For family gatherings, Adam’s mum Beulah often served an array of salads and cold meats. This potato salad with grain mustard always featured.
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Bean and pea salad with miso dressing
5 May
Lightly cooked green beans and peas on a bed of fresh peashoots with walnuts and a miso-sake dressing makes a fresh, healthy lunch.
I go with whatever combination of beans I have to hand – mangetout and podded edamame are both good and give an interesting visual and texture contrast. Continue reading
Rocket and fennel salad with toasted seeds
20 Apr
There has been a fennel bulb languishing in the veggie tray for ages. It’s been there for so long, I can no longer remember my reason for buying it.
I now realise that it was waiting for its moment to shine in this rocket and fennel salad with tahini-ginger dressing and toasted seeds.
Cobb salad
27 Nov
Cobb salad is a classic American main course salad. Chicken, egg, blue cheese and bacon are arranged in strips across a bed of salad greens, providing a healthy punch of protein. Continue reading
Cabbage and corn slaw
15 Oct
Cabbage and corn slaw is an excellent accompaniment to Mexican dishes like enchiladas and burritos, providing a welcome crunchy contrast. Continue reading
Warm cannellini bean salad
6 Jun
This warm cannellini bean salad is of those happy marriages of ingredients that are just meant for each other.
The combination of colours, textures and flavours – floury beans, silky rocket and salty pancetta, loosely bound in a lemony crème fraiche dressing – is a delight. Continue reading
Roasted kale, carrot and apple salad
5 Apr
I have a salad for lunch most days. When it’s cold wet like the last few days have been, I make it a warm one.
The kale is transformed by its time in the oven, softening and developing a deeper, woodsy flavour that contrasts nicely with the crisp apple and toasted seeds.
Beetroot and celery salad
24 Feb
I wouldn’t have thought of combining beetroot and celery, but thumbing through Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking I was intrigued by her description of this “admirable winter salad”. Continue reading
Endive, pear, walnut and blue cheese salad
19 Dec
This is one of my favourite winter salads, especially at this time of year.
Fresh and light without being worthy, endive, pear, walnut and blue cheese salad is nice counterpoint to the the rich food we’ve been indulging in.
It’s also delicious, with each ingredient bringing something to the party. Continue reading
Lotus salad
17 Sep
Years ago, my cousin part-owned a funky café-gallery called The Whip, in what was then a pretty scruffy part of east Vancouver.
The first time I ate there, I ordered the intriguingly named lotus salad – baby spinach tossed with blue cheese, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds, drizzled in a blackberry vinaigrette.
It was love at first bite, and I’ve been making my own version ever since. Continue reading
Krompir salata (Serbian potato salad)
27 Jun
With its sweet and sour dressing, krompir salata is a departure from our go-to potato salads – French potato salad and mum’s potato salad.
I made it to accompany these outsized Serbian hamburgers in our World Cup 2018 cook-off.
Papas a la huancaina
26 Jun
In this Peruvian salad, thick slices of potato are blanketed in a delicious spicy cheese sauce and teamed with hard-boiled eggs and olives.
It all plays very nicely together, and unlike the Peruvian team it is in with a chance in our World Cup 2018 cook-off.
The huancaina sauce is definitely the star of the show. It tastes like you hope that nasty yellow nacho cheese sauce is going to taste (and never does). Continue reading
Orange and olive salad
25 Jun
I love this classic Moroccan salad. Sweet orange slices and salty olives are a winning combination in my book.
Also in its favour, it takes minutes to make and looks beautiful arranged on a contrasting platter. Continue reading
Salatu niebe
24 Jun
Bright, colourful, spicy, fresh… Senegal’s salatu niebe is something I’ll definitely make again after our World Cup 2018 cook-off is over.
This recipe makes a lot, so it’s fortunate salatu niebe keeps well in the fridge.
I served it on a bed of shredded lettuce one day, and heaped it into avocado halves the next. It would also work well stuffed into a pitta or wrap. Continue reading
Tomato salad with pomegranate molasses
11 Jun
This tomato salad with pomegranate molasses is a recent happy discovery.
Someone brought it to a friend’s barbeque buffet, and only good manners stopped me from eating an unseemly amount.
It turns out freshly sliced tomatoes and pomegranate molasses do very good things to one another.
Sushi rice salad
30 May
This recipe for sushi rice salad comes from my friend Jenny – a wonderful cook, effortless host, and one of those people who is always generous with her time, home, and recipes.
Jenny was the first person we met when we moved house more than 20 years ago. I don’t know how common it is, but in a street of maybe 40 houses, we’re on speaking terms with well over half our neighbours. Continue reading
Tataki kyuri (smashed cucumber salad)
20 Apr
I tried this chilled cucumber salad at a Japanese pop-up kitchen the other day, and was intrigued both by the texture and the depth of flavour.
Turns out giving the cucumbers a few whacks with a rolling pin before dressing them is the secret. Continue reading
Israeli couscous, squash and preserved lemon salad
16 Feb
Israeli couscous, butternut squash and preserved lemon are an excellent combination of tastes and textures. This salad is a recent happy addition to the family dinner rotation. Continue reading
Squid and fennel salad with croutons
27 Jan
Squid and fennel salad has become my go-to dinner party starter. Delicious and a little bit special, you can do nearly all the prep in advance, simply tossing the last few elements together when it is time to serve. Continue reading
Winter slaw with poppy seed dressing
15 Jan
With its bright, contrasting colours, and pomegranate seeds twinkling like little gems, winter slaw is a pretty salad.
I can find pomegranate seeds annoying. The amount of fibrous pit you grind through to release the juicy flesh detracts from my eating enjoyment.
But those pits are of no consequence in this crunchy riot of texture and flavour. Continue reading
Beet, bean and bulghur salad
5 Dec
Much of the pleasure of this salad is in the contrast of textures — chewy bulghur wheat, crispy beans, juicy beets.
Adding a hard-boiled egg makes it more of a meal…
Itch (Armenian bulghur wheat salad)
30 Sep
I’d want to make this Armenian bulghur wheat salad for the name alone…
While itch is similar to kisir, using tomato sauce to hydrate the bulghur wheat places itch more in the realm of side dish than salad. Continue reading
Lobio
22 Sep
Georgia is a country I would love to visit. A friend traveled there a few years ago, and came back raving about the scenery, the people, and the food and wine.
Until I get the opportunity to visit Georgia myself, my taste buds will have to do the traveling.
There’s a good local Georgian restaurant we visit occasionally in the winter months for their rib-sticking fare like hachapuri (cheese-filled flat bread), hearty soups and casseroles.
(I haven’t tried a Georgian dessert – we’re always too full to consider even sharing one.) Continue reading
Waldorf salad
28 Aug
I first learned of the existence of Waldorf salad from Fawlty Towers. Like Basil, I had no idea what it was:
Customer: “Could you make me a Waldorf salad?”
Basil: “Waldorf salad. I think we’re just out of Waldorfs.”
But by the end of the episode – unlike Basil – I was pretty clear on how to make one:
Customer: “No! No cheese! It’s celery, apples, walnuts, grapes!”
Basil: “Right!”
Customer: “In mayonnaise!”
Basil: “Right!”
Curtido
4 Aug
Curtido is as far as it is possible to get from that innocuous, gloopy, overly sweet coleslaw that turns up uninvited on far too many restaurant plates.
There’s not a lick of mayonnaise for one thing. For another, this simple-looking cabbage and carrot salad really packs a punch. With only five ingredients, there’s little to soften the impact of that chilli powder. Continue reading
Avocado-tuna boats
19 Jul
Avocado-tuna boats are a longstanding lunchtime favourite around here.
The tuna filling is entirely flexible, varying with the contents of the fridge and preferences of my lunch companions.
Radish can stand in for celery, fresh tomatoes for sundried, green onion for red, sliced olives for capers…
Mum’s potato salad
11 Jul
This is the potato salad I grew up eating. A sunshine-yellow mixture of potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, tangy with mustard and thick enough to spackle a wall.
The kind of potato salad that was served with a scoop and landed with a thud, compromising your precariously loaded paper plate. The potato salad of every barbeque, picnic and potluck dinner I ever attended. Continue reading
Roast cauliflower and chickpea salad
6 Jun
This salad is a happy marriage of textures and flavours. Both the cauliflower and chickpeas are transformed by their time in the oven – the cauliflower becomes nutty in flavour, and the chickpeas acquire a wonderful crunch.
Then the yogurt-tahini dressing arrives to bless the union – and two distinctive, individual ingredients unite in salad harmony…;-) Continue reading
Cabbage dill slaw
25 May
I’ll often throw together a quick cabbage salad to serve with a sandwich or jacket potato. When I have fresh dill on hand, this cabbage dill slaw is one of my favourites.
Cabbage and dill always play together nicely. And the mustard-honey dressing is a change from the sharp vinaigrettes and sweet, watery mayonnaises that spoil cabbage salad for some people.
Cucumber and poppy seed salad
9 May
This salad of cucumber and red chilli tossed in a zingy-sweet dressing takes minutes to prepare.
I like to give it a little time in the fridge – half an hour is enough – for the cucumber to get cool and crisp, and the chilli heat to work its way into the dressing. Continue reading
Fennel and mixed leaf salad
16 Mar
With its croutons and shavings of Parmesan, this simple salad is reminiscent of a Caesar, but the fennel takes it somewhere new.
It’s a much fresher affair, and one of my favourite lunches when I’m working from home.
I keep the dressing to a minimum so as not to overwhelm the tender salad leaves. Continue reading
Roast squash and chickpea salad with tahini dressing
7 Feb
This roast squash and chickpea salad with tahini dressing is becoming a favourite winter lunch around ours.
It’s lovely served with the squash still warm from the oven, and keeps well in the fridge. I bring it back to room temperature before serving, and freshen up the seasoning. Continue reading
Romanesco apple pecan salad
31 Dec
This healthy, Christmas-y (not so often you use those two adjectives to describe a dish) romanesco apple pecan salad makes a refreshing change from turkey soup and turkey sandwiches at this point in the festivities.
And aside from steaming the romanesco, it takes only minutes to put together – another point in its favour.
I serve the dressing on the side – once it is mixed through the salad, the romanesco florets are less delightfully tree-like. If romanesco isn’t available, broccoli works too. Continue reading
Rosolli (Finnish root vegetable salad)
14 Dec
Rosolli is a Finnish root vegetable salad traditionally served at Christmas. What I enjoy most about it is the satisfying mixture of textures, from soft potato to the crunch of gherkin.
Crème fraiche and vinegar bring a sharpness to the dressing, balancing out the natural sweetness of the beets and carrots.
Roast carrots with pomegranate molasses
8 Dec
In January my friend Margaret sent me a copy of the gorgeous “A Taste of Haida Gwaii” by the Canadian writer Susan Musgrave.
This wonderful collection of stories, recipes and photographs documents Musgrave’s life in the islands, where she is proprietor of The Copper Beach bed and breakfast. Continue reading
Roasted cauliflower couscous salad
5 Dec
I’m pretty organised with food shopping and meal planning, but even so, there are regular occasions when I just need to get something to eat on the table in minutes.
Leftovers are a lifesaver at such times, or a quick pasta like linguine with sardine pesto or pasta cacio e pepe. Eggs are good — scrambled, fried, or in an omelette or frittata.
And there’s usually a tub of salad that can be combined with some toasted pitta, hummus, olives and chopped vegetables for what we call a “lunchy dinner”. While it’s often kisir or tabbouleh, this roasted cauliflower couscous salad has recently joined the rotation.
Roasted cauliflower softens without going mushy, and has a deep, almost nutty taste. I find that the textures of the cauliflower and couscous really complement one another. Continue reading
Tabbouleh
22 Oct
“I’m sorry I called you worthy, tabbouleh, I was just infatuated with kisir…”
Now that I’m working more hours at the office, tabbouleh is becoming a weekly staple around here. I’ve been putting it in packed lunches with olives, cucumber slices and maybe a piece of feta on the side.
It’s also featuring in serve-yourself, mezze-style dinners on evenings where conflicting schedules prevent us sitting down together for a family meal.
Measurements aren’t that important with tabbouleh – I like mine to have roughly equal amounts of bulghur wheat and chopped herbs, but have eaten versions that were 90% herbs – find a balance that works for you.
Avoid the possibility of worthiness by seasoning generously (and seasoning again to brighten it up before serving if made in advance.)
Steamed vegetables with cheese
12 Oct
On my work-from-home days, I often make a big bowl of steamed vegetables with cheese for lunch.
The idea for this dish came from some two-week, healthy-eating regime we followed years ago. Each day, you were presented with two choices of lunch – and whenever steamed vegetables with cheese was an option, I chose the other one.
Until the day I didn’t… and discovered that steamed vegetables with cheese is an immensely satisfying bowl of food. I’ve eaten it regularly ever since, with whatever vegetables are in season or on hand.
Fattoush
2 Oct
Fattoush – that tasty Middle-Eastern salad of chopped vegetables and bread – is worth eating just for the opportunity to say it. “What’s for dinner, mum?” “Fattoush – we’re having fattoush tonight.”
I’ve made several versions of fattoush over the years, all of which call for the bread to be toasted or fried. The fattoush recipe in Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook is a bit different.
The bread is not cooked, for one thing. And instead of the usual olive oil and lemon juice, the salad is tossed with a yogurt-based dressing.
I love the way the dressing soaks into the bread, softening it and leaving it to the vegetables to deliver the crunch. Continue reading
Bean salad with smoked paprika dressing
6 Aug
Having made many a bean salad over the years, I’ve pretty much settled on this version.
I love the combination of smoked paprika, honey and vinegar in the dressing, which elevates the prosaic bean salad to unlikely heights. Continue reading
Ten More Bites 