Thai kohlrabi salad

Thai green papaya salad is fantastic, but green papayas are hard to get here and I always find it a good challenge to replace exotic ingredients with local produce as much as possible. This version with kohlrabi, apple and carrots works beautifully.

• 1 kohlrabi
• 1 apple
• 1 carrot
• 1 handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 garlic clove
• 1,5 tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• fresh coriander & mint
• red chilli pepper to taste
• roasted peanuts

Use a mandolin to grate the kohlrabi, apple and carrot into very thin long threads. Mix palm sugar with fish sauce and lime until dissolved, add finely minced and bruised garlic, finely chopped chili pepper. Mix with the vegetables. Top with ground peanuts, chopped coriander and mint. Served with sticky rice, this makes a light meal.

warm chickpea salad

Another dinner out of a can, but deceptively delicious.

1 can chickpeas, drained

1 celery stalk, finely sliced

1/2 cup fennel, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed with some salt

2 tb lemon juice

2 tb olive oil

3 tb parsley, torn

Boil a kettle and pour the water over the chickpeas in a bowl. Combine the other ingredients, then drain the chickpeas and throw them in as well. Stir and sit a little. Suits grilled lamb.

Possible additions: sliced black olives, canned tuna if you want a meal in itself.

Source: Bill’s food

green papaya or mango salad (serves 1)

1 small green (underripe) papaya or mango
1 tsp palm sugar softened in a little water
pinch chopped garlic
pinch chopped birdseye chilli
5 x 10 cm pieces snake bean
few roasted peanuts
pinch chopped dried shrimps
1 tb fish sauce
1 tb tamarind water
4 cherry plum tomatoes, halved
juice of up to 1 lime

Peel papaya/mango and finely shred on mandoline. Put garlic, chilli, beans in mortar and bruise with pestle. Add everything else and bruise once more. Add the papaya and bruise once more. Serve.

Carefully control the amount of lime according to taste.

Source: Rick Stein’s seafood odyssey

warm beluga lentil salad

300 grs black beluga lentils
4 shallots
60 ml good olive oil
30 ml balsamic white wine vinegar
1 tbsp creamed or fresh horseradish or 1 tsp wasabi paste
1 clove of garlic
bay leaf
700 ml of chicken broth
3 tomatoes


Finely chop shallots, lightly fry them in 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and reserve. Bring stock with bay leaf and bruised garlic to a boil. Add lentils and simmer for 25 minutes. Check consistency and add water if necessary. Prepare a vinaigrette with the olive oil,vinegar, horseradish and salt. Mix the lentils, onions and vinaigrette. Top with finely chopped tomatoes.

Serve warm. Great as a starter with with thin slices of roast beef (sprinkled with fleur de sel) or smoked trout.

miso garlic dip with cucumber

4 small cucumbers, cut lengthwise into eights
1 tbsp red miso
1.5 tbsp white miso (if available, otherwise just use a total of 2.5 tbsp red miso)
2 garlic cloves, crushes
2 tsp fine caster sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sake
2 tbsp mirin
large pinch of dashi, dissolved in 60ml of hot water
handfull of blanched, toasted and chopped almonds

Mix all ingredients for the sauce. Chill for one hour to thicken and for the flavours to blend. Serve in small bowls with the cucumbers to dip. Works of course equally well with carrots, mangetout etc, but cucumbers are the best.

from: Yoshoku, Jane Lawson

Nick’s vietnamese salad dressing

1 fish sauce
1 sugar
1 cider vinegar
2 water
garlic, chopped
chili, chopped

Turn this with shredded carrot, cucumber, radish or similar veges

grilled jerusalem artichokes, red onion, olives (serves 4)

6 jerusalem artichokes, washed
3 red onions, peeled and quartered
extra virgin olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar
2 bunches of watercress, trimmed
handful of small tangy green olives
handful of parsley, chopped
vinaigrette

Boil artichokes in salted water for 20 mins until giving, cook, slice lengthwise about 8mm thick and allow to cool. Toss onions in oil and vinegar and roast in a medium oven until soft and sweet. Mix watercress, olives, parsley together.

Grill articholes on a ridged cast-ron pan til nutty and seared, about 3 mins each side.

Put all ingredients together, toss with vinaigrette.

Other robust flavoured greens (rocket, baby spinach, curly endive) can be used.

Source: St Johns Cookbook

vinaigrette

2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
pepper
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
300 ml extra virgin olive oil

Crush the garlic to a smooth paste with the aid of a large pinch of salt. Mix the first 5 ingredients in a food processor and slowly add the oil to get a thick emulsion. Adjust seasonings.

A dressing that pulls no punches. Addictive. Keeps well in the fridge.

Source: St Johns Cookbook

the salad patch

red cabbage, apple cubes, crunchy celery, walnuts, a little tomato, with a fresh citrusy dressing

warm chicken, roasted tomatoes, rocket

grilled hipi iti cheese, fennel, tomatoe, olives, cos lettuce

marinated raw fish, sweetcorn, red onion, tomato, avocado, coriander, sweet potato, chilli

nicoise: hard boiled egges, lettuce, anchovy, black olives, tomato, tuna, capers, artichoke hearts, dressing (12 tb olive oil, 3 tb lemon, crushed garlic, 2 tsp dijon mustard, fresh herbs)

lettuce, avocado, cucumber, cooked salmon, olives, cherry toms, sour cream + mayo, grated hard-boiled egg, caviar, vinagrette

penne pasta, roasted red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, capers, sweet olive oil dressing

mussels, crab meat, scallops, spring potatoes, baby beets, string beans, fusilli pasta, balsamic dressing

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