Some great local & home grown produce in these easy salad recipes
Home grown herbs
Blending the dressing for the chorizo salad
Wooded pig chorizo and baby gem caesar
This is just a little twist on the classic Caesar, i'm using wooded pig chorizo from a free range farm in Co Meath
Ingredients
- 80g sliced chorizo
- 2x free range or organic eggs
- 1x shredded shallot (thinly sliced)
- 2x slices of sourdough loaf (1 per person)
- 1 x head of baby gem, leaves washed and split in half
- Fresh Parmesan for finishing say 20g
- Dressing
- 2x salted anchovy fillets
- 1x tbsp lemon juice
- 1x tbsp umber apple cider vinegar ( From County Armagh )
- 2x tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ clove garlic finely chopped
- 1x tsp honey
- 4x tbs rapeseed oil
- 1x tbsp warm water
Directions
- Fry the chorizo until crispy in a little rapeseed oil, set aside and fry the sourdough in the same pan to soak up the oil from the chorizo.
- Bring a pot of water to a gentle boil and poach the eggs for approx. 4min.
- Make the dressing by placing all of the ingredients in a blender & whizz until emulsified.
- Mix in the shredded shallots with the dressing.
- Toss the dressing with the baby gem and divide between two plates. Top with the chorizo.
- Pop on the poached egg, & fried sourdough croutes, serve with a good grind of black pepper and grating of fresh Parmesan.
Garden Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella & Pesto
Simple ingredients make some for the tastiest salads or side dish, not alot new here, just the choice of ingredients can make all the difference
Ingredients
- 200g cherry tomatoes, ( This is the key elment see note below )
- 125g mozzarella ( I used Macroom Buffalo )
- 1x tbsp good quality pesto or make your own
- Few shavings of fresh Parmesan
- sprigs of fresh oregano
- sea-salt flakes & fresh blackpepper
Directions
- Make sure the tomatoes are at room temperature, slice in half, or crossways if you are using larger ones
- Scatter on serving plates & tear up the mozzarella and divide between the two plates,
- If the pesto is thick, loosen with a little olive oil & drizzle over the tomatoes and cheese
- Finish with sprigs of oregano leaves, a few shavings of parmesan, flakes of sea-salt, grind of black pepper and drizzle of olive oil.
I’m lucky to be able to grow my own tomatoes without very much effort, it was my kids who planted these during the first lockdown
so I would encourage anyone to have a go – especially with the lesser known varieties. They certainly can make all the difference to this dish.
Building the dish, tiger cherry & gardeners delight form the green house
Crown Prince Pumpkin, Chorizo, Mustard greens, Pickled Beet & Corleggy Soft Goats Cheese
Crown Prince Pumpkin, Chorizo, Mustard greens, Pickled Beet & Corleggy Soft Goats Cheese
Some great Irish ingredients in this recipe, corleggy goats cheese, wooded pig chorizo, Mustard Greens, beet & pumpkin from McNally's Organic Family farm
Ingredients
- 200g diced pumpkin or butternut squash, roughly 3cm chunks
- 1 x tbsp rapeseed oil
- 80g sliced chorizo
- 100g Corleggy Kid young raw goats’milk cheese or good quality cheese of your choice
- Good Bunch of Mustard greens or leaves of your choice
- 50g pickled beetroot
- Creamy Mustard & Greek Yogurt Dressing
- 1 x Whole egg
- 1 x tbsp lemon juice
- 1 x tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 x tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 x tbsp Greek Yogurt
- 200ml Rapseed oil or Sunflower
- ½ tsp Za’atar spice soaked in a teaspoon of water
- Add egg, mustard, lemon juice & vinegar in blender, give it a quick whizz around, then gently drizzle in oil until emulsified. Fold in the yogurt, some ground blackpepper & Za’atar seasoning
Directions
- Toss the pumpkin/squash in tbsp oil season and roast for 30 mins or until just soft enough to gently pierce with a knife @ 180/c gas 4
- Add in the chorizo for the last 10 min on a seperate tray
- To assemble, place greens on the plate scatter over pumpkin, chorizo and also drizzle over the oil from the chorizo
- Tear or slice up goats cheese and place on top, dollop over the dressing
- Scatter on the pickled beets.
- Please see recipe for pickled beetroot below.
- Corleggy goat’s milk cheese has a mild delicate taste, not over-powering – ideal for this recipe & the dressing with its sharpness balances with the sweet pumpkin.
Pickled coloured beetroot
Ingredients
- 200g small washed beetroot that have been thinly sliced on a mandolin or very carefully sliced with a sharp knife
- 200ml White Wine Vinegar
- 75ml Water
- 75g Caster Sugar
- 8 Wholeblackpeppercorns
- ½ tsp Fennel Seeds
- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- Small Kilner Jar
Directions
- Place all the ingredient into a pot, bring to boil & simmer for a minute until the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the mixture into the jar & seal
When in season, this sprouting broccoli, along with asparagus, makes a great & easy salad
More salads ideas
Purple bean-pear & squash salad
Salads-griddled nectarines-squash & feta-miso dressing
Tempura-pattypan squash blossoms-wet garlic-herb vinaigrette
The broken oven simple & tasty recipe ideas 
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