Salad Days

WITH SUMMER UPON US WE CAN DITCH THE OVEN COOKING AND CONCENTRATE ON DELICIOUS AND HEALTHY SALADS FOR THE WARM DAYS HEAD!

I was fortunate to be able to “retire early” from corporate London life and with some spare time on my hands before Lee was ready for the big change, and my love of cooking, I decided to start a small food business. So, for 5 years before our chateau life began, I spent some happy times catering for parties, weddings, christenings and the like in our small corner of the Southeast of England.

Part of my business was running a market stall at local Farmers’ markets, selling homemade deli products – hand-carved ham, patés, quiches, ready-prepared meals and salads. My salad bar became quite famous in our little part of the world, and after a while, I became known locally as the “Salad Lady”.

Even today, I like nothing better than the opportunity to whip up a few different salads to accompany a summer barbecue or buffet, so since it’s that time of year, I thought I’d share some of my recipes with you.

MixedBeanSalad

Ingredients (Serves 6-8 as a side dish)

1 tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 tin of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

½ red onion, finely chopped

Handful of finely chopped parsley

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

80ml cider vinegar

60g sugar or honey

60ml olive oil

1 ½tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Method

1. In a large bowl, mix together all the beans with the celery, onion, parsley and rosemary.

2. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the dressing to the beans and toss to coat.

3. Chill the salad in the fridge for a few hours to allow the delicious flavours of the dressing to soak into the beans.

Belinda, the ‘Accidental Chatelaine’ loves to cook at any opportunity and is delighted to be able to share that love with you

ByBelindaPrince

www.chateaumareuil.com

SummerCouscousSalad

Ingredients (Serves 6-8 as a side dish)

250g couscous

250ml boiling water

1 ½ tsp salt

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 red pepper, finely diced

1 small cucumber, seeded and finely diced

Handful cherry tomatoes, halved

Handful fresh mint, chopped

Handful fresh parsley, chopped

1 large lemon, rinded and juiced

4 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Pour the boiling water on to the couscous, add ½ tsp salt and stir to mix.

2. Cover with a lid or some cling film and leave for 5 minutes or so.

3. When the water’s fully absorbed, fluff up with a fork and add the olive oil, lemon juice, the other tsp of salt and all the other ingredients.

4. Check the seasoning and add freshly ground black pepper, if liked. Serve cold.

PearswithBlueCheese, WalnutsandBlueberries

Ingredients (Serves 4 as a side dish)

2 pears

100g rocket

100g blue cheese

100g walnuts, lightly toasted

50g fresh blueberries

Dressing

2 tsp honey

60ml olive oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Method

1. Whisk together the honey, extravirgin olive oil and white wine vinegar, or shake together in a screw top jar.

2. Remove the cores from the pears and slice thinly, leaving skin on if you prefer. Place the pears in a bowl and pour over the dressing.

3. Combine the rocket leaves, crumbled blue cheese and walnuts on a serving platter.

4. Scatter the salad with the ripe pears and blueberries, drizzle over any extra dressing and serve.

PerfectColeslaw

Ingredients (Serves 6-8 as a side dish)

½ medium white cabbage, finely sliced

½ medium red cabbage, finely sliced

4 medium carrots, julienned

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp white wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)

150ml good quality mayonnaise

2 tbsp creamed horseradish or Dijon mustard

4 spring onions, finely chopped Method

1. Put the sliced cabbage together with the carrots into a large colander, add the salt, sugar and vinegar and toss together well. Leave in the sink or over a large pan to drain for an hour.

2. This is an important step as it softens the vegetables slightly and makes the end product less watery. For the same reason, I always slice the cabbage and carrots by hand rather than in the food processor.

3. Either make your own mayonnaise (to be honest, I’ve never made it!), or use from a jar and add the horseradish or mustard and mix well together in a large bowl, add salt & pepper to taste. Press down on to the drained vegetables to squeeze out any remaining liquid and add to the bowl together with the spring onions. Toss together and serve or keep in a sealed container in the fridge until required.

LentilswithPeasandBacon

Ingredients (Serves 6-8 as a side dish)

200g green or French lentils

150g frozen peas

500ml chicken stock

¼ tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

150g smoked bacon lardons

2 large shallots, cut in half and thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 large sprigs rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped

3 large leaves sage, finely chopped

2 tbsp capers, roughly chopped

Handful parsley, roughly chopped

Dressing

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

½ tbsp Balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Wash and rinse the lentils. Put in a small saucepan and cover with the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then lower to a simmer and cook until just tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Add extra water while cooking if the liquid gets low. Add the frozen peas fr the last minute or so of cooking. Drain the lentils and peas and return them to the pot. Stir in the salt.

2. Meanwhile, whilst the lentils are cooking, fry the lardons over a medium heat until crispy. Drain most of the fat out of the pan, then add the shallots, garlic, rosemary, and sage, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant and the shallots are tender but not soft. Remove from the heat.

3. Whisk the olive oil, mustard, and balsamic vinegar together until thick. Toss with the warm, drained lentils and peas, then stir in the bacon and shallot mixture. Stir in the chopped capers and parsley. Taste and season with additional salt, if needed, and a generous quantity of black pepper.

Serve warm. This keeps for 5 days in the refrigerator and is also good eaten cold.

ChickenSaladwithGrapesandNuts

Ingredients (Serves 4-6)

4 chicken breasts

Olive oil

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

125ml good quality mayonnaise*

1 ½ tbsp freshly chopped tarragon

2 celery stalks, diced

50g walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted and chopped

Small bunch of black or green grapes, halved and seeded

Pre-heat the oven to 180◦C/200◦ C fan

Method

1. Place the chicken breasts on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and rub in well. Season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 mins until tender and just cooked through. Set aside to cool.

2. When cooled, chop the chicken into bite-size chunks and place in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, tarragon leaves, celery, grapes and nuts - season to taste. Toss well together.

Use half Greek yoghurt for a lighter, more tangy dressing*

Delicious served on a bed of lettuce or as a luxurious sandwich filling!

SALADS - ON THE GO!

Traditionally used for canning and preserving food, mason jars are a great way of storing your salads, especially when you’re out and about. They are an ecofriendly alternative to tupperware, or just use old jars!

Layer 1: First add your dressing into the jar. You can take any type of dressing. (If you add the dressing later, ingredients that you’d much rather stay dry might get soggy.)

Layer 2: Now enter crisp ingredients such as tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, asparagus, celery, peppers, carrots into the jar. This level protects the other ingredients from getting soggy.

Layer 3: This level is for ingredients that should not necessarily swim in dressing, but it’s also not a drama if they do get wet.

Layer 4: More delicate ingredients such as hard boiled eggs and cheese.

Layer 5: Add something substantial, like rice, pasta, quinoa or couscous, this ‘seals’ the jar

Layer 6: Finally, add foods that don’t like being wet, e.g. nuts and greens such as lettuce, spinach etc.

Now seal!