salad

pear salad

~ aplotzi ~ 2 Comments

I wanted to create a recipe that uses hard pears for salads as they are perfect in the same way as carrots and celeriac are. So I created this healthy, tasty salad and tested it on friends at dinner and they really loved it and wanted the recipe, and they are still talking about how delicious it is. The dressing is an unusual combination of flavours, like mustard and lime juice, but trust me, it works. You can use ripe pears if your pears are ripe, it’s still delicious, and it’s also amazing with shavings of pecorino. Pecorino and lime, who’d have thought? Perfect, too, if you want to try new flavours salad-wise.

Recipe

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Poppy seeds
3 firm pears cored and very thinly sliced (I leave the skin on but its up to you) they can be sliced lengthways or in discs 
A round radicchio roughly shredded or chopped chicory
A sprig of parsley finely chopped
A sprig of chives finely chopped
1 teaspoon of maple syrup
¼ teaspoon of English mustard
1 lime, zest and juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

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fattoush

~ aplotzi ~ 2 Comments

This really delicious Lebanese salad is made with toasted pitas and a mix of salad vegetables and herbs and has the most delicious fragrant sweet dressing. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and sour and crunchy and soft combined. You can add radishes, carrots, olives, peppers, shredded red cabbage, feta or what ever you fancy, it’s perfect for using up vegetables in the fridge. It’s a sort of Middle Eastern version of panzanella and its really gorgeous. You can serve it as a starter, or with meat or fish and it’s perfect picnic food and pretty healthy too. I like it as a healthy lunch made with wholemeal pitas and a side order of humus and more pita bread. Over to Ralph…

Ralph here……It tasted amazing! Took me right back to my mum’s Lebanese kitchen.

Serves 2-3

Recipe

Ingredients:
Dressing:
2 teaspoons of sumac, soaked in 2 teaspoons of warm water for 10 minutes
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses
1 clove of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of wine vinegar
1/3 cup of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Salad:
A couple of pita breads, lightly coated in olive oil and roasted in the oven till crispy then broken into smallish pieces
A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
Half a cucumber, skinned and diced
Half a red onion finely sliced
1 little Gem or baby romaine lettuce, shredded
A sprig of finely chopped parsley
A sprig of finely chopped mint

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caramelised fennel salad

~ aplotzi ~ 3 Comments

This salad is surprisingly delicious. Most salads have raw fennel in them, but roasting fennel makes it lose its liquoricey taste and it becomes a different but delicious salad ingredient, also it brings out the sweetness and it becomes quite tender and a bit crispy all at the same time. Great on its own (I like it with chips) and you can also serve it with fish, chicken or meat and you have a fab low carb meal. My friends really love it and make this a lot, plus it’s pretty healthy.

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pea mint and feta salad

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I’m a pea-a-holic and nothing thrills me more than peas in a recipe, so I made this salad as a homage to the pea, which incidentally,  is one of the highest fibre vegetables.
I eat this on home made bruschetta but if you do eat meat, it’s excellent with Lamb chops or roast chicken.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup of frozen petit pois, thawed overnight in fridge (by the way, they don’t need cooking)
1 small bunch of fresh mint finely chopped
1 shredded cos lettuce
Juice and zest of a lemon
2 teaspoons maple syrup
50 ml of olive oil
1 clove of crushed garlic
½ block of crumbled feta cheese

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caesar salad

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Italian immigrant Caesar Cardini invented the Caesar in 1924 in Mexico during the prohibition, when supplies were depleted and he had to make a dish with limited ingredients for the customers in his restaurant.
This salad is not only on my blog because it is a great classic recipe but because I made it for a certain special person who loved it and I know will be pleased I mentioned him….HB.

Serves 2 but you can double or triple the amounts depending on how many you are feeding.

Ingredients:

1/2 clove of garlic
3 eggs or 12 quails eggs
A loaf of sour dough bread
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons of good quality Mayo
3 tablespoons of Greek yogurt (or Alpro Greek yogurt or Oatly creme fraische)
3 anchovies fillets tinned in oil and drained (or a tablespoon of vegetarian fish sauce)
2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan (there are plant based versions) plus more for grating on top of salad
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cos lettuce

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blood orange and radish salad with pistachios

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A really easy salad that can be made in minutes and looks really pretty, and tastes divine.

Serves 2-4.

Ingredients:
4 oranges (blood oranges if available), peel, pips and pith removed, cut into thin slices
A bunch of mint finely chopped
A large handful of pistachios roughly chopped
A bunch of radishes, washed and shaved into thin slices
Some salad leaves (optional)

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carrot salad with orange flower water

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Yes I am obsessed with carrots. Here’s another carrot salad recipe, just in case you are also a carrot person. Fragrant, fresh and delicious, this salad will transport you straight to Marrakesh

Serves 4 as a starter.

Ingredients:
500g carrots, peeled and grated
2 large juicy oranges or 4 clementines
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons of orange flower water
Juice of 1 orange
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

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salade de tomates

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I always had this as a child, my parents lived in Paris when they were young, and came back with lots of recipes, so french food is comfort food to me. This is very nice with just crusty bread, or as a side dish to a risotto or pizzetta.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
300g approx. of large-ish tomatoes
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
Small bunch of basil, finely chopped
Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sherry or white wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoon maple syrup
1 crushed clove of garlic (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

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