Toast: Summer Salads

27 January 2014

Summer Salads

Summer is here & it is shaping up to be a long hot one; so the BBQ is on over time & on the side lots of salads. These 2 are from Ripe, A Fresh Batch which is full of the tasty, flavourful bright salads that we have come to expect. In their own words, which sums it up perfectly...

“Ripe Deli is a vibrant food-lovers haven conveniently located on Richmond Road, the famous strip that connects Grey Lynn & Ponsonby in Auckland. Ripe Deli focuses on innovative take-out food using the best of local ingredients. It is a one-stop shop where you can always find something to tickle anyone's taste buds!”

I’ll often head to Ripe if I have no idea what I want for lunch as it is indeed a haven for food lovers, they’ll always have a multitude of salads & tasty delights to choose from. There will always be an array of tempting colorful salads beckoning from the cabinet. And maybe some tender chicken coated in herbs or baked salmon or frittatas or quiches or rice cakes or potato hash cakes.. Then there might be a soup or a spicy taco or a tasty tart or turkish pizza saying take me, take me. You'll want to take them all. And that's before we get to an abundance of sweet treats. You’ll never leave empty handed that’s for sure!

So a BBQ the other weekend & the need for a couple of salads & these 2 were the perfect match for BBQ lamb.

Moroccan Street Salad, from Ripe A Fresh Batch

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

For the dressing

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp runny honey

2 tbsp olive oil

For the salad

1 red onion, peeled & finely diced

500g cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cucumber, deseeded & diced

1 red capsicum, deseeded & diced

1 yellow capsicum, deseeded & diced

1 green capsicum, deseeded & diced

2 cups Italian parsley, roughly chopped

8 large green olives, stoned & quartered

8 radishes, roughly chopped

1/2 preserved lemon, pulp removed, peel finely diced

Salt & pepper

Directions

To prepare the dressing place all the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid & shake well.

For the salad place all the ingredients in a large bowl & gently mix together. our over the dressing & mix well to combine. Season with salt & pepper, toss again & taste & adjust seasoning if need be.

New Potatoes with Crispy Capers, adapted only slightly from Ripe A Fresh Batch

*The original also calls for 4 hard boiled eggs, quartered. I switched olive oil for vegetable oil & upped the vinegar & the Dijon, as that’s what I like.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

For the salad

1.5kg baby new potatoes, cut the larger ones on half

2 sprigs fresh mint

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup capers

For the dressing

2 cups fresh basil, roughly chopped

1 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped

1 cup fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp whole grain mustard

1/2 tsp salt

Black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

Place the potatoes & mint in a large saucepan & cover with water & add a good pinch of salt. Turn the heat up to high & bring to a boil. Reduce the heat & simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain well, discard the mint & set aside.

While the potatoes are cooking heat a small frying pan over a high heat & add the olive oil. When hot add the capers & cook for 5-10 minutes until the capers are puffed & crispy. Remove from the heat & drain on paper towels.

For the dressing; place a 1/4 cup of the capers, the herbs, garlic, vinegar, mustard, salt & pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until just combined. With the motor running drizzle in the olive oil & blitz until the dressing is thick & well combined.

Place the potatoes in a large bowl along with the dressing & mix through to coat all the potatoes. Try to do this when the potatoes are warm & just before serving so that dressing stays a beautiful vibrant green & the warm potatoes absorb the flavours of the dressing. Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with the rest of the crispy capers & serve immediately.

The Moroccan salad was bright & cool & fresh & the perfect companion for BBQ on a hot summer evening, the baby potatoes wonderfully herb & of course those crispy capers...how can you not love those?