SALAD DAYS

English summertime is the best. Everyone is so much happier when the sun comes out & food tastes so much better when eaten al fresco.

Summer food to me means bar b q's, lunch in the pub garden and of course salads. Gone are the days when salad meant lettuce, cucumber & tomato. There are no limits to how creative you can be with salad & that's what I love about them. I have two recipes for you here and they are both absolutely delicious!

first up is  Strawberry, Avocado & Ricotta salad

We had these 2 salads as side dishes at a Bar B Q, so they served 4 people, but if you wanted a meal out of it I could probably take on a whole one myself!

1 head of baby gem lettuce
1 large avocado
1 punnet of strawberries (about 200g)
1/2 large cucumber
100g ricotta cheese or Nush almond cream cheese.

1 Peel & core the Avocado.
2 Remove the ends of the strawberries and slice them up.
3 Slice & dice the cucumber.
4 Chop up the lettuce.
5 Arrange in a salad bowl with the ricotta cheese & some coarse ground black pepper (optional.)
For the dressing recipe see below.

Second Salad is Beetroot, Red apple & Hazelnut salad

3 medium sized raw beetroots
1 large red delicious apple (sliced, chopped with the core removed)
100 g radishes  
1 head of baby gem lettuce
couple of handfuls of chopped hazelnuts

1 Roast the beetroots at 180 c for about 90 mins. You want the skin to crinkle and they feel soft when you poke a knife in the centre. When cooked, leave to cool. Once cool, peel the skin off and slice them up.
2. Take the radishes (leave them whole) & put in an oven proof dish. drizzle with roughly a dessertspoon of light olive oil. Mix them in the oil to make sure they're evenly covered & put them in the oven.
Roasting them like this makes them milder & sweeter, but if you love the peppery, crunchy taste of raw radishes then just add them raw. They'll take about 40 mins if you're roasting them.
3. Core, slice & dice the apple.
4. Chop up the lettuce. Arrange all the ingredients together in a serving dish and sprinkle with hazelnuts.

                                      Summer lovin

dressing for both

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 
2 teaspoons maple syrup
simply whisk the above together in a bowl. put in a jar/ bottle & shake well before serving.