Having a jar of tahini dressing in your fridge is something to feel pretty smug about. This dressing can elevate roasted root vegetables and blanched greens to an Ottolenghi-esque salad that you’ll want to eat again and again. Preparing the dressing is a matter of finding a jar with a lid, a couple of ingredients…
Category: salad
Chargrilled corn, green bean & spice-rubbed chicken salad
A cast iron griddle pan is one of my essential kitchen implements. If you don’t have a barbecue or even if you do have a barbecue and just can’t be bothered firing it up, a griddle pan can be used to quickly chargrill vegetables and meat. Perfect for cooking asparagus and the best crispy skinned salmon…
Venison, cherry & asparagus salad
This salad instinctively came together as a response to the contents of my pre-Christmas holiday fridge: a gift of some venison, spinach leaves needing to be eaten, a handful of exorbitantly-priced new season cherries, and a bunch of asparagus bought because at any moment it will disappear from the vegetable aisle never to be seen again (until…
Roasted cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, chickpea & parsley salad
Roasted cauliflower is a total rebranding for an otherwise pretty uninspiring vegetable. Despite what Instagram is trying to tell me I remain unconvinced about cauliflowers’ ability to sub in as a pizza base or as rice, but roasted it becomes a thing of total delight. This salad makes for a delicious and filling workday lunch…
Roasted salmon, Brussels sprouts, red cabbage & kumara salad
A big bowl of vegetables topped with some pan-fried, grilled or steamed fish and a zingy dressing is my idea of a good weeknight dinner. This salad is a variation on this theme and as everything gets roasted together in the oven it’s simple to prepare with a minimum of dishes. And most importantly, it’s delicious….
Roasted beetroot & chickpea salad with honeyed thyme walnuts, feta & parsley
Making salads to take for lunch at work is one of my favourite kitchen activities. Seasonal vegetables are always the starting point, to which I add beans or legumes, toasted nuts and seeds, feta, and lots of fresh herbs. Sometimes the result is what my sister calls ‘goat food’ i.e. lots of greenery, plenty of chewing….
Asparagus, smoked fish & potato salad with a crème fraîche & dill dressing
This was a dream day at work for me. A spring salad, of my own invention, making, and styling was photographed a by professional photographer. I need to work out how I can have more days doing this; recipe writing, testing, styling – sign me up. Not in shot: me fizzing with excitement in the background, suggesting props,…
Broccoli slaw with buttermilk dressing
Eating broccoli is eating properly. I am a pretty big broccoli fan, and generally just eat it barely steamed with a squeeze of lemon. Overcooked broccoli is the actual worst, with the one exception of when it is slowly cooked and combined with anchovies, lemon, and mixed through orecchiette. Then it’s okay. This salad is a…
Fennel, mandarin & hazelnut salad
There is no kitchen tool more lethal or more useful than a mandolin. It requires your full concentration; one glass of wine for bravery is recommended, any more than that would be irresponsible. Mandolins are perfect for creating winter salads from fennel, cabbage, radishes, carrots… there are endless possibilities. This salad is less a recipe than a…
Basil dressing
A startlingly green and startlingly delicious dressing which is fabulous on tomatoes or mixed through boiled waxy potatoes and green beans to create a potato salad. Essentially just pour this on top of raw or cooked vegetables and enjoy. This recipe makes a lot but can be easily be quartered or halved: make as little, or as much, as…
Cavolo nero salad
Cavolo nero is one of my all-time favourite winter vegetables; it’s ridiculously good-looking as well as being ridiculously good for you. To make this salad an all-in-one meal, add a cup of cooked and cooled quinoa. Happy lunching. Cavolo nero salad From Deb Perelman, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, 2012 For the salad: pecans or almonds 70g (walnuts would…
Brussels sprouts, pear, bacon & hazelnut salad
This is the salad that changed my Brussels sprouts worldview. Prior to this, I thought they were okay in a nourishing-suppose-I-had-better-eat-them sort of way. Now they are one of my favourite vegetables. This salad is a great quick weekday dinner but it’s also good enough for special occasions; I made this for two of my favourite food-loving friends…
cake for breakfast 