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Innocent Pea Salad with Evil Porky Pepita Crunch January 22, 2014

Filed under: Meat,Salads and Dressings — delishuss @ 11:54 am
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I’m not overly convinced about sweet and savoury combinations normally but I think this recipe really works. It’s great to source nice salad recipes. I know some of my nearest and dearest would not associate nice and salad in the same sentence but trust me this is great. I have taken the recipe from Matt Preston’s Fast, Fresh and Unbelievably Delicious cookbook which I got as a lovely Christmas gift (Thanks Robyn :-)).

Ingredients

1 cos lettuce, dark leaves discarded and the paler inner leaves finely shredded

360g (3 cups) frozen peas, cooked

140g (1 cup) celery, cut into pea-size dice

100g (1/2 cup) green apple, peeled and cut into pea-sized dice

Juice of 1 lemon

6 rashers streaky bacon, diced

40g butter

160g (1 cup) pepitas

100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

Salt flakes

200g fresh ricotta, cut from a wheel at the deli counter, not in a tub

100g feta

1 bunch mint, chopped

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

4 spring onions, cut into rings

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

 

Method

1. Lay the shredded lettuce down the middle of a platter. Layer the peas and the celery on top. Toss the apple in the lemon juice and sprinkle over the platter.

2. Make the bacon and the pepita crunch. Fry the bacon in the butter until it’s tanned in places. Throw in the pepitas and let them start to toast. When some of the pepitas are starting to go golden at the edges, stir in the sugar and let it melt. Keep stirring and a caramel with form from the brown sugar and the rendered pork fat which will coat the pepitas and bacon. Sprinkle with come salt flakes and spread out on baking paper.

3. Now finish the salad. Crumble over the cheeses- large lumps of ricotta, smaller lumps of feta- and scatter on the herbs. Dress the salad with olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar. Smash up the pepitas of evil and strew over the top.

Done! Serve!

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Chicken Sausage Salad November 25, 2013

Filed under: Chicken,Meat,Salads and Dressings,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 11:30 am
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Here’s another salad idea from Weight Watchers. It’s really substantial, you don’t feel like you are going to be starving ten minutes later.  I was actually starving making it so I didn’t get a chance to take any photos. Trust me it’s really good. I was a bit hesitant about the dressing but it tasted lovely, would consider using that for other salads.  I ended up using Thai Style Turkey Sausages from Aldi for the recipe. They are great, even the in-house taste tester was impressed.

Serves 4

Ingredients

12 baby chat potatoes, quartered

2 tsp vegetable oil

6 lean sausages

1/2 bunch rocket, chopped

1/2 cup (140g) no-fat Greek-style yoghurt

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 bunch watercress, sprigs picked

1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways, sliced

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

 

Method

1. Place the potato in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

2. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausages, turning, for 6-8 minutes or until browned and cooked. Slice diagonally.

3.  Using a food processor, process the rocket, yoghurt, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Combine the potato, sausage, watercress, cucumber and tomato in a serving bowl. Drizzle with the rocket and yoghurt dressing and toss to coat.

 

Warm Thai Pork Meatball & Noodle Salad

Filed under: Asian,Meat,Noodles,Salads and Dressings,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 11:10 am
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This is a great recipe. It’s filling and flavoursome. Salads can be so boring but not this one. It’s from a Weight Watchers magazine. Love it.

Serves 4

Ingredients

400g lean pork mince

1 tbs Thai red curry paste

1 1/2 tbs lime juice

2 tsp brown sugar

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 long fresh red chilli, finely chopped

200g dried rice noodles

640g pineapple, peeled, cored, cut into wedges

1 cup (80g) bean sprouts

2 celery sticks, thinly sliced diagonally

2 green shallots, thinly sliced diagonally

1 cup fresh coriander leaves

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, torn

1 tbp sunflower or canola oil

Method

1. Combine the mine and curry paste in a medium bowl. Roll the mixture into 20 balls.

2. To make the dressing, combine the dish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic and chilli in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.

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3, Cook the noodles following the packet instructions. Drain. Cool under cold water and drain. Place the noodles in a large bowl with the pineapple, bean sprouts, celery, shallot, and three quarters of the coriander and mint.

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4. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the meatballs, turning occasionally, for 8 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

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5, Add the meatballs to the salad. Drizzle with the dressing and toss to combine. Divide the salad between serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining coriander and mint.  http://www.pinterest.com/grainiac/recipes/

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Asian Style Chicken Salad October 13, 2013

Filed under: Asian,Chicken,Salads and Dressings,Uncategorized — delishuss @ 6:56 am
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I saw this recipe in the Woolworths Fresh store magazine. I think it’s really tasty and simple to put together but before you start the chicken needs to be marinated for 30 minutes. It’s worth doing to be honest because it infuses the flavours and also makes the meet more tender. This recipe is great if you are looking for something nice and light in the evening.

Serves 4

Ingredients

275g sachet of sweet chilli stir fry sauce. I used a Blue Dragon one with garlic in it.

1 large lime, juiced

600g free range chicken breast stir-fry strips

Spray oil

1 tsp vegetable oil

2cm piece ginger, peeled and grated

1 garlic clove, crushed

350g Ready to Stir-fry Asian Leaf Blend

1/2 bunch coriander

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 red chilli, sliced

Method

1. Combine sauce, lime juice and soy sauce and chicken in a bowl. Cover and stand for 30 minutes.

2. Spray a chargrill pan with oil. Place over a medium-high heat.

3. Reserve marinade and cook chicken strips, in batches, for 1 minute on each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to the bowl.

4. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add reserved marinade and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

5. Divide leaf blend between serving plates. Chop coriander and sprinkle over leaves. Top with the chicken. Drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle over chilli. Serve.

 

Chinese Style Chicken with Green Mango Salad September 21, 2012

Filed under: Chicken,Salads and Dressings,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 7:18 am
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Okay so I got this recipe from Weight Watchers and I went and bought the ingredients for it and then lost the recipe so it’s probably nothing like the original recipe but it tasted great all the same.  The recipe did state as far as I can recall that you could subsitute green mango for papaya if you couldn’t get it. So this is what I did. I only ever tasted papaya in a fruit salad before, my observation having tried it again on it’s own is that it’s pretty bland. However, I will say that it worked really well in this recipe. So here goes.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Marinade

350g chicken tenderloins

2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of fish sauce

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 garlic clove, crushed

 

Salad

50g of papaya or green mango, cut into fine match stick pieces

a few sprigs of fresh coriander, chopped

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 sugar

1 scallion chopped

1/4 – 1/2 green chilli, finely chopped

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

1. Marinade the chicken in the marinade ingredients. Try and marinade it for as long as possible, but if you are pushed for time an hour or so will be fine.

2. While the chicken is marinading make the salad. Start by adding the lime, sugar, chilli, soy sauce to a bowl and stir.

3.  Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry off the chicken pieces. They will only take about 3 minutes on either side. The marinade carmelises the chicken.

4. Add the coriander, scallions and papaya to the salad and stir.

 

Serving suggestion: serve on a bed of basmati rice, stack the salad in the centre of the rice and build the chicken pieces around the salad.  Hey presto, it’s done. Enjoy!

 

 

Feta, lentil and sundried tomato salad June 26, 2011

Filed under: Salads and Dressings,Starters — delishuss @ 9:17 pm
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I saw this recipe in a magazine or cookbook some time ago. When I went to try it, I couldn’t find it anywhere. So I decided to wing it and it turned out really well. It would be nice as part of buffet style salad bar.

Makes a big bowl

Ingredients

1  can green lentils

1 red onion, sliced thinly

300g feta cheese, cubed

75g sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped

5 tbsps balsamic vinegar

squeeze of lemon juice

handful of fresh basil, chopped

Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve.

 

Roast Beetroot with Fennel and Orange June 8, 2011

Filed under: Salads and Dressings,Vegetarian,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:28 pm
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Let’s face it salads can be really boring. This one is really different and full of flavour. It’s a Weight Watchers recipe, one which I got at the Kitchen in the Castle cookery school. To be honest, I wouldn’t have probably tried it unless I had tasted it. It’s a good one.

Serves 2

1 1/2 propoints value per serving

 

Ingredients

140g beetroot, unpeeled and sliced into thin wedges

1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 orange

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

30g light feta cheese

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius, gas mark 6

2. Place the beetroot and pepper in a roasting tin, drizzle over the olive oil and roast for 20 minutes until softened and begins to char.

3. Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut away the orange peel then cut between the pith lines to segment the orange. Do this over a bowl to collect any juices. Arrange the orange segments and fennel slices on two serving plates. Top with the hot beetroot and peppers.

4. Stir the orange juice and balsamic vinegar into the roasting tin, scraping up any sticky bits, then spoon over the salad. Crumble the cheese over the top and serve.

 

Beetroot and Feta Salad November 14, 2010

Filed under: Salads and Dressings,Vegetarian — delishuss @ 9:58 pm
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This recipe forms part of one of Jamie Oliver’s 30 minute meals menus.  Salads are not really winter food but I think you can get away with this recipe because beetroot is a root vegetable. I served this with Avoca’s nut loaf and rocket salad. Spiffingly good food.

Ingredients

1 x 250g pack of cooked
vac-packed beetroots
balsamic vinegar
½ a lemon
a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
50g feta cheese

Method

  • Grate the beetroot in the food processor. Remove the bowl from the processor, take out the grater attachment and pour in a couple of lugs of balsamic vinegar and a few lugs of extra virgin olive oil.
  • Squeeze in the juice of ½ a lemon.
  • Finely chop a bunch of parsley and add most of it. Stir to dress, then tip into a nice serving bowl. Scatter over the rest of the parsley.
  • Crumble over the feta. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and take to the table.

 

Chicken and puy lentil salad with coriander August 29, 2010

Filed under: Chicken,Healthy Eating,Salads and Dressings — delishuss @ 8:30 pm
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I got this recipe from TV3 ‘s Expose show. Clodagh McKenna was the name of the chef making the dish. It’s pretty quick and easy.

Ingredients

Preparation method

  1. Using a sharp knife, make a few long shallow incisions on both sides of the chicken breasts.
  2. Place the chicken in a bowl and add the ground coriander, garlic, a pinch of black pepper, two tablespoons of lemon juice and two tablespoons of the olive oil. Mix the marinade with the chicken in a bowl, making sure all the meat is evenly coated in the marinade. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes (or one hour if you have the time).
  3. Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas 8.
  4. When the oven is hot, spread the chicken out on a baking tray and cook it for 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. To ensure the chicken is cooked through, cut into the breast with a knife. Once cooked, take the chicken out of the oven and allow it to rest for a couple of minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, place the still-warm lentils in a saucepan, cover with water and boil for about 20 minutes, until cooked through.
  6. When cooked, drain the lentils then dress them with the remaining olive oil, lemon juice and chopped coriander, and season with salt and pepper.
  7. To serve, slice the chicken thinly and toss with the lentils (they can be still warm) and the mixed salad leaves. Place on plates or in a large bowl and sprinkle with the crumbled feta and a small drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
 

Asian Chicken Salad August 11, 2010

Filed under: Chicken,Fast Food,Salads and Dressings — delishuss @ 9:21 pm
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 Note: I served this with some noodles to bulk it up.

Ingredients

2 cooked, skinless chicken fillets, shredded

200g breansprouts, rinsed

1 large carrot, shredded or grated

125g Chinese leaves, shredded

50g mangetout, sliced

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp smooth peanut butter

3 tbsp honey

1 tbsp cider vinegar

½ tsp ground ginger

Instructions

  1. Mix the beansprouts together with the carrot, Chinese leaves, mangetout and chicken.
  2. Whisk the remaining ingredients together until smooth and drizzle over the salad before serving.