Melon, feta and toasted almond salad with honey-miso dressing

The last few months, I have made a lot of delicious salads, but rarely remembered to write them down here. This one I have made again and again. It's simple, but really refreshing.

1-2 little gem lettuces (or butter lettuce, or similar mild/crisp lettuce)
1/2 a small Galia melon (or canteloupe)
1/2 of a 200 g pack feta
approx. 1/4 cup almonds, chopped

For the dressing:
2 tsp white miso
1 tsp honey
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
black pepper and a little salt (not much, the miso is salty)

Wash and chop the lettuce and put it in a medium sized bowl. Remove the peel from the melon, chop it into bite-sized chunks and add to the bowl. Crumble in the feta. Toast the almonds in a frying pan over a medium-low heat until lightly browned (or in the oven, if you feel like switching it on)

In a separate, small bowl, beat together the dressing ingredients. When ready to serve, add the toasted nuts to the salad, then pour over the dressing and toss.


Notes: sometimes I like to add a little chopped mint - not always though, often it's good in it's simplest form. This dressing is in very regular rotation in our kitchen - over all kinds of salads - it's very adaptable - sometimes just a hint of miso, sometimes some mustard too, sometimes lemon juice instead of vinegar, sometimes without honey...

Red cabbage, radish, sesame and wasabi

We had a red cabbage in the fridge, and three tubes of wasabi to use up before we leave (not going to happen)... I'd stumbled across these coleslaw recipes a couple of times, and this time thought I'd borrow the wasabi dressing idea for a red cabbage salad.

~1/2 a smallish red cabbage
2 medium-large purple radishes, peeled and grated
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
~ 1 tbsp chopped chives

~1 tbsp peeled, finely chopped ginger
~1 tbsp wasabi paste
~ 2 tsp honey
juice of ~ 1/3 lime
~1 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar (optional)
~1 tbsp cider vinegar
~1 tsp sesame oil
~ 1 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp white sesame seeds and 1 tbsp black sesame seeds, toasted

Finely shred the cabbage and put in a medium bowl with the grated radishes and carrots. Add the chives. In a small bowl, whisk together the ginger, wasabi, honey, lime juice, vinegars and oils. Pour the dressing over the vegetables, add the toasted seeds, toss and serve. Best eaten immediately but keeps OK for a couple of days in the fridge.


Another fresh+tasty Winter salad.

Kale salad with cashew dressing

One night a week or so ago S had an express wish for a kale salad with white sauce. He wanted to use almond milk, but I couldn't work out how that would make things thick and creamy enough for his dream. So I suggested soaking cashews. I put some in water in the fridge a couple of nights ago, and last night S completed his dream salad. I was sure I'd seen the cashew dressing idea somewhere, but now I have no idea where, so we just made it up.

For the dressing:
1 cup raw cashews
2 cups water
1-2 tbsp white miso
1/2 clove garlic, peeled
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp lemon juice (or cider vinegar)
1-2 tbsp almond milk (and more for good consistency)
black pepper

Rest of the salad:
1 bunch kale
2 medium tomatoes
~2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds
~1 tbsp dried sour cherries

Put the cashews in a container with the water and leave in the fridge to soak, at least overnight; fine for several days (we used ours after ~ 48 hours).

When ready for salad, drain the cashews. Put into blender cup and add miso, olive oil, lemon juice, almond milk and black pepper. Blend the dressing until smooth, adding more almond milk if needed, until a good, creamy consistency is reached. Taste for seasoning.

Wash the kale, remove stalks and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. Put in a serving bowl. Add the dressing and mix well with your hands, massaging the kale as you go.

Chop the tomatoes roughly and add them to the salad with the almonds and sour cherries. Toss and taste for seasoning. Eat straight away, or keeps pretty well in the fridge (consider keeping toasted almonds separately if planning to store it).

Blueberry and almond salad with blueberry vinaigrette

We biked to Wegmans in Chestnut Hill. It's a big, new supermarket; S was excited to go there. Their main appeal (to us) seemed to be selling fruit and veg in 'family packs'. We were restricted somewhat by having to carry them on our backs, but ended up with a lot of blueberries anyway. We were attempting conversation on our bikes, considering dinner and salad and our recent purchases: I thought S suggested blueberry salad, our wires were crossed, but it seemed like a good idea anyway.

leaves of 1/2 a butter lettuce, washed well and torn into bite size pieces
1 spring onion, washed and finely chopped
~1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, washed
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper
1/4 cup toasted flaked almonds

Put the lettuce and spring onion in a serving bowl with a cupful of the blueberries. Put the remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries in a blender with the vinegar and blitz til smooth. Transfer blueberry mixture to a small bowl and whisk with the olive oil, salt and pepper til homogeneous. To serve, scatter the flaked almonds over the blueberries and lettuce in the bowl, then add the dressing and toss.

Beetroot and orange salad

A said she found beetroot inspiration (beetspiration?) on here the other day, which in turn inspired me to make something with the candycane beetroots festering in my fridge.

Of course they keep pretty much forever so no rush (same with the oranges), but I've been on a bit of a using-up kick so it felt good to eat them up.

I have been down on candycane beetroot of late - you just cannot cook them as they lose their pattern and colour and their flavour isn't as intense as the fully-pink ones either. But if you keep them raw they are lovely, so if you have candycane (Chioggia) beetroot this salad is the right sort of thing to do.

juice and zest of 1 orange (ended up with zest of normal orange and juice of Seville orange)
1/4 clove garlic, crushed with salt
1 tsp pomegranate molasses (or honey - if using honey and normal orange juice add a squeeze of lemon as well)
1 tsp white miso
2 tbsp olive oil
4 small beetroot (mine were candycane and very pretty but normal would be fine too), peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
handful of chopped coriander
Put the orange juice and zest in a small bowl and mix in the crushed garlic. Add pomegranate molasses, miso and olive oil and whisk together to make the dressing. Set aside. 

Prepare the beetroot and carrot and put the matchsticks in a serving bowl. Add the sesame seeds and coriander, then tip the dressing in and mix well. Good immediately or after being in the fridge overnight (perhaps keep the sesame seeds and coriander separately if overnight is the plan).


This was nice. The Seville oranges contain masses of juice so it ended up quite juicy and sharp - think this would be softened if normal orange was used, probably no bad thing. Very pretty - striped beetroot, orange, green and seeds; just enough crunch.

Glass noodle salad (peanuts, sweetcorn and sprouts)

I was making tofu salad from my last batch of homemade tofu, we needed something else, this was quick and complementary. I have made versions of this many times and always get frustrated with how the dressing fails to coat the noodles and the other vegetables etc get all clumped down the bottom of the bowl. I was actually quite pleased with this one, so here it is. Think key things are: slightly undercook the noodles and drain them well; don't skimp on the sauce; make veg / additions small and/or clingy so they stay in among the noodles as much as poss.

4 bundles of glass noodles
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh lemongrass
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp light miso
2 tbsp rice vinegar (or lime juice)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp mirin
2 tbsp peanuts
1/2 cup assorted little beansprouts (used lentils and alfalfa)
3/4 cup frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
1/4 cup coriander, chopped (or a mixture of coriander and mint)

Put the noodles in a pan of boiling water and simmer for about 5 min, until the bundles loosen and the noodles become bendy but not soft - make sure they are al dente. Drain and run under cold water to stop cooking quickly.

While the noodles are cooking you can start preparing the other ingredients: toast and crush the peanuts, defrost sweetcorn, wash and chop coriander, ginger, lemongrass. Put ginger and lemongrass in a small bowl with the peanut butter, miso, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and mirin and whisk together with a fork. Check for consistency (should be runny but thick) and taste for sweet-sour-saltiness and modify.

Put the noodles in a serving bowl, add the peanut butter mixture and toss well with a spoon and fork so the noodles are all coated. Add the toasted crushed peanuts, sweetcorn, beansprouts and coriander (and/or mint), toss again and serve immediately.

Mulberry, cranberry, wheatberry, walnut

All these berries seemed so coincidental - the wheatberries, the dried berries, the pickled berries, even the berry molasses appeared just when I was about to get out the honey. I am gradually plundering my cupboardful of preserves - these juicy pickled mulberries were from the first harvest of last year. So, salad or grain, either way, this is nice.

1 cup wheatberries, cooked until tender in ~ 2 cups water
~1 tbsp white miso
~1 tbsp mulberry molasses
~2 tbsp mulberry vinegar (from the pickled mulberries, top up with red wine vinegar if you don't have enough)
~2 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper
~20 pickled mulberries
~1/4 cup walnut pieces
~2 tbsp dried cranberries
~1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
~2 tsp cacao nibs (optional)

Put the wheatberries on to cook, and in the meantime prepare all the other ingredients. To make the dressing, whisk the miso, mulberry molasses, vinegar, olive oil and some salt and pepper together in a small bowl and taste to check balance. Put the cooked wheatberries in a serving bowl and add the dressing. Toss and let cool a little. Add the pickled mulberries, walnuts, cranberries, parsley and cacao, mix up and taste to check seasoning etc. Eat warm or cold.

Green leaves and beans, pomegranate molasses, sesame

half a bag of salad leaves (mostly baby kale and spinach)
~1 cup green beans, topped and tailed and chopped into pieces
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tsp white miso
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp olive oil
water

Boil the green beans for ~4-6 min, until just tender. Refresh under cold water and then drain. Put leaves and beans in a salad bowl. Add the toasted sesame seeds. In a small bowl beat the tahini, pomegranate molasses, miso, mirin and olive oil together with a fork, then beat in water until it is thinned to a good dressing consistency. When ready to serve, pour the dressing over the greens and mix well together.

Mulberry harvest: pickled mulberries

Second experiment with my mulberry bounty was pickled mulberries: I fancied making something savoury, this idea came into my head, and I liked it. I used this recipe.

Pickled Mulberries
(quantities below would make 3 smallish jars (the official canning style of jars) - I did only one cup of mulberries' worth though)

2 cups mulberries
3/8 cup white vinegar
3/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 small bay leaf

Put the berries in dumpy, sterilised jars. Put the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour over the berries, so that the vinegar reaches to 1/8 in below the top. Put the lids on and screw on (but not too tight). Bring a large pan of water with a rack in it to the boil. Put the jars in, bring back to the boil and keep at a simmer for 10 min. Remove the jars carefully and allow to cool.


Mulberry Salad Dressing

1 tbsp pickled mulberries - make sure to include some berries and some vinegar
1 tbsp azuki bean miso
1/2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp honey
1/2 tbsp mirin

Mix all the ingredients together in the bottom of a salad bowl to make the dressing. Add washed lettuce leaves, chopped tomatoes and a sprinkling of sesame seeds, toss and eat.


These are interesting. I opened one jar immediately out of curiosity, and they are bright pink and lovely. Quite vinegary (perhaps they will mellow over time?) and a little sweet, and unavoidably reminiscent of pickled beetroot. Thought they worked really well in the salad dressing: the azuki bean miso is also pinkish (-red-brown), so the dressing comes out really pink as well as really tasty.

Really simple miso-tahini salad dressing

Vinaigrette only gets you so far. I always hated mayonnaise. But there is something to be said for a dressing that coats the salad leaves thickly. This fits the bill, and I think it tastes great: sweet, sour, umami, tangy, toasty, all the good things. All you need is this and some robust salad leaves and you have a great salad.

2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp tahini
1-2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp honey (optional)
water

Mix miso, tahini, honey and vinegar in a bowl. Add water until it is a good consistency. Put a load of salad leaves (Romaine?) in a bowl, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and then toss with the dressing. Done.

Wheat berries, roasted veg and harissa-style dressing

Wheatberries:
1 cup wheatberries
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
juice of 1/4 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey
salt and pepper

Roasted veg:
1 red pepper
1 medium courgette
1 medium onion
2 handfuls small cherry tomatoes
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp basil, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Harissa-style dressing:
juice of half a lime
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp tomato puree
1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cayenne

Cook wheatberries in 2 cups water for about half an hour / until done.  Mix lemon juice, olive oil, honey and salt and pepper in the bottom of a medium bowl.  Add the cooked, warm wheatberries and mix together.  Allow to cool a little and then add the chopped parsley and mix.

Chop the pepper, onion and courgette into chunks.  Peel and chop the garlic.  Put into a medium baking tray and sprinkle with chopped basil, olive oil and salt and pepper.  Roast at 375F for ~45min, tossing occasionally to avoid uneven cooking / burning.  Remove from the oven, cool a little then add the balsamic vinegar and toss.

Mix the ingredients for harissa-style dressing together, tweaking quantities to taste.

Eat together, mixing to taste.

The harissa dressing is an old favourite - Delia Smith via Shireen.  The rest was just simple bits and pieces.  A good supper.