Posts Tagged With: salad

Our winter salad

Fresh from the garden: Salad leaves, rocket, edible flowers, lemon, parsley, marjoram, thyme, coriander, oregano

Recipe source: Melissa ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

This is a lovely salad to pair with heavily flavoured dishes and is easy and quick to assemble.

Equipment:

  • Bowls – 2 large
  • 2 salad spinners
  • Tea towel
  • Kitchen paper
  • Chopping board & knife
  • Mortar & pestle
  • Measure – 1/3 cup
  • Citrus juicer
  • Mezzaluna, teaspoon
  • Serving bowls, little tongs

 

Ingredients:

  • A large handful salad leaves
  • A few garnishing flowers

Herby vinaigrette dressing

  • 1 small garlic clove
    • Flaked salt & black pepper
    • 1 lemon
    • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • A small handful mixed herbs: parsley, marjoram, thyme, coriander, oregano

What to do:

  • Fill up the 2 big bowls with cold water & wash the salad leaves, gently dunking them a handful at a time into the water, then pulling out to see if any dirt is left behind. Repeat in fresh water until no dirt remains. Spin the leaves dry and then wipe the bowls dry.
  • Wash the flowers separately and drain on a piece of paper towel. Keep the flowers reserved, picking off the petals to use.
  • Wash and spin dry the herbs, and pick off the leaves.
  • Lay out the tea towel and line it with kitchen paper. Spread the salad leaves over the paper and roll the whole lot up like a log. Keep the rolled parcel of leaves in the fridge until needed.

To make the dressing:

  • Peel the garlic clove and put it in the mortar with a large pinch of salt. Pound to a paste.
  • Juice the lemon and add the juice to the mortar (without the pips) then stir the lot with the teaspoon and scrape it into a large bowl.
  • Stir in the olive oil and grind a little pepper, then whisk the dressing lightly. Add the herbs, chopping any large leaves in the mezzaluna if needed. Add to the dressing in the large bowl.

To assemble:

  • Unwrap the parcel of salad leaves & tip them into the bowl with the flower petals, herbs and the dressing. Gently turn the leaves in the dressing using your hands or tongs.
  • Transfer the salad to the serving bowls and serve immediately with little tongs.

Notes: What is the correct way to wash the leaves?Why do we completely dry the leaves before adding the dressing? What else could you add to the salad?

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Kitchen News – June 7th 2012

Well that’s definitely it for summer then! With crazy winds and notice to tidy up gutters and garden toys we’ve well and truly launched into the coldest season…

And that’s fabulous news in the kitchen!

A hit this week is our Hearty Cabbage & Chickpea soup, with veggies left chunky and our knife skills put to the test… also using up our bumper crop of cabbage: the crunchy, slippery goodness of iceberg Sang choi bao with stir-fried cabbage & crispy kale. Fingerlicking good… passed the dripping-soy-sauce-down-the-arm test! We’ve also been experimenting with a gluten and lactose-free version of Schiacciata con l’uva e olio d’oliva, and I can confidently say that it was gobbled up by everybody! And last but not least, our ever-morphing Our winter salad with poached eggs & baby beets – simple and delicious!

Placing the grapes just so...

And click on these links for recipes from the last few weeks: Gnocchi with burnt butter & sage and Broccoli and garden herb pizza. If you need any other recipes and don’t see them on this site, drop me a line here & I’ll put them up for you!

What you lookin' at?

Happy souping everybody!

And don’t forget, spaces are filling fast for Our Kitchen Garden School Holiday Program… Head on over to the page & check it out!

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31st August 2011

Spring has sprung, hooray! I love these days of crisp mornings that turn into warm afternoons, especially being in the cottage with all the beautiful sun shining through the windows and the doors open and breeze flowing all the way through, so lovely…

We’ve been cooking some great food this last fortnight: loads of broccoli with anchovies and garlic on pizza and also tossed in our own hand-rolled wholewheat linguine: our muscles are getting a good work-out on the pasta machines! The cabbages are going crazy in size (and slugs…) so we’ve chopped off their heads, washed them well and made soup with carrot and caraway seeds, and also dressed some more lovely green salads with crunchy croutons… and we’ve been experimenting with dairy- and wheat-free orange and vanilla biscuits too using olive oil and spelt instead – quite delicious!

Thanks to more and more gorgeous volunteers appearing at the door as we’ve had some fab classes these last weeks with all stations filled (meaning five different dishes and lots of food on the tables!) and many hands making the clean-up work lighter…!

Sorry for the delay in the getting the market table up and running – watch this space or keep your eyes open in the next few weeks… In the meantime have a great & happy fathers’ day and see you soon!

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