Cibare 21

FEATURE

A Bit on the Side

Something special for summer

With summer upon us and BBQ season in full swing, backyard burger parties will soon be happening everywhere – while observing social distancing of course! And while a lot of effort goes into the construction of the burgers, be they for carnivores, omnivores or vegans, the sides are sometimes a bit of an afterthought. So here are few ideas for summer sides that will please everyone!

The first thing to do is make your Classic French Dressing. Take a screw top jar, and add the following:

4 tbps extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp sunflower oil 3 tbps wine or cider vinegar of your choice (I use walnut vinegar because I love the flavour it imparts) 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tsp Colman’s mustard powder or strong

Dijon mustard ½ tsp ground black pepper ½ tsp Himalayan salt ½ to 1 tsp caster sugar Screw the lid on tightly and give it all a good old shake till it’s well blended and you can’t see any signs of the mustard. This dressing goes with so many salads and can be adapted easily too, using different vinegars, herbs or spices to achieve complementary flavours to your own concoctions. You can even replace all the vinegar with lemon juice, which makes a gorgeous lightly flavoured dressing.

Now you have your basic dressing, you can make the Mixed Bean Salad. You’ll need a large mixing bowl and a sieve. Gather together: 1 x 400g can of borlotti beans 1 x 400g can of cannellini beans

1 x 200g can of unsweetened sweetcorn kernels 1 x 200g can of petits pois Half a red onion, finely diced 50 to 100g drained sundried tomatoes in oil, diced 6 to 8 canned artichoke hearts, diced Chopped parsley Classic French Dressing

Drain and rinse the canned beans, corn and peas thoroughly and pop them in your large bowl. Add the onion, tomatoes, artichoke hearts and parsley and combine. Finally stir in the dressing – I usually find about half a batch does it. Transfer to a favourite serving bowl.

While you’re making the bean salad, you can get started with the Asparagus Mimosa. Prepare a bunch of green asparagus spears by rinsing them and breaking off the woody ends – you’ll find there’s a point at which they break naturally. Cook them gently until they are al dente (not too soft!), cool them quickly in iced water to stop them cooking and set aside to drain. In the meantime, hard boil two eggs. Take about three tbsps of capers in brine and drain them, then chop them finely, along with half a shallot. Add these to about half the batch of Classic French Dressing and mix it up well. Lay the cooked asparagus on a serving platter and finely grate the hardboiled eggs over the spears, then drizzle over the caper and shallot sauce you just made, pouring the rest into a jug for guests to serve themselves if they want more. Alternatively (because capers are a bit of an acquired taste), just put all the sauce into the jug and let the diners help themselves.

You’ll need hard-boiled eggs for the Avocado, Egg and Onion Salad too, so it’s best to cook those while you’re doing the ones that go with the asparagus. For each avocado you use, you’ll need two hard-boiled eggs and two spring onions. You’ll also need lemon juice, mayonnaise and garlic pepper and Himalayan salt to taste. Cut the avocadoes in half, remove the stone, peel off the skin and dice the flesh. Pop it into a bowl and turn it in lemon juice so it retains its colour and doesn’t go brown. Chop the hard-boiled eggs, slice the spring onions into rings and mix it all in with the avocado. Add mayonnaise, mix it all up gently so that everything is nicely coated and season to taste. Once it’s in its serving bowl, you can dust the top of it with smoked paprika for a little extra kick.

I was thinking about desserts that would suit, but your Editor and I decided that, after chowing down on all the burgers and salads, you’ll be pretty stuffed! So, to finish, I’ll just say slices of refreshing watermelon, bananas baked in their skins on the BBQ and marshmallows toasted on skewers to delight the kids, whatever their age. Enjoy the party everyone!

By Gillian Balcombe