Salads

Gone are the days when salads were only served on hot summer days, and always consisted of lettuce, tomato and cucumber. Now salads are served all the year round and include numerous exciting ingredients, depending on the seasonal food available.

Salads can be served for all sorts of occasions and can range from substantial main courses to colourful side dishes and sophisticated starters. They may be simple to prepare, requiring only a few minutes to assemble before serving, or they may involve more elaborate preparations in advance.

Whichever type of salad you choose, it will always be fun to put together as salads invariably consist of contrasting flavours, colours and textures. Preparing a salad is a wonderful excuse to indulge your imagination in the way you arrange the ingredients and in trying out new garnishes. The presentation of a salad is all important and it is fun to look out for interesting plates and dishes to serve them on (wooden salad bowls are perfect for green salads, but do not show off more elaborate salads to an advantage). Many salads look prettiest when arranged on individual dishes.

Unusual Vegetables

The following vegetables are unusual in two ways. Either they are not as familiar and widely
available as the usual tomato; radish or cucumber, or else they are not normally thought of as ingredients for salads, for example broad beans and cauliflower.

Artichoke — Globe

A member of the thistle family. The fat bases of the leafy ‘petals’ are edible and the artichoke bottom or ‘heart’ is considered a delicacy.

Preparation :Must be cooked. Cut off stalks to make a level base. Pull off any tough outer leaves and trim the tips of the remaining leaves if preferred. Cook in boiling salted water for 30-40 minutes or until a leaf pulls out easily. Drain upside down until cold. Remove choke.

Serving ideas: Serve as a starter, with Vinaigrette, Mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce to dip the leaf bases into. Hearts can be served on their own or with other ingredients for hors d’oeuvre. ‘Cups’ (with choke removed] can be stuffed. Artichoke hearts are available in cans.

Artichoke — Jerusalem

A tuber looking like a knobbly potato but with the flavour of artichoke.

Preparation: Must be cooked and peeled (either before or after cooking). Discolours easily so submerge in cold water mixed with a little lemon juice or vinegar immediately after peeling. Boil in salted water with a little lemon juice or vinegar added for 10-15 minutes until just tender. Drain and cool.

Serving ideas Slice and toss in a lemon dressing. Mix with Mayonnaise, as for potato salad.

Asparagus

Stalks 6-8 inches long, can be green or white, thin or thick. Tips and most of stalks are edible.

Preparation: Must be cooked. Wash, trim off woody ends. The stalks take longer to cook than the tips, so tie in bundles and cook upright, so that the stalks cook in the boiling water while the tips cook in the steam away from the heat source. Cook in boiling salted water (with a little lemon juice added to prevent discolouration) for about 15 minutes.

Serving ideas: Can be eaten hot or cold. Serve as a starter with Vinaigrette, Mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce to dip stalks into. Available in cans and frozen.

Aubergine

The large purple variety is the most commonly seen.

Preparation: Must be cooked, usually with skin on. Trim off stalk and cut into slices or dice. These are usually sprinkled with salt and left to drain in a colander for 30 minutes to draw out the bitter juices, then rinsed and patted dry before cooking. Bake whole in a medium oven for 30 minutes-1 hour, depending on size, or fry slices or dice until golden brown and tender, about 5 minutes. Leave to cool.

Serving ideas : Serve with a Vinaigrette or Yogurt dressing. Puree the pulp of baked aubergines to make a pate. Include as part of ratatouille; a Provencal vegetable stew.

Avocado pear

A pear-shaped tropicalfruit with a dark green skin.

Preparation: Use raw. Cut in half with a stainless steel knife and remove the stone. Rub the cut surfaces with lemon juice immediately to prevent discolouration.

Serving ideas: Serve unpeeled halves filled with Vinaigrette or prawns in Mayonnaise. Alternatively
peel and use in salads sliced or cubed, a little adds an interesting flavour and texture to green salads. Purée to make a paté or dip.

Beans — Broad

Large lumpish beans in a pod which have a whitish skin and bright green flesh.

Preparation: Usually cooked but very young beans may be eaten raw, like peas. Remove from pods and cook in boiling salted water for 5-10 minutes, depending on age, until just tender. Drain and cool.

Serving ideas: Serve in a Vinaigrette or Yogurt dressing with herbs. Can be part of an hors d’oeuvre.

Beans — French and Runner

Both varieties are bright green, the French being small, round and thin and the runner long and flat.

Preparation: Must be lightly cooked. French beans can usually be topped and tailed and left whole, but may also be cut into pieces. Remove coarse string from length of runner beans, then slice diagonally. Boil in salted water for about 5 minutes until tender but still crisp. Drain and cool.

Serving ideas: Serve alone in a dressing, or as part of a composite salad, e.g. salade Nicoise.

Bean Sprouts

Sprouts from dried beans, usually mung or soya, but virtually any bean can be sprouted

Preparation: Wash well. Serve raw.

Serving ideas : Good with oriental ingredients.

Broccoli- Calabrese, Purple sprouting

All varieties can be used like cauliflower in salads.

Preparation: Serve raw, cut into small pieces, or divide into florets and boil in salted water for 5-10
minutes, depending on the thickness of the stalks, until just tender. Drain and cool.

Serving ideas: Serve as starter with hollandaise sauce, or combine with other ingredients in a mixed salad.

Brussels Sprouts

Preparation: Serve raw and finely shredded, or boil briefly and cut into halves.

Serving ideas: Toss in Vinaigrette or Mayonnaise, as for coleslaw.

Carrots

Carrots are a wonderfully colourful addition to salads, especially winter ones.

Preparation: Grate coarsely to serve raw. Serve whole baby carrots raw or very lightly cooked as part of Crudités. Older carrots should be sliced or diced and cooked in boiling water for 10-15 minutes, depending on age and size, until just tender.

Serving ideas : Mix grated carrot with French dressing and dried fruits [e.g. currants and raisins). Toss warm cooked carrots in a lemon vinaigrette.

Cauliflower

The white flower heads look attractive in salads.

Preparation: Cut into small pieces or divide into florets, and serve raw, or boil in salted water for 5 minutes until just tender, then drain and toss in dressing.

Serving ideas: Serve raw florets coated in a spicy dressing, or plain as part of Crudités.

Celeriac

The edible root of a special variety of celery, with a slight celery flavour. A particularly welcome addition to winter salads.

Preparation: Must be peeled (toss in lemon juice or Vinaigrette at once to prevent discolouration). Grate, shred or dice and marinate in dressing to soften, or lightly boil shredded or diced celeriac in salted water (for 1 minute if shredded, for up to 5 minutes if diced), drain and toss in dressing while hot.

Serving ideas: Traditionally cut into delicate julienne strips and served in a mustard mayonnaise. Blends well with carrot in salads.

Chinese Leaves

The crisp pale coloured leaves are useful in winter salads.

Preparation: Wash, shred finely and serve raw. The leaves are rather bland and need a well—flavoured dressing, e.g. prawns, ham, mushrooms.

Courgettes – Green, Yellow and Round

Miniature marrows with a creamy flesh.

Preparation : Wash, top and tail. Cut into thin circles or slice lengthways. Serve raw or steam for 5 minutes.

Serving ideas : Toss in Vinaigrette or Yogurt dressing.

Fennel

White bulbs with green feathery leaves, a celery—like texture and a slight aniseed flavour.

Preparation: Use raw, sliced thinly.

Serving ideas Include as part of Crudités or green salads.

Kohlrabi

White, pale green or purple root vegetable that looks and tastes similar to turnip.

Preparation: Peel thickly cut into slices or dice and cook in boiling salted water for 10-15 minutes until tender. Can also be peeled, grated and served raw.

Serving ideas: Toss in French dressing.

Leeks

Very versatile in salads, imparting a mild onion flavour. Can be used whole or sliced, raw or cooked.

Preparation: Wash well to remove all dirt. To eat raw, slice thinly and toss in French dressing. Cook whole or sliced in boiling salted water until tender (15 minutes if whole, 3-5 minutes if sliced).

Serving ideas: Poach in stock flavoured with a bay leaf, peppercorns, coriander seeds, and lemon.

Lettuce, Endive and Other Salad Leaves

The common varieties of lettuce are : round, cos, Webbs Wonderful and iceberg. The endive family, with a slightly bitter flavour, includes curly endive, batavia, chicory, and radiccio. Dandelion leaves, corn salad, purslane, mustard and cress, sorrel and watercress can also be used.

Preparation: Wash and dry well, keep covered in the refrigerator to retain crispness. Dress just before serving as once dressed the leaves quickly go limp.

Serving ideas: Toss whole or shredded leaves in a herb-flavoured dressing.

Mangetout Peas

Tender, green vegetables that are eaten pods and all.

Preparation : lf very small and young, simply top and tail and serve raw. String older mangetout and blanch in well salted water for 1-2 minutes until just tender.

Serving ideas: For a starter, mangetout are especially delicious mixed with prawns and a lemon dressing.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are an excellent source of texture and flavour for salads. They are usually served raw.

Preparation: Wipe with a damp cloth or rinse quickly in cold running water. There is no need to peel cultivated mushrooms. Use small succulent button mushrooms whole.

Serving ideas: Marinate in dressing with plenty of lemon, combine with seafood for a delicious starter.

Peppers — Green, Red and Yellow

Slices of crisp—textured and strong flavoured raw pepper make colourful additions to salads.

Preparation: Remove stalk, core and seeds. Cut into slices or rings. Alternatively, grill until the skins blacken and blister, then rub the skins off under running water.

Serving ideas: Halve, stuff and bake. Cut into strips and use as a garnish.

Pulses

Any type of dried pulse may be used in salads.

Preparation: Need to be prepared ahead. Soak in water overnight, boil rapidly in clean water for 10 minutes, then cover and simmer for about 1 hour, depending on the type of bean, until tender. Drain and toss in a parsley-flavoured French dressing while still warm so that the flavour is absorbed well

Serving ideas: Combine with seafoods and Vinaigrette for delicious and economical starters. Invaluable in vegetarian salads.

Spinach

Raw, young, small spinach leaves, tossed in dressing, make a delicious salad. Larger spinach stalks may be cooked and served like asparagus.

Preparation: Prepare as for Salad leaves.

Serving ideas: Traditionally served with a hot bacon dressing as a starter. Add to any mixed green salad as a nutritious change from lettuce.

Suppers and Buffets with Bill & Sheila

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