Super Salads
Just think of how far salads have come! Cast your mind back to when ’salad’ in the UK meant a sorry offering of cucumber, unripe tomatoes and worst of all, iceberg lettuce. If there were a hierarchy of lettuces, iceberg (for me) would definitely be at the bottom. Except maybe in a roast chicken-mayo sandwich, that’s OK. Anyway, it looks like winter might finally be over and our salads are coming over all summery.
I think that good chopped salads should be layers of seasonal ingredients such as the purple sprouting broccoli and chicory that I’ve used in this one. A chopped salad can become something more than the sum of its parts. I’ve given it a fattoush – y spin here with toasted pitta and radishes. Sumac is traditionally used to give fattoush it’s sour taste but I didn’t have any and I think the dill flavour works really well.
The dressing for this salad is made with anchovies, garlic and lemon and it’s fantastic. I can’t take the credit for it though, it was made by Chris for his salad that inspired this post (above photo). It really gives everything a zing. Dressings are so crucial aren’t they? Can you believe that we visited a restaurant recently where the salad arrived naked?! Undressed salad? How joyless. Those croutons Chris made are pretty damn delicious too; ciabatta cubes fried in rosemary and olive oil, finished with a good sprinkling of sea salt. Oh, and it’s got crispy bacon on top which is never a bad thing if you ask me.
You could mix any veggies into this salad really, depending on what is available but I do urge you to try this dressing, especially with hard boiled eggs and olives.
Super Salad
1/2 small red onion, finely sliced
10 small radishes, finely sliced
A small bunch of dill chopped
A small bunch of parsley, leaves picked
4 baby leeks
A generous handful of purple sprouting broccoli
1 tin chickpeas, drained
2 small pittas, toasted and chopped into bite size pieces
2 or 3 hard boiled eggs
15-20 kalamata olives (the stone-in ones have a much better flavour but it depends on whether you can be bothered and/or have an olive pitter)
2 heads chicory, leaves separated
Chris’ anchovy dressing (see below)
- Um, mix everything together!
Chris’ Salad
A couple of handfuls of salad leaves
1 hass avocado, chopped (either do this last or squeeze some lemon juice on it)
4 rashers streaky bacon, grilled until crisp and chopped
A handful of cherry tomatoes
2 or 3 hard boiled eggs
A grating of parmesan to finish
For the croutons
1 small ciabatta roll, a day old if possible
Olive oil
A small sprig of rosemary, chopped
Sea salt
- Cube the ciabatta and fry in some olive oil and the rosemary until crisp. Finish with a generous sprinkling of sea salt.
- Mix with the other ingredients
Chris’ Anchovy dressing
12-15 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1 small clove garlic, crushed
A small handful of chives, finely chopped
A small handful of parsley, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
A grind of black pepper
A small dash of cider vinegar
Enough extra virgin olive oil to loosen everything to a dressing
- Crush the garlic and add to a pestle and mortar (usually I would crush it in the mortar with a pinch of salt but consider those anchovies….).
- Add the anchovies and work them in really well.
- Do the same with the herbs – as much as you can so it is all emulsified.
- Add the black pepper, lemon juice and vinegar and mix.
- Add the olive oil and whisk to emulsify.
If you like salads try my
Farro Salad with Rose Harissa Dressing
Watermelon, Caerphilly and Pumpkin Seed Salad
Feta, Chicory and Orange Salad
Kohlrabi, Fennel and Beetroot Salad
Broad (and Soy) Bean Salad with Pancetta
Fennel and Kohlrabi Salad
Globe Artichoke Salad
Potato Salad
Pear and Beetroot Salad
Rainbow Tomato Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella
From the blogosphere -
Kalyn does a great chop salad
Cardamom Citrus Fruit Salad from Simply Recipes – Genius!
Roasted Butternut, Feta and Pine Nut Salad from Jeanne
Lebanese Potato Salad from Hommos and Tabbouli
Roasted Beetroot and Halloumi Salad from Wendy
Category: Eggs, Fish, Lunchbox, Main Dishes, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetables 13 comments »
April 11th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Totally agree with you. Loathe those watery tomatoes and too thinly sliced cucumbers with the gelatinous french dressing plopped on top. They still occasionally creep onto the sides of my plate in pubs and restaurants. Yuck. No excuse for it. Salads have become wonderful, wonderful things indeed. Jamie Oliver is the one who changed my whole thinking on them.
Adore anchovie dressings and am looking forward to trying out this one.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Wendy – I definitely know what you mean about Jamie Oliver, he makes some fantastic salads. Actually, I think they might be what he does best.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Thanks for the inspiration! I haven’t done much with salads yet, mostly because I know jack about salad dressings. The anchovy one looks super interesting, I’ll definitely have to try it out. Thanks!
April 12th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Ciabatta cubes fried in rosemary and olive oil? I’ll take an extra side of those with my salad, please.
April 12th, 2008 at 1:21 am
I too hate “naked” salads…LOL. This looks absolutely amazing. Love all the combinations of veg and the dressing! (mmm…those rosemary oil croutons are definitely a highlight!).
April 12th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Right now strawberries are in season. So we have been making a lot of strawberry-spinach salads. I can’t wait until tomatoes are in season and I am right there with you on iceberg lettuce!
April 12th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Bring on the Salad!!!!! Thanks for all the previous links; I’ll have to take a quick browse through them.
April 12th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Iceburg lettuce…. the stuff of nightmares! These salads all look fabulous.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
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April 15th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Wow! Just look at that salad. I used to think that salads had to be boring and blunt, but I have seen so many great recipes online (counting yours) that I now have a lot of more healthy and delicious choices.
Thanks for sharing!
April 15th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Neen – Let me know what you think if you try that dressing, we think it’s fab.
Susan – An extra side of those croutons for you!
Peter G – Those naked salads are a menace to society.
evil chef mom – I wish strawberries were in season here, can’t wait!
Pixie – Bring it on!
Fearless Kitchen – iceberg lettuce is truly a sad thing isn’t it?
Edamame – Love the name!
Ben – thanks! I’m glad you found some inspiration, the salad is definitely over looked.
April 15th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I was never a big salad person, but salads like this definitely make me reconsider. it looks really tasty!
April 17th, 2008 at 1:38 am
OK, that does it. I’m coming to England for lunch with you and Chris!
Anchovy dressing and a fattoushy riff on a salad…
I’m in heaven!!
Great job, Helen.