“You don’t win friends with salad!” It can be true. But some salad’s can really kick off a friendship, I hope the ones below are different enough from the iceberg lettuce salads with grated carrot and cheese that your grandma served you.
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Balsamic Chicken Salad
3 skinless chicken breasts
1 400g tin whole tomatoes, drained and quartered
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
¼ cup of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
A few handfuls of baby spinach leaves
2 carrots, sliced thinly
3 medium mushrooms sliced
1 red capsicum sliced
½ cucumber sliced thinly
100g Fetta cheese, cut into small cubes
6 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted*
Combine tomatoes, capers, vinegar and sugar. Place chicken breasts into a baking dish and cover with mixture, making sure tomatoes and capers are placed on top of each breast. Bake in a 200 C oven and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Drain liquid into container. Place chicken and liquid container into the fridge to allow to cool.
Mix spinach, carrots, mushrooms, capsicum, cucumber and distribute into serving bowls. Place fetta on top of salad.
Slice chicken into large, but bite sized portions and distribute between bowls. Dress with reserved cooking liquid and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. Serves 3-4
*To toast pine nuts, either place them on a baking tray and bake in a moderate oven until done (but careful they don’t burn!). Or more simply, dry fry them in a low-medium heat frying pan, stirring frequently until brown and aromatic.
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Roast Pumpkin, Rocket & Current Fettuccine Salad
Ingredients
1 kg butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 3cm pieces
Olive oil spray
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Freshly ground salt and black pepper
1/3 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup currants
400g dried fettucine pasta
80g rocket leaves
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
100g feta cheese crumbled
1. Preheat oven to 220oC. Place pumpkin onto greased oven tray. Spray with oil, spinkle with garlic and salt and pepper. Roast pumpkin for 30min or until just tender (don’t overcook!).
2. Meanwhile, place chicken stock and currants in a small heat-proof bowl. Cover with plastic and microwave on high for 3min. Set aside.
3. When pumpkin is halfway through cooking time, cook fettuccine in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to packet instructions. Drain and return to pan
4. Add pumpkin and pan juices, current mixture, rocket, extra virgin olive oil and fetta to fettuccine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently on low heat until rocket just wilts and serve. Can be served cold.
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Thai Beef, Green Mango and Lychee Salad
Salad
500g very thinly sliced rump, T-bone, fillet, or sirloin steak
1/2 bunch each of basil and mint leaves, slightly chopped
1 whole bunch coriander leaves
1/2 green mango (AKA cooking mango), julienned
1 cup canned lychees, quartered
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1 long red chilli, sliced
Dressing
5 tablespoons palm sugar, shaved
5 table spoons lime juice
4 tablespoons fish sauce
4 garlic cloves, slices
3 birds eye chillies, chopped
In a pan stir fry beef in a small layer of oil in small batches very quickly until browned. Put aside. Mix all other ingredients together in a large bowl. For the dressing, fry garlic and chillies in a little oil until cooked. Combine palm sugar, garlic and chilli mixture and 1-2 tablespoons of the lime juice and pound together until ingredients are mixed and sugar is dissolved. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients. To serve, lay salad on a plate, top with beef and dress. Serves 4.
