Lamb and broad bean salad
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 2 cups frozen broad beans
- 2 lamb backstraps
- 120g bag baby spinach leaves
- 250g punnet mini roma tomatoes, quartered
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, finely shredded
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, finely shredded
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
1. Boil, steam or microwave broad beans until tender. Drain well. Peel skin from broad beans.
2. Cook lamb on a heated, oiled grill pan (or grill or barbecue) until browned all over and cooked as desired. Cover, stand for 10 minutes. Slice lamb thinly.
3. Meanwhile, combine broad beans, spinach, tomatoes, parmesan, basil and mint.
4. Add lamb to salad with combined lemon juice and oil.� Season with salt and pepper. Toss well to combine.
Hint. For added flavour, rub 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs over lamb before cooking.
Panzanella salad
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 1 large ciabatta roll
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 3 medium tomatoes, finely diced
- 1 cucumber, finely diced
- 2 tblsps red-wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup whole fresh parsley leaves
1 Cut bread into 2.5cm cubes. Place in a medium bowl. Combine garlic, salt and pepper and 1 tblsp of oil in a small jug. Drizzle over bread and toss to combine. Transfer mixture to an oven tray.
2 Cook in a hot oven (200C), turning occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until browned and crisp. Remove and cool.
3 Meanwhile, combine onion, tomatoes and cucumber in a large bowl. Drizzle with vinegar and stand for 10 minutes.
4 Just before serving, add toasted bread to tomato mixture with herbs and remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss well.
Prawn Avocado Salad
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 8 |
- 32 (800g) medium cooked prawns
- 1 iceberg lettuce
- 2 avocados, sliced
- 2 mangoes , sliced
- 1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthways, sliced
- 1/2 red capsicum, chopped
- 1/2 green capsicum, chopped
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
- Thousand island sauce
- 1 cup whole-egg mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, shelled, chopped
- 1 1/2 tblsps lemon juice
1 Shell and devein prawns leaving tails intact.
2 Bash core of iceberg on the kitchen bench to loosen the core. Pull core out of lettuce. Place lettuce under cold running water to loosen leaves. Carefully pull leaves out and drain well.
3 Arrange lettuce leaves in individual serving bowls. Divide prawns, avocados, mangoes and cucumber among bowls.
4 To make thousand island sauce, place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl.
5 To serve, sprinkle combined capsicums, onion and parsley over prawn salads. Serve with thousand island sauce.
Hint: Sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead. Simply refrigerate until serving.
Salmon and Egg Salad
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 12 chat potatoes
- 415g can red salmon, drained and flaked
- 1 small red onion, halved, finely sliced
- 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 6 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 120g baby spinach leaves
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Dressing
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tblsps white wine vinegar
- 2 tsps Dijon mustard
- 1 tblsp lemon juice
1 To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake well until combined.
2 Boil, steam or microwave potatoes until tender. Drain well. Pour dressing over hot potatoes and leave to cool.
3 Arrange salmon, onion, tomatoes, eggs, avocado and spinach leaves on a large serving plate. Add potatoes and drizzle over any excess dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
Sausage, Bacon and Sweet Potato Salad
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 1 large sweet potato, coarsely chopped
- 12 (500g uncooked) cooked chipolata sausages, halved diagonally
- 3/4 cup (3 rashers) coarsely chopped cooked bacon
- 120g bag baby spinach leaves
- 100g feta cheese, crumbled
- Dressing
- 2 tblsps red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tblsp finely chopped oregano
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Add sweet potato to a medium saucepan of boiling salted water and simmer, covered, for 10 to 12 minutes or until tender. Drain.
2 Meanwhile, add sausages and bacon to a large heated frying pan. Cook, uncovered, turning sausages, until heated through.
3 To make dressing, combine ingredients in a jug. Combine sweet potato, sausages and bacon, spinach and cheese in a bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss well.
Smoked Salmon Salad
| Serves |
|---|
| 8 |
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled, halved lengthways
- 1 tsp salt
- 200g smoked salmon, finely diced
- 2 sticks celery, finely diced
- 1 cup char-grilled capsicum, finely diced
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, finely diced
- 1/2 bunch chives, finely chopped
- 2 tblsps drained capers, finely chopped
- 2 tblsps lemon juice mixed with 2 tblsps olive oil
- Sour cream, lemon wedge and extra olive oil, to serve
- Fresh dill sprig and cracked black pepper, to garnish
- SESAME CROUTONS
- 24 slices white bread, crusts removed
- 2 tblsps sesame seeds
- Olive oil, for shallow frying
1To make sesame croutons, cut bread in half diagonally to form triangles. Sprinkle each triangle with sesame seeds. Using a rolling pin, flatten each triangle so the sesame seeds stick and the bread is wafer thin. Heat oil in a medium frying pan. Add croutons in batches and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper towel.
2Scoop out cucumber seeds and cut into fine dice. Combine with salt in a bowl. Stand for 5 minutes. Rinse with water and drain well.
3Gently mix cucumber, salmon, celery, capsicum, eggs, chives, capers and lemon oil in a large bowl.
4To serve, place 3 croutons on each plate and spoon salmon mixture over top. Serve with sour cream and a lemon wedge. Drizzle with extra olive oil. Garnish with dill sprig and cracked black pepper
Summer Salad with Citrus Dressing
| Serves |
|---|
| 4 |
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup ice-cubes
- 400g sweet potato, peeled, cut into thin rounds
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled, sliced
- 1 red onion, halved, thinly sliced
- 100g baby spinach leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 100g shaved ham
- 8 large cos lettuce leaves
- CITRUS DRESSING
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
1 Place eggs in a single layer in a medium saucepan. Cover with 4cm of cold water. Bring to boil. Remove from heat and cover, stand for 12 minutes. Fill a medium bowl with 1 litre (4-cups) of cold water. Add ice-cubes. Transfer eggs to iced water using a slotted spoon. Stand for 5 minutes before peeling. Cut eggs in half.
2 Cook sweet potato on a heated, oiled grill pan (or grill or barbecue) for about 5 minutes or until browned all over and tender.
3 To make citrus dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mix well.
4 Combine sweet potato, cucumber, onion and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Drizzle with half the citrus dressing and toss well.
5 Spoon sweet potato mixture into lettuce leaves and top with avocado, eggs and ham.
6 Serve salad drizzled with remaining dressing.