During this spell of gorgeous weather, we’ve been feasting on huge salads. The garden is bursting with beautiful produce, there are scarcely enough meal slots to enjoy and celebrate it all and the work of the heroic gardeners who sowed the seeds many months ago.
Apart from a great big green salad, our other staple is a bowl of unctuous potato salad flecked with green scallion tops and parsley. For those of you who think that potato salad is always dull, let me share the secrets of a truly morish and surprising delicious potato salad
Myrtle Allen, my late mother-in-law whom I spent many years learning from and cooking side-by-side with in the kitchens of Ballymaloe House, was very pernickety about small details which very often made the difference between something tasting utterly delicious rather than ‘just OK’.
In the case of potato salad, the variety of potato was very important. Unlike many, she preferred as I do a floury rather than waxy potato, maybe Home Guard or Golden Wonders. Cook them in boiling, well salted water in their jackets.
If you haven’t got some good mayo, remember it takes less than five minutes to make even by hand, even faster in a food processor but you’ll need to start with four egg yolks rather than just two, otherwise the blades won’t be able to pick it up. It’s always worth making more mayonnaise than you think you’ll need? It keeps for ages in your fridge, maybe four or five weeks or more, unlike what you might think.
Some French dressing will take just a few more minutes more. Take a tablespoon (three parts extra-virgin olive oil to one part wine vinegar works really well). I use Mani, Greek olive oil made from the Koroniki olive and love Forum white wine vinegar) but use whatever really good extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar you can lay hands on, It’s really worth investing in good ingredients, the quality will make all the difference to your dressing and you don’t need to use very much. I like to grate in a clove of garlic, a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. Finally, add a little finely chopped parsley and chives. Sometimes I add a little honey but not if I’m using it for a potato salad. Good feisty dressings are essential for tasty salads.
So, here’s the SECRET of a delicious potato salad…
While the potatoes are still warm, quickly peel and cut into chunky cubes. Season well with flaky sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Whisk the French dressing to re-emulsify, toss well so the potato cubes are nicely coated. Already you’ll have a delicious potato salad, but I love a little mayonnaise also. Thin the mayonnaise with a little water if necessary to achieve a coating consistency. Add in lots of chopped spring onions or scallions and parsley, fold through the potato salad. Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary, it should be a revelation. Just before serving, sprinkle with some more chopped spring onions and coarsely snipped parsley. So delicious on its own or as a side with grilled lamb chops, a seared steak, some crispy chicken with one or several additions, smoked fish, chorizo or crispy bacon.
Everyone loves a brilliant potato salad, but if you make it with cold, soapy potatoes and you’ll wonder why it’s so dull.
To compose an enticing salad. One needs to think, not just colour – peppers, radishes…but texture, flavour and mouthfeel also.
Perhaps, have a base of crunchy salad leaves and maybe some beans, lentils or chickpeas, lots of fresh herbs. Maybe, incorporate sweet, sour, salty and bitter flavours to tantalise the taste buds. Play with Asian flavours, soy sauce, nam pla (fish sauce), sweet chilli sauce, gochujang, Moroccan flavours, zaatar, gutsy spices, rose petals…
I love salads with a little light coating of mayo but also those like carrot, cabbage and apple, just with a honey and wine vinegar dressing. This is a brilliant one to get your children to help with, they love the clean flavour, just grate some fresh crunchy carrots and apple on the coarsest part of a box grater, some finely shredded summer cabbage, maybe a few plump sultanas, some chopped fresh mint, then toss in some honey and vinegar dressing. Taste and check the honey and vinegar proportion and tweak if necessary.
Also good to remember the seasons. Lots of juicy nectarines, peaches and cherries at the moment. I’m loving the combination of slivered raw beetroot and fresh raspberry at present and raw zucchini (courgette) salad with extra-virgin olive oil, finely grated lemon zest and slivers of Parmesan. Also love a torn burrata with a coarse purée of peas and fresh mint leaves.
Maybe scatter some edible flowers and flower petals over the top, dill or fennel flowers have an intoxicating aroma and flavour, a surprising little pop of anise flavour in your salad. We love bright orange marigold petals, and the flowers of sage, chives, thyme and rosemary. They really add a pop of colour and unexpected excitement to your salad, have fun experimenting and enjoy every moment of the sunny days….
Sarah’s Salad of Nectarines, Green Beans, Almonds and Feta
The appeal of this salad from its contrasting flavours and textures. Make this in midsummer, when the nectarines are ripened by the sun and the green beans are still tender. It is best served on a wide plate, rather than piled into a deep bowl.
Serves 2 for lunch or 4 as a side salad
Ingredients
350-400g trimmed green beans
3-4 tbsp simple vinaigrette
60g whole almonds, toasted until golden and halved lengthways
75g feta, crumbled
2 ripe and fragrant nectarines
fennel blossoms, tender fennel fronds or green anise (optional)
good-quality oil, for drizzling
salt and pepper
Method
Start by cooking the green beans. Bring a saucepan of water to a rolling boil and add a few pinches of salt. Fill a bowl with cold water and set aside. Drop the trimmed green beans into the boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes until the green beans begin to soften but still have a snap. Later in the season, when the beans are bigger, cook for 3-4 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the cold water to stop them cooking, then lay on a clean tea towel to dry.
Place the green beans into a bowl and toss with the vinaigrette, add two-thirds of the almonds and half the feta, then gently fold a couple of times to combine, taking care not to smear the feta into the beans. Stone and slice the nectarines into wedges and gently fold into the salad. Taste for seasoning, adjust if necessary, then transfer to a wide serving plate. Finish with the rest of the feta and almonds, a drizzle of good oil and pepper. Scatter fennel blossoms over the top (if using) and serve.
Variations
Duck Salad: Add strips of warm duck breast to the salad.
Other Fruits – swap the nectarines for peaches or plums or add slices of ripe sweet fits to the salad.
Other
Cheeses – swap the feta for ricotta salata or a creamy goat’s
cheese.
Simple Vinaigrette
Makes about 200ml
Ingredients
1 small shallot, finely diced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove
2 tsp Dijon mustard
150ml extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Method
Place the diced shallots into a small bowl with the red wine vinegar, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Leave the shallots to soften for 10-15 minutes. Pound the garlic in a mortar (or it can be smashed on a cutting board using the side of a knife), then transfer the garlic to a bowl with the mustard and macerated shallots. Whisk everything together, then gradually whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Adjust with salt and pepper. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a week.
*Recipe from Fruitful by Sarah Johnson published by Kyle Books
Carpaccio of Zucchini with Slivers of Parmesan and Crispy Capers
There are masses of crisp zucchini at present, this simple dish depends totally on the quality of your ingredients, use the very best extra virgin olive oil you can afford, small crisp zucchini, and a sweet nutty Parmesan.
This salad needs to be served immediately after the zucchini are dressed.
Serves 6
Ingredients
675g freshly picked yellow and green zucchini, not more than 12.5cm in length
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
225g rocket leaves, gently washed and dried
110-175g Parmesan, (Parmigiano Reggiano) in the piece, sliced into slivers
zucchini flowers (optional)
2 tbsp capers (optional)
Method
First, make the crispy capers.
Carefully heat oil in a pan (or use a deep-fry), toss in the capers, they will crackle and open out in crispy flowers. Drain on kitchen paper.
Trim the ends off the zucchini and slice at an angle or lengthways into 3mm thick slices. Place the sliced zucchini in a large bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix gently with your fingers, taste and correct the seasoning. You may need a little more oil and lemon juice.
Lay the rocket leaves in a single layer on a
large flat serving dish or on individual serving places. Scatter on the zucchini, again in a single
layer. Finish the salads with a few
shavings of Parmesan, capers if using and zucchini blossoms over the top. Serve
immediately.
Spiced Miso Beef Salad
This is one of many delicious recipes from Donna Hay’s Sunshine, Lemon and Sea Salt cookbook published by Fourth Estate.
A good beef salad has it all: salty-sour punch, freshness and plenty of crunch. I’ve added sugar snaps and radishes for an extra burst of sunshine.
Serves 4
Ingredients
600g beef eye fillet, trimmed
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp white miso paste
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp finely grated ginger
Sugar Snap Salad
120g mixed salad leaves
150g sugar snap peas, trimmed, blanched and halved
2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
4 red or watermelon radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
Spiced Miso Dressing
80ml lime juice
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 ½ tsp sesame oil
1 ½ tbsp white miso paste
1 ½ tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
½ tsp shichimi togarashi
To Serve
Sliced long green chilli and extra shichimi togarashi
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Ma4k 6
Brush the beef with 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil. Combine the miso, remaining sesame oil, soy and ginger.
Heat an ovenproof non-stick frying pan over high heat. Sear the beef for 2-3 minutes on all sides, until evenly browned. Remove the pan from the heat and brush the beef with the miso mixture. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes. Allow the beef to cool slightly, then thinly slice.
While the beef is cooking, make the sugar snap salad. Combine the salad leaves, sugar snap peas, cucumber and radish.
To make the spiced miso dressing, combine the lime juice, soy, sesame oil, miso paste, sugar and togarashi.
Place the sugar snap salad on a serving platter and drizzle with the dressing. Top with the beef and serve sprinkled with chilli and extra togarashi.