We can’t believe our good luck, day after day of clear skies and sunshine. Many of our cookery school students who hail from sunnier climates can’t believe just how much of our conversation reverts back to the weather.
In some of their home countries, it’s the onset of the rains that’s celebrated with gusto, and I have to say I’m longing for a long night’s rain myself to give us a break from watering plants and to fatten up the rhubarb stalks.
We’ve just dug the first new potatoes, an organic blight resistant variety called Orla. The seed came from Fruit Hill Farm in Bantry, Co. Cork and they were planted in a tunnel in early February – such joy plus an opportunity to make a wish.
I give thanks to Mother Nature every year and the farmers and gardeners for the wonderful bounty of fresh produce that keeps coming week after week, we’ve just had the first cucumber too – the reward for planning seeds in spring.
All those bubbly stews, tagines and casseroles lose their appeal in this weather, none of us want to spend a moment more than necessary in a hot steamy kitchen but abundant salads piled high on plates get an enthusiastic response and bring a smile to everyone’s face.
The possibilities are endless, there’s still no definitive definition… could be just a pile of crunchy vegetables, maybe lots of fresh herbs, freshly roasted spices, a grilled salad, fruit alone, warm or at room temperature. We love lots of contrasts of texture and flavour, a meal in itself.
For a main course, a jammy hard boiled egg, adds protein as does cheese, could be just a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan or aged Coolea over a leafy green salad or some grilled halloumi or little balls of bocconcini. The combinations are only limited by your imagination.
Warm grilled chicken, a few slices of rare beef fillet or fish, if you’re lucky, a fresh mackerel or some crunchy squid rings on top and on and on…
However, it’s worth remembering the golden rule, always dress a leafy salad as close to serving as possible otherwise it will lose its freshness and become unappetisingly limp and soggy. Super tasty dressings add magic and there are lots of exciting options that I’m loving in Clem Haxby’s new cookbook ‘The Salad Project’ plus tantalising pictures. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut so this tome will ignite your imagination and tickle your tastebuds.
Here are a few of the many tempting salad recipes in Clem’s cookbook that appealed to me.
Recipes are from ‘The Salad Project’ by Clem Haxby, published by Ebury Press.
The SP Caesar with Chipotle Caesar Dressing
A recipe for Caesar Salad in a book all about salads is, frankly, completely unavoidable. We have the trusty Caesar to thank for keeping salads alive in the lowest moments of their history, and it’s no surprise. There are few meals more perfectly balanced, or more likely to cause a bout of food envy. Here we have our classic SP Caesar, loaded with spiced chicken, juicy tomatoes and Crispy Onions, but don’t stop there. Get creative and customise. Go wherever the wind takes you – just don’t use iceberg lettuce, please.
Serves 2
Ingredients
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp garlic granules
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp fine cooking salt
1 ½ tsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
425g mini chicken fillets
50g kale, destemmed, rinsed and dried
1 lemon (juice)
½ baby gem lettuce, leaves whole, rinsed and dried
100g cherry tomatoes
40g Parmesan
sea salt and black pepper
Ready to Rock:
6 tbsp Chipotle Caesar Dressing
4 tbsp crispy onions
Method
Measure the spices, salt and ½ teaspoon of olive oil into a medium mixing bowl and stir well to combine into a paste. Add the chicken fillets and use your hands to coat until the fillets are all well-dressed. Set aside at room temperature to marinate while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
Finely chop the kale and place into a large mixing bowl. Dress with the juice of half of the lemon, a pinch of sea salt and a grind of black pepper. Use your hands to massage the dressing into the leaves to help soften and enhance the flavour.
Tear the lettuce leaves from the core and add them whole to the kale, gently folding through to distribute them evenly. Add 2 tablespoons of Chipotle Caesar Dressing and use your hands to toss through.
Slice your tomatoes into halves and set aside.
Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and add your marinated chicken fillets. Once sizzling, reduce the heat to medium-high to avoid the outsides burning. Cook for 7-8 minutes, flipping the fillets with tongs every couple of minutes, until nicely golden and cooked through. Remove from the heat and squeeze over the juice from the other half of the lemon, then finish with a sprinkle of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.
Load the dressed leaves onto a serving plate, then grate over half of the Parmesan using a microplane or fine grater. Pile on your tomatoes and half the Crispy Onions.
After they’ve had a couple of minutes to rest, slice the chicken fillets (or leave whole) and lay them onto the salad. Top with the remaining Chipotle Caesar Dressing, the remaining Crispy Onions and the grated Parmesan. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a hefty grind of black pepper.
Tip
Make it your own by adding 10 tinned anchovies and 1 tin of sweetcorn.
Chipotle Caesar Dressing
As much as I hate to admit it, because it’s more fun to develop fresh flavour combinations than follow the guidelines of old classics, this is a firm favourite among Salad Project devotees – our second-most popular dressing, in fact.
Dresses 4-6 salads
Ingredients
35g Parmesan
1 garlic clove
130g mayonnaise
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp white wine vinegar
½ lemon (juice)
3 black peppercorns
generous bunch of cayenne pepper, plus extra to taste (optional)
¼ tsp smoked paprika, plus extra to taste (optional)
1 tsp sea salt
25ml water
Method
Grate your Parmesan using a microplane or a fine grater and set aside.
Peel and crush your garlic using the side of a knife or a garlic crusher and a little sea salt to help turn it into a smooth paste.
Place all the
ingredients, excluding the water, into a blender and blitz until silky smooth.
Gradually add the water and mix with a fork or small whisk until you reach your
desired consistency. Play with the spice level by adding more cayenne pepper
for a hotter Caesar, or more paprika for something a little smokier. Store in
an airtight jar or container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Sesame Soy Steak with Furikake Croutons and Pickled Chillies with Sesa-Miso Dressing
We love the combination of textures in this salad. It’s piled with tons of great crunch but sometimes crunches that aren’t backed up with some more filling body can leave you feeling a little hungry. That’s why we’ve added some nutty brown rice, which soaks up the creamy sesame dressing so damn well. Pickled chillies bring some real zing, as does the steak’s salty marinade. Oof. Cooking this with two steaks makes it hearty enough to replace your usual steak night, but for a light dinner for two, just one steak should be enough.
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp + 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
80ml tamari (for gluten-free) or light soy sauce
2 beef rump steaks
125g short grain brown rice
500ml water
½ tsp fine cooking salt
125g sourdough (stale or fresh) or bao buns
3 tsp furikake seasoning
100g green beans, ends trimmed
120g radishes
handful of pea shoots, watercress or rocket
handful of fresh coriander leaves
1 lime (juice)
sea salt
Ready to Rock:
6 tbsp Sesa-Miso Dressing
2 tbsp pickled chillies
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7.
Peel and crush your garlic, using the side of a knife or a garlic crusher to turn it into a smooth paste.
Place the crushed garlic, oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil and the tamari or soy sauce into a shallow dish or plastic container and whisk to combine. Add your steaks and cover well on both sides. Set aside for 10-15 minutes to come to room temperature.
Weigh the rice into a saucepan and measure in the water. Stir through the fine cooking salt. Bring the water to a boil over a medium-high heat, then place a lid on the pot (ideally a clear one so you can see if you need to add more water at any point) and lower the temperature to medium. Allow this to simmer until the rice is cooked – roughly 25 minutes. (Simply add more water if it dries out and isn’t fully cooked.)
Slice your bread of choice into chunky croutons and place in a roasting tray. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, a generous pinch of sea salt and 2 teaspoons of the furikake seasoning. Mix well until your croutons are nicely coated. Pop into the oven for 5 minutes, give them a shake, then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until nicely golden and crunchy (if using bao buns, toast for 3-4 minutes total).
Meanwhile, place your green beans in a sieve and pop it beneath the lid of your rice pot while the rice is still cooking to steam the beans for 2-3 minutes. Remove and run under cold water to stop the cooking, then set aside.
Top and tail the radishes and cut into halves or quarters, depending on their size. Place in a bowl of cold water to crisp up.
Now all your vegetables and croutons are ready, heat a dry frying pan over a high heat. Once really nice and hot, use tongs to place your steaks into the pan, pressing down for a second to help them caramelise. Leave the steaks to cook on one side for 3 minutes before flipping over for rare, or 5 minutes if you would like them medium. Spoon a couple of teaspoons of the leftover marinade over the steaks and cook for a further 3 minutes for a rare steak, 5 minutes for medium Remove from the pan and drape over an upside-down cereal bowl on a lipped plate (to allow the juices to run out without them going everywhere). Allow both steaks to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
While they rest, cover your serving platter or plates with pea shoots, watercress or rocket, and gently spoon over your rice. Sprinkle over the green beans, radishes and half of the croutons. Dress with 3 tablespoons of Sesa-Miso Dressing.
Slice your steaks into 2cm thick slices, going against the grain of the meat. Sprinkle the slices with the remaining 1 teaspoon of furikake seasoning. Lie your steak slices over your salad and top with the remaining croutons and the pickled chillies. Finish with some coriander leaves, the lime juice and another 3 tablespoons of your Sesa-Miso Dressing.
Sesa-Miso Dressing
It’s a non-negotiable for us to have some of this kicking about as a silky drizzle for salmon, a dressing for mushrooms or a sauce for some soba noodles. These are all ten-minute dinners that really fuelled us through the early (long) days of The Salad Project, which ultimately inspired this book!
Dresses 4-6 salads
Ingredients
20 sesame seeds (black add lovely colour, but white are great too)
10g fresh ginger
80g tahini
30g white miso paste
40ml rice wine vinegar
40ml tamari or light soy sauce
80ml water plus extra if needed
Method
Place your sesame seeds into a dry pan and place over a medium heat, swirling the pan constantly, until they are nice and toasted – about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
Peel your ginger using the edge of a teaspoon and grate into a blender. Add the remaining ingredients, excluding your toasted sesame seeds, and blitz until smooth. You can also just pop all your ingredients into a jar and give it a good shake if you don’t mind a bit of texture from the ginger.
Finish by stirring through your toasted sesame seeds and adjusting the texture with a little extra water, if needed but I’d recommend keeping this dressing on the thicker side, in case you want to use it as a noodle sauce. Store in an airtight jar or container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Pickled Chillies
Ingredients
150g mixed chillies
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp fine cooking salt
100ml white wine vinegar
Method
Slice your chillies into 2mm rings using a knife or a mandolin. Place the chilli slices and their seeds into a jar or airtight container.
Add the sugar, salt and vinegar and stir well. Finally, add boiling water until the chillies are just covered. Put the lid on and shake well to dissolve the sugar and salt, then label and leave to pickle for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer you leave these, the more they will mellow and build tang. Keep in the pickling liquid in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Hot Honey Halloumi + Dill Fattoush with Pomegranate and Lime Vinaigrette
This delicious fattoush (a traditional Lebanese salad made with fried pitta bread) is piled high with fresh herbs and has a bright acidity that meets its match in the oozingly sweet and salty halloumi. We like chopping the vegetables nice and fine and spooning this from a bowl, using the halloumi like little sticky boats – but this also makes for a gorgeous display salad if you’re cooking for a crowd. Just promise you’ll cook the halloumi at the last minute; then serve it up straight away.
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 pitta breads
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
120g radishes
1 cucumber
150g cherry tomatoes
15g flat leaf parsley
5g dill
5g mint
225g block of halloumi
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
Ready to Rock:
6-7 tbsp pomegranate and lime vinaigrette
1 tbsp hot honey
2 tbsp quick pickled onions
Method
Preheat your oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7.
Slice your pittas along the seams to give you 4 ovals, then slice 4 times across the width and 3 times down the length to give you rectangles. Place your pitta chips into a bowl and add the sesame oil, the fennel, cumin and coriander seeds and a pinch of sea salt. Use your hands to mix well and coat your pitta. Place into a roasting dish lined with parchment paper, making sure you use a plastic spatula to scrape all the oil and seeds that haven’t stuck to the pitta into the roasting tray too. Roast for 8 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Leave on the tray to cool.
Top and tail the radishes and then cut into quarters. Place into some iced water to crisp up.
Slice your cucumber in half lengthways, then use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds. Slice each half lengthways into thirds, then chop across the strands at 1cm intervals to give you small dice. Place in a serving bowl.
Quarter your cherry tomatoes and add them to the bowl.
Remove and discard the bottom 5cm of the parsley and dill stems and pick the mint leaves from the stalks. Set aside a couple of sprigs of dill for garnish, then pile the herbs together and roughly chop before adding to the mixed vegetables. Dress the herby vegetables with 3 tablespoons of pomegranate + lime vinaigrette, then mix in the pitta chips.
Slice the halloumi into 1-2cm thick slices. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. When sizzling hot, add your halloumi in a single layer using metal tongs. After 2 minutes, drizzle 1 tablespoon of hot honey over the halloumi, then turn to cook on the other side. Leave for 3 minutes, or until the bottom takes on a dark golden colour. Once it is well coloured, turn over once more to finish colouring the first side. Use tongs to place your warm halloumi over the chopped salad.
Top
your salad with the radishes and quick pickled onions. Add 3-4 more tablespoons
of pomegranate and lime vinaigrette and finish with a generous pinch of sea
salt and a couple of sprigs of dill. Serve immediately for the best halloumi
texture!
Pomegranate and Lime Vinaigrette
Tangy and sweet with subtle twangs of spice, this is the chic big sister to a balsamic vinaigrette. Made from concentrated pomegranate juices, the fruit’s molasses is highly nutritious, amping up the benefits of pomegranate itself into a beautiful sweet-and-sour elixir. Pomegranate has been traditionally used to treat chronic diseases and digestive issues, thanks
to its density of vitamins and minerals. Fortunately for all of us, it’s easier than ever to pick up a bottle of pomegranate molasses – supermarkets and speciality food shops increasingly stock it. An excellent light dressing that can be used to brighten up so many salads. Don’t stop at the recipes here!
Dresses 4-6 Salads
Ingredients
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
40ml red wine vinegar
1 lime (zest and juice)
1 tsp soft light brown sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
100ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
Method
Place your cumin and coriander seeds into a small dry frying pan over a medium heat. Swirl gently and allow to toast (careful they don’t burn) for 2-3 minutes. You should be able to clearly smell the toasted spices. Allow to cool.
Meanwhile, add all the remaining ingredients to a blender. Once cooled, add your toasted seeds. Use the pulse setting to blitz the dressing – you want the liquid to emulsify, but you don’t want to over-grind the spices.
Rather, aim to crack them so they release their best flavours and give a nice crunch to the dressing. Store in an airtight jar or container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Hot Honey
This is a delicious store-cupboard staple that you can lean on when you’re in need of a little zhuzh.
Serves 2
Ingredients
150g runny honey
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 ½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
Method
Measure the ingredients straight into a glass jar and use a spoon to mix well, then put the lid on. Store in a cool, dry place and stir before use – the spice will integrate more with time, so this is best used after it has had a couple of hours to sit. It will keep for up to 3 weeks.
Quick Pickled Onions
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 red onion
1 tsp fine cooking salt
2 tsp caster sugar
150ml white wine vinegar
240ml boiling water
Method
Cut the onion in half through the root and peel the papery skin. Place cut side down on a chopping board with the root facing towards the hand you’re keeping it steaky with. Slice the onion as thinly as your knife skills allow or use a mandolin to slice your onion into whole circle or half-moon slices, then repeat with the other half. Push down into a jar or airtight container.
Add the salt, sugar and vinegar and stir well. Finally, add the boiling water and use a spoon to push the onion slices under the surface of the liquid. Put the lid on and give your jar or container a good shake to help dissolve the sugar and salt. Label and keep in your fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Note: the onions will turn bright pink within an hour or so – after a week, the colour will fade to a purple, but they are still fine to eat.