mixture. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Divide the baby spinach leaves and beetroot among serving plates. Sprinkle with goat's cheese and drizzle with walnut dressing. Serve immediately.