everyday experiments with food
Here’s the first of the summer salads.
3 beetroots baked with olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar, sliced thinly
2 oranges, peeled and sliced
3 figs, each cut into 6 wedges
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
1 1/2 tsp sumac
1 1/2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
Pomegranate seeds
Goats chevre
Chopped parsley and coriander
Pomegranate syrup (drizzled on top after the photo was taken)
It’s colourful and tastes fantastic. You could substitute good quality dates for the figs.
Here’s a salad idea from 2013 that I’m bringing over from my old blog’s recipe page. The original recipe, which I varied, can be found here. This was my second time cooking with quinoa, which I struggle to enjoy. But this worked fine!
Ingredients
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 tomatoes, diced or 1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, quartered and sliced thinly
A large handful of snow peas, sliced crossways
4 radicchio leaves, shredded
1/4 cup parsley leaves, chopped
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped
1/2 long red (mild) chilli, diced finely
Dressing
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Put quinoa and 1 1/2 cups cold water into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-12 mins. Drain.
Add salad ingredients and mix gently. Combine oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Toss salad.
This worked really well, despite my initial doubts. Chicken marinated in lime juice and coriander leaves, then fried in cajun spices. Salad of radicchio leaves, red onion slices, cherry tomatoes, sliced snow peas, mandarin slices, radish slices, home-made feta, baby basil leaves. Orange juice squeezed over the top. Sea salt. Drizzled with orange-infused balsamic vinegar which is to die for. I would make it again.
Although it’s only spring, the weather has been warm enough to start making salads, and in the last year or two I’ve loved playing around with salads. This is relatively simple, colourful and healthy.
2/3 cup freekeh, cooked as per instructions
2/3 cup brown lentils, simmered with some salt for about 15 mins until crunchy but soft…
I combined the above and mixed a bit of garlic oil through them.
Red onion, sliced
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Pomegranate seeds
Diced mild red chilli
Chopped basil, parsley, coriander and chives (if you like mint, add some mint)
Sprinkle some sea salt and cracked black pepper on top
Drizzle with some lemon juice and place lemon slices on top. Serve with yoghurt to dollop on top.
We ate this with home-made pork sausages.
I’ll be making this again.