italian bread salad

heat oven to 200º celsius.

tear 1 ciabatta loaf into small chunks, place on a baking tray, drizzle with a touch of olive oil and bake for 5 minutes until golden.

place 6 quartered tomatoes, 4 cloves of garlic and a few sprigs of thyme on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. bake for 10 minutes, then allow to cool slightly.

toss the croutons, tomatoes, 1 disk of sliced camembert cheese and a handful of fresh rocket leaves together and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. allow to stand for 20 minutes before serving.

ina's incredible rice salad

gently cook 1 cup of rice in 2 and a bit cups of salted water until all the water has been absorbed. set aside.

melt 2 generous tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan. add 250g chopped mushrooms and fry over a high heat until the moisture from the mushrooms has cooked away. reduce the heat and add 1 sliced onion, 1 each green, red and yellow pepper and 2 teaspoons of finely chopped garlic. fry gently until softened and golden in colour. add salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste.

add 1 cup of cubed mixed vegetables, the frozen kind that includes carrots, peas and corn, which has been cooked and drained.

stir through the cooked rice, add a tablespoon or so of mayonnaise and transfer to your serving dish.

serve at room temperature. absolutely delicious!!!

waldorf salad

core and chop 4 crisp, green apples into bite size pieces. sprinkle 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over the apples to prevent them from browning.

plump up ½ cup of raisins. do this by soaking them in hot tap water, covered, and letting them stand for a few minutes. drain well and add them to the apples pieces.

thinly slice about 3 stalks of celery, and add to the salad.

add ½ cup of walnuts, although i prefer to use macadamia nuts instead, your choice…

in a bowl, mix ½ cup of mayonnaise with 3 teaspoons of sugar and then stir through the salad, coating all the ingredients.

a fresh, crunchy and chewy salad, perfect for hot summer days.

fresh pineapple salsa

combine 2 cups of coarsely chopped fresh pineapple, ½ cup of chopped sweet red pepper, ¼ cup finely chopped red onions, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1 small fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped. stir through well. cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

excellent with grilled salmon
or combine with cooked fresh fish of your choice and add mayo for a fish salad

caesar salad

my way…

fry 100g streaky bacon in a pan until crispy. slice one french loaf thinly, and toast in a little olive oil.

in a salad bowl, toss 200g of endive salad leaves, the cooled bacon and croutons. garnish with shavings of parmesan cheese. pour dressing over.


the dressing…

mix 2 egg yolks, the juice of 1 lemon, 6 anchovy fillets and 2 cloves of crushed garlic. add ½ cup of olive oil in a slow steady stream, whisking all the time, until a thick emulsion forms. season to taste.

caprese salad

my new favourite....


thickly slice an even amount of mozzarella and tomatoes. overlap the tomato and cheese on a serving platter, inserting fresh basil leaves between the layers. drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

beetroot and roasted butternut salad

cut 400g butternut into chunks, place on a oven tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. roast at 180° celsius for about 45 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the butternut is tender and nicely browned.

boil 400g beetroot in their skin until tender, drain and allow to cool, then peel and cut into chunks.

cut 200g haloumi cheese into thickish slices and fry in butter until golden. allow to cool and cut into bite-size chunks.

fill a shallow salad bowl with a selection of salad leaves of your choice. place ½ the beetroot on the leaves, followed by ½ the roasted butternut and ½ the cheese. sprinkle with a selection of roasted seeds. i use a sunflower and pumpkin seed mixture. drizzle over creamed balsamic vinegar. the berry infused variety is especially nice. follow with a second layer. serve at room temperature.

simple, easy, delicious as a meal on its own or as a side salad.

snoked snoek salad

just the thing for a hot summers night. we just had some….

peel and cut a fresh pineapple into cubes, sprinkle with castor sugar and set aside.

line a large salad bowl with a roughly torn selection of fresh salad leaves.

boil 300g butternut and sage cappelletti pasta pockets as per instructions and cool under cold running water. make a salsa of 1 finely chopped onion, 1 clove of crushed garlic, 2 finely chopped tomatoes and half a finely chopped cucumber. season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. add a dash of olive oil. stir through the cooled cappelletti. place on the shredded lettuce leaves.

flake 400g smoked snoek, taking care to remove all the bones. make a dressing of 150g bulgarian yoghurt, 50g sweet chilli sauce and a dash of balamic vinegar syrup. mix thoroughly and stir through the smoked snoek. place on top of the cappelletti.

finally, end it off with a generous sprinkling of the pineapple pieces and slices of avocado.

great with garlic bread!

cheese and tomato salad

drizzle 250g rosa tomatoes with olive oil and roast for 20 minutes at 180˚ celcius. drain and allow to cool slightly.

cut 3 slices of mozzarella cheese into wedges.

boil 250g of any kind of spiral pasta according to instructions. rinse and drain.

make a dressing of 4 tablespoons of plain yoghurt and 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce.

mix the tomatoes with the mozzarella cheese, pasta and dressing.

enjoy!

chicken salad

this IS the best ever chicken salad i found in a magazine. from jamie oliver of course.

take a whole chicken, drizzle with olive oil and spice, then roast for 1 hour at 180° celsius in a large roasting dish.

take a whole ciabatta loaf and roughly break into pieces. remove the chicken from the oven and arrange the bread pieces in the roasting dish around the chicken. roast for a further 30 minutes. the bread pieces now become lovely croutons.

allow the chicken to cool and roughly tear into pieces.

while the chicken is in the oven, roast 500g of rosa tomatoes drizzled with olive oil. this will take about 20 minutes. allow to cool, reserving the juices.

fry until crispy a 250g packet of bacon, drain, cut into bite size pieces and allow to cool.

form a salad base of 500g rocket leaves and a handful of mint leaves. top with the chicken chunks, croutons, bacon and roast tomatoes and toss lightly. to the reserved tomato juice, add a dash of balsamic vinegar and use this as dressing for the salad. add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

a brilliant meal-in-one!

sweet chili salad dressing

i nearly forgot about this. the best ever home-made salad dressing i've ever tasted. i'm having it with any and every salad lately, and it's also great with grilled chicken or fish. and so simply it's scary...

½ cup of plain yoghurt, 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. mix well and enjoy.

as the mood and contents of the fridge dictates, occasionally i mix in finely chopped fresh rocket, chives or basil, or finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes or peppadews, and i experiment with various spice rubs which hide in the grocery cupboard. so do what your imagination dictates, either way, the basic recipe is great as it is...

pineapple salad

since it's a beautiful sunny and warm day, we are having a good ole' fashioned braai today. however, i discovered this salad which i'm testing on my family today.

peel, slice and cut into wedges 1 whole fresh pineapple. grate 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger over the pineapple. add 1 fresh grenadilla and pour over some honey. stir through. delicious with a dollop of vanilla yoghurt...

watermelon & halloumi salad

halloumi is a greek cheese made from goat’s milk, and is one of the few non-melting cheeses around. i got this receipt from a greek deli-owner friend. yesterday while out shopping, i saw what must be the last of the seasons watermelons. since summer will only be returning in a while, i guess i’ll make this while i can.


peel and cube watermelon into bite-sized pieces. remove pips as you go along, but it’s not necessary to remove each and every single one of them.

slice halloumi cheese into 2cm thick slices. heat butter in a pan and fry the cheese over medium heat until golden brown. allow to cool to room temperature and cut into bite-sized pieces.

toss the watermelon and halloumi cheese with roughly torn rocket leaves and about 3 cloves of finely crushed garlic, drizzle with freshly squeezed lemon juice, and sprinkle with course ground salt and freshly crushed black peppercorns.

warm potato salad

i made this 'accidentally' first time round, but everyone loves it, so here goes... boil 6 medium potatoes in their skins until soft. drain. allow to cool, peel and cut into largish cubes. add 1 finely chopped onion and about 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped chives. mixed 2 tablespoons of softened butter, 1 crushed clove of garlic, 4 tablespoons mayonnaise, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. stir through the potato, onion and chives. serve at room temperature.

old-fashioned carrot salad

for my carrot salad, i finely grate about 8 large carrots, and mix with ½ cups of raisins. dissolve around 4 teaspoons of sugar in ¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (or sweeten to you taste), pour over the grated carrots and raisins and mix through.

sweet chili pasta salad

cook 300g pasta spirals according to instructions until tender. drain.

finely chop 1 red and 1 yellow pepper and 1 red onion. quarter a big handful of small cherry tomatoes. mix into the pasta spirals and stir through mayonnaise mixed with a generous touch of sweet chilli sauce to just coat everything. add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

potato salad I

it’s bockwurst (a spicy german sausage) with potato salad, sa style, for dinner.

the sausages you put in water, bring to boil, remove from the stove and leave for about 5 minutes to heat up. don’t boil them for those 5 minutes otherwise they’ll burst.

the potato salad recipe i got from a neighbour many many moons ago.

boil 6 large potatoes in their skin until soft. leave to cool for a while, then peel and cube. also make 6 hardboiled eggs. cool and cut up. add one medium onion, finely chopped and fresh chives or parsley to taste.

for the dressing: 8 tablespoons mayonnaise (use a thick tangy mayonnaise, not salad cream), 4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk and salt. depending on the mayonnaise you use, you may want to thin it out with milk to get the consistency of thick cream. stir through the salad.

a firm favourite.