Sides for your “Salads”: Broad beans et al.

Broad beans with smoked bacon and walnuts

Serves 6 with other sides

60g walnuts

125g of smoked bacon

4 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed

or 4 tsps of garlic paste

450g broad beans, blanched in boiling

water for 2 minutes (defrost if using frozen)

small bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped

Heat a large frying pan until hot, then add the walnuts and dry fry for 3 minutes shaking the pan, until they are toasted. Set aside.

Add the bacon and garlic to the pan and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes until the bacon is crispy. Add the broad beans, season with salt and black pepper and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, stir through the parsley and walnuts before serving.

What I'm about to suggest goes above and beyond the call of duty!

You need to peel the broad beans – in other words take off the tough outer skin. I warn you this is a laborious task and you'll call me names - sometimes you've just got to get on with it. By all means leave the outer skin on if you can't be bothered but you are depriving yourself and your guests of the beautiful bright green bean – if grey is your colour with the skin on, then so be it.

There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel – blanch and peel the broad beans when you've time – ahead of when you need them – watch rubbish daytime television to pass the time whilst peeling!

P.s. Optional additions – cubed feta cheese – cooked leftover chicken or cooked prawns.

Sides for your “Salads”: Spanish Spuds

Spanish Spuds

800g potatoes, cut into cubes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

1 garlic clove, chopped finely or

1 tsp garlic paste

1 medium red chilli, seeds removed

chopped finely

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

Pot of soured cream to serve

Boil the potatoes for 5 minutes. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the onion until it colours. Add the garlic and spices, fry for 2 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and tip into the mixture. Turn to a high heat and shake the pan so that the potatoes are covered with the onion/spice mixture. Cook for 10 minutes until tender. Serve with soured cream.

This side would be a great addition to your sharing plates – bags of flavour, particularly if you're serving a fish platter. Different to the traditional tapas dish “patatas bravas” in serving with the soured cream and not tomato sauce. In addition to which the soured cream is served on the side of the side – if you get my drift – some like it, some don't.

The recipe given is for a large quantity – it's difficult to say how many servings – I would say eight to ten – you could halve the quantities if you wish but I've learnt from experience that whatever is leftover you'll absolutely, definitely and without doubt use!

Sides for your “Salads”: Pide

Perfect Pide

If you are going to go to town with your sharing plates then it would be rude not to include sides too.

Here's my first bread suggestion - mentioned in Mmmm – Mezze - Pide – I think it's actually pronounced pee-day. I first made this whilst training and it is truly scrumptious and well worth the effort.

You can choose whether you use the salt, oil and sesame seeds as a topping or roll in semolina and then sprinkle over it before baking.

Pide

one sachet of easy-blend yeast – 7g

pinch of salt

700g plain white flour

plus extra

1 egg

100ml olive oil

30g sesame seeds and coarse sea salt

for garnish or 2 tbsp semolina to roll

plus extra to sprinkle

Put the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the yeast and the olive oil reserving a little to brush over the bread prior to proving.

Mix until the dough forms into a firm ball, leaving the sides of the bowl. Cover with a clean damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Lightly oil two baking sheets.

Knock down the dough - divide into two, shape each into a round ball and then roll each in 1 tbsp of semolina . Roll out into two circles and place on the baking sheets. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sea salt, the reserved oil and sesame seeds. Alternatively you can sprinkle with additional semolina. Leave to prove for 30 minutes in a warm place.

Pre-heat your oven 210c/190fan/Gas 7.

Using your fingertips make dimples all over the surface – as you see in focaccia.

Bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and when the base is tapped the bread sounds hollow.

Sounds good to me!

The “salad” story so far …

Your list of options is growing already :

Halloumi and Pomegranate Salad

Potato and Olive Salad

with chorizo alternative

A “greenery free” warm salad supper that ticks all the boxes. Serve these two dishes with chicken fillets seasoned with a spicy paste.

Chicken Rub

Serves 4

1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander and garam masala, three cloves of garlic paste, add 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil and mix to a paste.

4 Chicken fillets

Use a frying pan that is suitable to transfer to the oven. Preheat the oven 180 fan/200c/Gas 6.

Heat your pan, then add a drop of oil (of your choice) and a knob of butter.

Season your fillets and then spread with the paste. Seal the fillets on both sides, pop the pan into the oven. Timing depends on the size of your fillets – 20/25 minutes – check after 20 minutes.

I'd suggest that you make double the quantity of the Pomegranate Dressing so that you've extra to drizzle over the chicken if desired. If the dressing is not required then place in a screw top jar and fridge.

Ta dah!

On the cold front: …and the green front

Fabulous Fattoush Salad

Making sure I cater for everyone's taste – try this on for size.

Fattoush is another Lebanese salad, this time cold.

You'll find different versions, all hit the spot, here's one of them :

Serves 4

200g radishes, sliced thinly

half a cucumber, diced

200g cherry tomates, halved

2 shallots, finely diced

Romaine lettuce, shredded into 1-2cm pieces

2tbsp chopped mint

100g Pomegranate Seeds

25g walnuts or pistachios, toasted and chopped

half green pepper, finely sliced

2 pitta breads

Dressing

2 cloves garlic paste

juice of half lemon

3 tsps sumac

150ml extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Mix the dressing and set aside.

With the exception of the pitta breads place all the remaining ingredients in a large salad bowl and mix gently. Add the dressing and toss the salad . Toast the pitta breads and then cut into small strips, add to the salad bowl and mix again.

I think pomegranate seeds look glorious in any dish, however not so enjoyable to eat - if you feel the same way you can omit the Pomegranate Seeds and use the Pomegranate Dressing (from the Halloumi and Pomegranate Salad) in place of the Dressing given above.

If you can't get hold of Romaine lettuce use Little Gem instead.

Happy slicing and dicing!

Don't do green?

I know there are many out there who quite simply “don't do green”. Salad doesn't necessarily have to be green – it doesn't have to be cold either, despite what the purists may say.

Lets expand the mezze concept - a mezze serves both hot and cold salads so why can't we. Furthermore what's wrong with mixing it up – or if you want to use modern speak - fusion of different culinary cultures to create your own style of larger “salad” sharing plates.

I'll stop waffling and illustrate with an example :

Potato and Olive Salad

Serves 4/6

500g new potatoes

3tbsp extra virgin olive oil

juice of ½ lemon

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp ground cumin

pinch of chilli pepper

salt

bunch of flat leaf parsley chopped

medium mild red or white onion, chopped finely

12 black olives

Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water until tender. Drain and cut in half – quarters if large, leave whole if small.

Mix the oil with the lemon juice, paprika, cumin, chilli and salt.

While still warm turn the potatoes in the dressing, add the parsley, onion and olives and mix gently.

This recipe came from Claudia Roden's Arabesque. It is recommended that this recipe is made in advance so that the dressing and flavours are absorbed.

Why not tweak this recipe. Fry 200g of diced chorizo and use the delicious oil from it as part of your dressing adding an extra dimension and I think a worthwhile candidate for your first sharing plate shabang. What's wrong with Moroccan and Spanish – after all tapas is to Spain what mezze is to Morocco.

Why not serve it warm instead.

Please note no greenery – and I should clarify that the parsley in the recipe I class as garnish and technically not greenery – that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it – if you're really anti then you can always leave the parsley out but you might want to break the habits of a lifetime and try it.

An added bonus – this salad dish can be vegetarian or not!

Love 'em or hate 'em.. salads

Love 'em or hate 'em

… salads

Defined as …. “a cold dish of vegetables or herbs (either raw or pre-cooked) generally mixed, with or without oil and vinegar or other dressing, sometimes including egg, meat, fish etc.” This is a kind and generous definition!

If you mention the word “salad” it conjures up different images for different people.

If you are of a certain age, as an example, there's a vision of a limp lettuce leaf, a slice of boiled egg – ditto of tomato and lets not forget cucumber. Traditionally, this not so tasty morsel was served – I use the term loosely – on Saturday or Sunday “teatime”. If you were expecting visitors for tea and wanted to really push the boat out then you'd add a tin of pink salmon, bones and all!

I remember saying that I was scarred for life from the buffet experience in the 70ies. My recollections of salad for tea come a very close second.

You have to bear in mind that in those days no-one had heard of such exotic ingredients like avocado let alone served on a salad plate.

We are creatures of habit and cold food means warm weather, sadly in the UK our weather is so unpredictable – how many times have you planned to eat al fresco and been relegated indoors, drenched and freezing! May be our aversion to salads emanates from lousy weather.

One bad habit we have is we don't take enough time to enjoy our food – “graze” is not a particularly attractive word – I can't help but see a field full of cows – but food should be savoured and enjoyed over a period of time, so perhaps we need to go back to basics and change our perception of “salad”.

In the coming posts we'll explore and see if we can turn the tide a little and revive our tired salad brains.