Summer herb vinaigrette - Useful
2013-07-12 23:20:45
Serves 4
Lovely with summer courgettes, cut into ribbons, radishes, crunchy lettuce leaves, green beans, and more.
Ingredients
- a large handful of fresh, soft green herbs
- (e.g. basil, coriander, mint, tarragon, chives),
- finely chopped
- 100ml olive oil
- 3 tablespoons cider or white wine vinegar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon honey
- sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a jam jar. Shake and store in the fridge for 1–2 days.
A Guide to Salads
- Chop
- Chopped salads have tremendous crunch and flavour. The idea is to chop all of your salad ingredients into a similar-sized dice, so in each mouthful you have a mix of different veggies throwing off all sorts of wonderful flavours. Classic chopped salads include the Cobb and the Waldorf. Throw a few surprises into the mix, such as toasted nuts, seeds, chickpeas, croûtons or fried onions. Turn a chopped medley into a main course by adding shreds of leftover meat, boiled egg, cheese or fish. You can also stuff a chopped salad into pita bread or fold it into a warm tortilla wrap.
- Grate
- This is a brilliant way to get root veg into a salad. Beetroot and carrots add crunch and colour. You can also grate courgettes or butternut squash. Try tossing grated veg with a Chilli Balsamic Vinaigrette, made by whisking equal parts balsamic vinegar and olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of fresh red chilli or chilli powder. Delicious mixed with fresh herbs or salad leaves and toasted pinenuts or almonds.
- Julienne
- You don’t need a special mandolin to do this. I just use a wide knife blade and a cutting board. That’s it. Just peel your vegetables, if needed. Slice into 0.5cmthick panels (or as thin as you can slice them). Then cut each panel into matchsticks — the length (and width) is up to you. Perfect julienne veg include: carrots, courgettes, beetroot, butternut squash, cucumbers and kohlrabi.
- Ribbons and Shavings
- Any fairly firm vegetable can be cut into long ribbons or wispy shavings with a vegetable peeler. Just approach it as though you’re going to peel it but keep going beyond the peel (if it has one). Great veg for ribbons: courgettes, cucumber, carrots, broccoli stalks and butternut squash (it softens and effectively cooks in a vinaigrette, so don’t be afraid to use it in salads). Great veg for shavings: beetroot, fennel, radish, courgettes.
- .…and the Lebanese lazy salad approach
- This is an all-time favourite. It involves no work and it looks stunning. Children love it too. Basically, all you do is fill a salad bowl full of raw, uncut or roughly cut salad ingredients: a leafy head of lettuce, whole tomatoes, a whole cucumber, a bunch of radishes. It’s a cross between a salad and crudités.
Crystal Palace Food Market https://www.crystalpalacefoodmarket.co.uk/
