Archive for Salads

Mozarella, tomato and basil salad

July 3, 2006 at 11:46 am · Filed under Eggs and cheese, Salads

I can hardly claim to have invented this recipe, as it’s so classic Italian, but here’s the version I made last night.  I used low-fat mozarella, not out of choice but because the shop had sold out of the full-fat version, and it was perfectly acceptable.

Serves 2

125g mozarella cheese

8 ripe tomatoes

1 small bunch basil

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

1. Slice the mozarella and tomatoes and mix together with the roughly torn basil leaves, oil, vinegar and seasoning.

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The Best Salad Ever

June 26, 2006 at 8:12 am · Filed under Salads

This raw cauliflower, red onion and coriander salad was named by my partner, who claims it as his idea.  It's a very simple salad, but full of strong flavours.  It goes really well with curry or dahl.

Serves 3-4

1 medium cauliflower

1 small red onion

2 tbsp fresh coriander

3 tbsp Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp sunflower oil

salt & pepper to taste

1. Break the cauliflower into small florets, and finely chop the onion and coriander.

2. Mix together with the yoghurt, oil and seasoning.

3. Serve cold

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Potato salad with dill

June 14, 2006 at 8:07 am · Filed under Potatoes, Salads

I have to confess that potatoes aren't my favourite food.  To my mind they can be a bit bland.  The exception is the Jersery Royal – that new, waxy potato which is great in salads like this one.

Serves 2-3

1lb small new potatoes

1 tbsp chopped fresh dill

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsely

2 spring onions

1 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp Greek yoghurt

Pepper to taste

 1. Boil the potatoes in a pan of lightly salted water until tender.  Leave to cool.

2. When the potatoes are cold, mix with the chopped herbs, sliced spring onions, mayonnaise, yoghurt and pepper.

3. Serve cold

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Buckwheat noodle and tofu salad

June 13, 2006 at 7:53 am · Filed under Pasta and Noodles, Salads, Tofu, Vegan

I have to confess that this is a slight modification of the recipe I made last night, as I didn't get it quite right.  Japanese buckwheat noodles, or soba, are available from health food shops and large supermarkets. 

Serves 3

1 pack (250g) plain tofu

Sunflower oil for deep frying

100g buckwheat noodles

8 heads baby corn

2 medium carrots

2 medium leeks (white parts only)

200g beansprouts

1/2 medium cucumber

Juice 1 lime

1 small bunch fresh coriander

2 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tbsp soy sauce (I use Kikkoman, as it's made from all natural ingredients and has a distinctive rich taste, but any soy sauce would do)

2 tbsp chopped salted peanuts

Sesame oil to sprinkle

1. Heat around 2cm of sunflower oil in a large pan.  While it's heating, divide the tofu into eight evenly sized cubes.  When the oil is hot, add to the pan. 

2. Deep fry the tofu until brown, turning occasionally.  Drain with a slotted spoon and leave to cool on a double layer of greaseproof paper.

3. Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil.  Add the leeks, baby corn and carrots, and boil for 2 minutes. 

4. Turn off the heat and add the noodles.  Leave to stand for 4 minutes.

5. Add the beansprouts, leave to stand for 30 seconds, then drain immediately.

6. Put the drained vegetables and noodles in a large bowl.

7. Slice each cube of tofu into two or three slices.

8. Chop the cucumber and coriander and add to the vegetables, along with the tofu, peanuts, lime juice, soy sauce and chilli flakes.

9. Drizzle over the sesame oil.

Serve cold

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Roasted vegetable salad with chickpeas

June 12, 2006 at 1:35 pm · Filed under Pulses, Salads, Vegan

This recipe was born of a problem I had last night – about the only food I had in the house was 1/2 a tin of chickpeas, a few courgettes and shed loads of red onions. Here's my solution.

Serves 2-3

3 medium courgettes
6-7 medium red onions
1 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 can chickpeas
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 small bunch basil

1. Thickly slice the onions and courgettes, and place in a large non-stick roasting dish.
2. Season with salt and pepper, and dribble over the olive oil.
3. Roast in the oven at gas mark 6 until tender. This will probably take about an hour. You'll need to take them out of the oven and give them a stir every 15 minutes or so.
4. Leave to cool, then add the chickpeas, vinegar and roughly torn basil.
5. Serve luke warm or cold, as you prefer.

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Ambrosial salad

June 12, 2006 at 1:33 pm · Filed under Salads, Tofu, Vegan

This is named in reference to my partner, who upon eating it declared it 'better than ambrosia'. He's a bit like that. One of the ingredients in this warm salad is tofu, or soya bean curd, which seems to be an ingredient that even veteran vegetarians rarely know what to do with. Although it's often overlooked as an ingredient in this country it's widely eaten in the Far East, by vegetarians and meat eaters alike. In itself it's quite bland, but it absorbs flavours beautifully and has a lovely succulent texture. This recipe was my first experiment with smoked tofu, and if my partner's comments are anything to go by, it was a success.

1 pack Cauldron beechwood smoked tofu (220g) (other smoked tofu would do, but make sure it's really smoked and not just smoke flavoured)
sunflower oil for frying
3 medium sized tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1 bunch spring onions (6-8)
1 bunch radishes (10-12)
2-3 tbsp good olive oil
1/2 lettuce (cos or similar)
1 large bunch watercress
1 small bunch fresh coriander
Juice 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat around 2cm of sunflower oil in a large pan.
2. While it is heating, cut the tofu into quarters, then cut each quarter in half, giving you 8 evenly sized rectangles.
3. Fry the tofu in sunflower oil, turning regularly until brown on each side.
4. Drain with a slotted spoon, and leave on a double sheet of kitchen towel.
5. Slice the radishes, spring onions and tomatoes, and slice the cucumber into strips (as if you're making crudites). Set aside.
6. Roughly shred the lettuce, coriander and watercress. Set aside.
7. Heat the olive oil in a large wok, and pan fry the radishes, spring onions, tomatoes and cucumber for 2-3 minutes. You want the tomatoes to be warm, but not mushy.
8. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice, seasoning, tofu, lettuce, coriander and watercress.
9. Serve warm.

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Bean salad with artichokes, basil and peppers

June 12, 2006 at 1:33 pm · Filed under Pulses, Salads, Vegan

This is excellent for a summer's day, and uses one of my favourite ingredients – artichoke hearts. Good with crusty bread or new potatoes.

1 red pepper
1 orange or yellow pepper
1 can cannellini beans
1/2 large red onion
1 can artichoke hearts
1 medium sized bunch basil
2 tbsp good olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce (I use Kikkoman, as it's all natural and has a distinctive rich taste, but any soy sauce would do)
pepper to taste

1. Grill the peppers until slightly charred on top, but not so black that the skins will be inedible. You could char and peel them, but it takes ages and isn't really necessary.
2. Leave aside the peppers to cool.
3. Drain the beans and put in a large bowl together wtih the chopped red onion, halved artichoke hearts, roughly torn basil leaves, oil, vinegar, soy sauce and freshly ground pepper.
4. Roughly chop the cooled peppers and add them to the bowl.

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