Four Simple Salads for Christmas

It is only 10 days to go and we are all planning the meal for our Xmas day. Turkey, ham, seafood and do we do hot or cold? A lot of Australians choose to have a cold meal if they eat during the day, slightly more relaxed because of the hot weather. When I say cold, meats just out of the oven at room temp and served with salads instead of hot vegetables.
There are so many beautiful fruits in season at the moment and of course a wide array of vegetables.
You don't have to go without either and can combine the two into salads, or perhaps we should say accompaniments to the main meal. Those who love their vegetables won't miss out. Give them a gorgeous dressing, which can be made well ahead.
I will endeavour to put up some more salads in the coming days !


Potato and Blue Cheese Salad

Small baby chat potatoes perhaps a kilo or just work out at least 2 per person, cut in half
8 bacon slices
1 cup crumbled blue cheese your favourite or a good Roquefort
2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon seeded mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup sour cream

 Cook potatoes in boiling in salted water until just tender. Drain and cut in half. this can be done the day before and kept in the fridge.
Whisk oil, vinegar, shallots and parsley, mustard, sour cream and honey together and season with salt and pepper.
Add the dressing to the warm potato.
Chop the bacon into small pieces or cook whole until crisp, drain and crumble.
Mound the potato onto your serving platter and scatter with bacon, blue cheese and chopped chives



Nectarine and Feta Salad

1 pkt Baby spinach leaves
250 grams soft feta cheese
2 nectarines
slivered toasted almonds
black sea salt or if unable to find use black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon honey
Rylstone olive oil

Mix the honey and olive oil in a jar and set aside.
Wash and cut the nectarines into quarters and then again into eights
Simply break off the feta into largish chunks
Toss the lot onto your serving plate, sprinkle with the slivered almonds and black sea salt and drizzle over the dressing at serving time. Easy…….

Tomato, Asparagus and Cress Salad with Haloumi

 2 bunches fresh asparagus steamed
150 grams fried haloumi
1/2  Red onion finely sliced
Salad greens and 1/2 bunch watercress
3-4 chopped tomatoes
white balsamic condiment
Fresh sea salt 
Rylstone olive oil

After steaming the asparagus, cut into 2 or 3 pieces. Fry the haloumi in a little olive oil and drain on paper towel. Put the asparagus onion and tomatoes in a bowl and toss with white balsamic condiment.
Arrange this on a mix of salad greens and cress and scatter the fried haloumi on top. Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt.

 Caramelised Sweet Potato and Fig Salad

 4 small sweet potatoes cut into wedges and roasted
75 grams toasted pine nuts
baby spinach and rocket mix salad  ( you can buy these leaves already packaged )
1/2 bunch watercress
4 ripe figs, cut into eighths
100 grams shaved parmesan cheese
Balsamic glaze
brown sugar

Toss the sweet potato pieces in the oil and balsamic glaze in a plastic bag.
Place into a roasting pan and sprinkle with brown sugar. Roast until just tender turning over during cooking time. Set aside to cool.
Put the cut figs into a bowl and sprinkle with olive oil and cracked pepper.
Place the salad greens and cress onto a serving platter and top with the sweet potato and cut figs.
Scatter with the toasted pine nuts and shaved parmesan and drizzle all with balsamic glaze and a little olive oil.

All of these can be increased in quantity, for a big crowd.

Chicken Involtini with Sweet Potato and Ginger Puree

I love this little chicken dish and the fact that it can be made the night before or well ahead is a bonus.
It is fabulous for a large group and I have often served it when entertaining a group of women. It is tasty and light goes a long way and never ceases to please. I usually serve it with a kumera mash but you could do a pumpkin, green pea, even  garlic potato. The last time I tried it with a cannelli bean and garlic mash and whilst it tasted great it didn't have a lot of plate appeal. The chicken looks better on a contrast colour. A green salad is all you need for an accompaniment and serve it with a drizzle of thickened stock or a veal demi glaze.

6  half chicken breasts { 2 breasts will feed 3 people even 4 if serving to women or small eaters so 6 breasts could potentially feed 18 but assume it will feed 12 and then there could be some left for seconds
18 pieces of prosciutto approx 3 pieces of a good prosciutto per breast
3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
90 grams toasted slivered almonds
1 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 cup chopped chives
1 cup parmesan cheese grated
1/2 cup pecorino grated
toothpicks
Glad bake

Puree

4 sweet potato
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup cream
2-3 tablespoons finely grated ginger
S+P


Boil the potatoes until tender. Mash with all the ingredients and set aside until serving. You can add more ginger if you like, more stock or less cream which will make it thinner.

Toast the almonds. Use a food processor to turn the bread into crumbs. Place in a bowl and mix in the herbs and cheese and toasted nuts.
Place a breast between two sheets of baking paper . Pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin. The paper stops it getting shredded to bits. You will end up with a flat quite large piece of chicken.
Lay three pieces of prosciutto on a sheet of paper or a board the same way to how you are going to roll it. Place a breast on top and spread some of the breadcrumb mixture on top leaving a little room free at the outer edges. Carefully roll the breast up as tightly as you can like a huge pinwheel. When you are finished secure it with toothpicks. You could also use cooking twine. It doesn't have to look really neat as it will be fine when cooked.
When finished all the breasts  wrap each one in a clean piece of baking paper  and roll the ends like a bon bon and put into a baking dish.
If not eating until later  place in the fridge.
Remove from the fridge about half an hour before you are ready to cook it. Heat the oven to 180C . Cook for about half an hour in the glad bake and then open the parcels  cook for a further 15 mins. This keeps the meat moist and gives it a bit of colour

Serve will a green salad of baby spinach, mint rocket and a bunch of cress. Toss the salad with lemon and olive oil and sea salt.

Flattened breast

Rolled with the prosciutto before securing with toothpicks

Roasted Vegetables Greek Style

These vegetables are very popular in the Want household and over the years have become a firm favourite.  My daughter always used to call them "the vegetables with the sticks in them " because of the fresh rosemary and thyme, and as the years have gone by that's exactly what we call it !

The dish is very comforting , the combination of flavours is incredibly tasty and intense. Serve it on its own  or with some feta sprinkled over the top if you want a smart vegetarian option! I usually serve it with a slow cooked lamb, a grilled steak or chicken or as a variation to the traditional  roast vegetables. It is particularly lovely in winter and autumn. They do take at least an hour depending on your oven, so allow time, and a dish large enough to take the two layers without it being too crowded, as it may take a little longer to cook.

I am a great fan of Paula Wolfert and this is where the inspiration for the dish came from.

1/2 kilo sweet potato peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 kilo potatoes, medium in size and cut into wedges
1/2 kilo zucchini rinsed, trimmed and cut into chunks
2-4 large spanish onions, cut into 6 wedges each
6 garlic cloves peeled and slightly crushed
1/2 kilo large fresh ripe tomatoes  sliced 

bunch of rosemary

bunch of thyme

olive oil such as Rylstone Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons sugar

salt and pepper

Set the oven rack to the middle shelf and preheat to 180C. Lightly oil a large baking dish.
Sprinkle the sliced tomato with the sugar.
Scatter half the potato, sweet potato, zucchini , spanish onions and garlic over the bottom of the dish.
Salt and pepper and add some of the herbs. Cover with a layer of the sugared tomatoes and drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil. Repeat with the remaining vegetables, finishing with the tomatoes and more olive oil.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, remove and stir to redistribute the vegetables, then bake for another 30-40 minutes.
Serve hot or luke warm, as is, or with feta. Black olives would make a nice addition if serving on its own

Sweet Potato and Cumin Soup

This hearty soup is almost a meal in itself. Its thick and full of flavour and is slightly Indian in taste. I serve it with pappadums and a cucumber and coriander yoghurt . The recipe makes a lot, it can be made well ahead of time and is fine to freeze. If you would like it a thinner consistancy pour some cream or milk into it just before reheating to serve.

1/3 cup peanut oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 medium sized onion chopped
2 cm piece of ginger pelled and chopped or grated
1 small red chilli seeded and chopped or a teaspoon of minced chilli ( if you don't like chilli leave this out )
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
2 large sweet potato approx 1 kilo peeled and chopped into rounds and halved or quartered
1 litre vegetable stock
1 cup yoghurt
1/2 cucumber peeled and seeded
handfulof chopped coriander
pappadums


Don't worry too much about the chopping, as once cooked, it gets pureed and blended.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and when hot, add the ground spices and cumin seeds. Stir for a minute, the add onion,ginger,garlic and chilli if using. Stir this mixture for another couple of minutes .Add sweet potato, tomatoes, and celery. Toss through to coat with the spices. Reduce heat and stir frequently for 5 minutes
Add the vegetable stock and simmer until the sweet potato is soft.
Process in a food processor, blender or with a bamix until smooth. Return to saucepan to reheat. You may add more stock to adjust consistancy or add milk or cream.
I chop cucumber into small dice and add to yoghurt with chopped corainder.
Serve hot topped with yoghurt mixture and a plate of pappadums.