My very own last minute salad.
If you’re like me and you like cooking, food, and all the sights and smells that it involves, salads are a breeze. A pleasant breeze, like the one that lifts your spirits, but leaves your hair as it is. If you’re like my sister, who doesn’t really like the cooking, but truly enjoys the product, a salad is an easy way to stay away from the rigours of the stove, and boy, is that worth it.
I bought the ingredients for this salad, without quite knowing what I was going to do with them. I had a starter and main dish in mind (Bruschettas and a Ham au gratin), but I needed something to offset the richness, and well, steamed vegetables, just didn’t cut it. So I had a vague idea of doing something that was crisp and fresh and what answers that better than lettuce, and what does lettuce go in, well a salad. I admit to having an obsessive need to buy shelled corn and mushrooms, every single time I got to the store, and I don’t know why. The cherry tomatoes looked cheerful, and the pear was purely for consumption as a fruit, but it seemed to call out to the salad, and it really worked. If pears are out of season, add any crisp but slightly tangy fruit that you feel will work, citrusy oranges, sweet limes, grapefruits and even apples will yield happy results.
Slip on some Beatles, Abbey Road, and enjoy yourself. This is the result of a hurried evening and a leisurely dinner.
Ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes – 200gms
Cucumber – 3, fairly small
Romaine Lettuce – 7-8 leaves
Oak leaf lettuce – 7-8 leaves
Sweet basil, fresh – 3-4 leaves
Lemon zest – of 1 lemon, plus its juice
Shelled corn – 200gms
Pear – 1
Green beans – 100gms
Black pepper – a few twists
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and place on a preheated grill, or a pan, on low heat, rounded side down, for about three minutes or until lightly charred. Once done, flip over and grill face down, for the same result. Remove from the grill and leave to cool.
In a pan, bring about three cups of water and a generous pinch of salt to a rolling boil. In the meantime, string the beans and slice diagonally to one inch wide pieces. Tip the shelled corn into the boiling water, and cook for approximately 4-5 minutes, then add the sliced beans. Watch for the beans to brighten in colour, they’ll become a beautiful intense green, count to 15, and take the pan off the flame. Drain in a colander, refresh with cool water and leave to cool.
Peel the cucumbers and slice them lengthwise into fairly slim slices, the diagonally into one inch wide pieces, so that they’re roughly the same size as the beans. The same for the pear but leave the skin on. Place both in the serving salad bowl, in the refrigerator to cool, ready to combine with the rest of the ingredients.
Once cooled, slice each grilled tomato into two, and place these, along with the shelled corn and beans in the bowl with the cucumber and pears.
Tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces, and grate the zest of the lemon into the vegetables, taking care to avoid the bitter white portion or pith. Slice the basil into strips and combine.
Squeeze a generous helping of lemon juice into the salad, stay off the salt if you can, add a few twists of fresh pepper, mix well and you’re ready to go.
Friday, September 18, 2009
My very own last minute salad.
If you’re like me and you like cooking, food, and all the sights and smells that it involves, salads are a breeze. A pleasant breeze, like the one that lifts your spirits, but leaves your hair as it is. If you’re like my sister, who doesn’t really like the cooking, but truly enjoys the product, a salad is an easy way to stay away from the rigours of the stove, and boy, is that worth it.
I bought the ingredients for this salad, without quite knowing what I was going to do with them. I had a starter and main dish in mind (Bruschettas and a Ham au gratin), but I needed something to offset the richness, and well, steamed vegetables, just didn’t cut it. So I had a vague idea of doing something that was crisp and fresh and what answers that better than lettuce, and what does lettuce go in, well a salad. I admit to having an obsessive need to buy shelled corn and mushrooms, every single time I got to the store, and I don’t know why. The cherry tomatoes looked cheerful, and the pear was purely for consumption as a fruit, but it seemed to call out to the salad, and it really worked. If pears are out of season, add any crisp but slightly tangy fruit that you feel will work, citrusy oranges, sweet limes, grapefruits and even apples will yield happy results.
Slip on some Beatles, Abbey Road, and enjoy yourself. This is the result of a hurried evening and a leisurely dinner.
Ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes – 200gms
Cucumber – 3, fairly small
Romaine Lettuce – 7-8 leaves
Oak leaf lettuce – 7-8 leaves
Sweet basil, fresh – 3-4 leaves
Lemon zest – of 1 lemon, plus its juice
Shelled corn – 200gms
Pear – 1
Green beans – 100gms
Black pepper – a few twists
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and place on a preheated grill, or a pan, on low heat, rounded side down, for about three minutes or until lightly charred. Once done, flip over and grill face down, for the same result. Remove from the grill and leave to cool.
In a pan, bring about three cups of water and a generous pinch of salt to a rolling boil. In the meantime, string the beans and slice diagonally to one inch wide pieces. Tip the shelled corn into the boiling water, and cook for approximately 4-5 minutes, then add the sliced beans. Watch for the beans to brighten in colour, they’ll become a beautiful intense green, count to 15, and take the pan off the flame. Drain in a colander, refresh with cool water and leave to cool.
Peel the cucumbers and slice them lengthwise into fairly slim slices, the diagonally into one inch wide pieces, so that they’re roughly the same size as the beans. The same for the pear but leave the skin on. Place both in the serving salad bowl, in the refrigerator to cool, ready to combine with the rest of the ingredients.
Once cooled, slice each grilled tomato into two, and place these, along with the shelled corn and beans in the bowl with the cucumber and pears.
Tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces, and grate the zest of the lemon into the vegetables, taking care to avoid the bitter white portion or pith. Slice the basil into strips and combine.
Squeeze a generous helping of lemon juice into the salad, stay off the salt if you can, add a few twists of fresh pepper, mix well and you’re ready to go.
If you’re like me and you like cooking, food, and all the sights and smells that it involves, salads are a breeze. A pleasant breeze, like the one that lifts your spirits, but leaves your hair as it is. If you’re like my sister, who doesn’t really like the cooking, but truly enjoys the product, a salad is an easy way to stay away from the rigours of the stove, and boy, is that worth it.
I bought the ingredients for this salad, without quite knowing what I was going to do with them. I had a starter and main dish in mind (Bruschettas and a Ham au gratin), but I needed something to offset the richness, and well, steamed vegetables, just didn’t cut it. So I had a vague idea of doing something that was crisp and fresh and what answers that better than lettuce, and what does lettuce go in, well a salad. I admit to having an obsessive need to buy shelled corn and mushrooms, every single time I got to the store, and I don’t know why. The cherry tomatoes looked cheerful, and the pear was purely for consumption as a fruit, but it seemed to call out to the salad, and it really worked. If pears are out of season, add any crisp but slightly tangy fruit that you feel will work, citrusy oranges, sweet limes, grapefruits and even apples will yield happy results.
Slip on some Beatles, Abbey Road, and enjoy yourself. This is the result of a hurried evening and a leisurely dinner.
Ingredients:
Cherry tomatoes – 200gms
Cucumber – 3, fairly small
Romaine Lettuce – 7-8 leaves
Oak leaf lettuce – 7-8 leaves
Sweet basil, fresh – 3-4 leaves
Lemon zest – of 1 lemon, plus its juice
Shelled corn – 200gms
Pear – 1
Green beans – 100gms
Black pepper – a few twists
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and place on a preheated grill, or a pan, on low heat, rounded side down, for about three minutes or until lightly charred. Once done, flip over and grill face down, for the same result. Remove from the grill and leave to cool.
In a pan, bring about three cups of water and a generous pinch of salt to a rolling boil. In the meantime, string the beans and slice diagonally to one inch wide pieces. Tip the shelled corn into the boiling water, and cook for approximately 4-5 minutes, then add the sliced beans. Watch for the beans to brighten in colour, they’ll become a beautiful intense green, count to 15, and take the pan off the flame. Drain in a colander, refresh with cool water and leave to cool.
Peel the cucumbers and slice them lengthwise into fairly slim slices, the diagonally into one inch wide pieces, so that they’re roughly the same size as the beans. The same for the pear but leave the skin on. Place both in the serving salad bowl, in the refrigerator to cool, ready to combine with the rest of the ingredients.
Once cooled, slice each grilled tomato into two, and place these, along with the shelled corn and beans in the bowl with the cucumber and pears.
Tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces, and grate the zest of the lemon into the vegetables, taking care to avoid the bitter white portion or pith. Slice the basil into strips and combine.
Squeeze a generous helping of lemon juice into the salad, stay off the salt if you can, add a few twists of fresh pepper, mix well and you’re ready to go.
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