Quattro of Satisfying Summer Salads

Zesty Slaw Salad

Minty Basil Chicken Salad

Fig, Ricotta and Rocket Salad

Haloumi and Soft Lettuce

Inspiration for my selection of summer salads came courtesy of this month’s fresh looking Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine, the one featuring the inviting platter of barbecued chermoula prawns on the cover.  I was thrilled to see an entire section on “slaw” – the new name for good ol’ coleslaw, featuring a favourite and often overlooked veg of mine – cabbage. Somehow slaw seems to sound so much more alluring than coleslaw, which whips up images of that horrid sickly sweet mayo drenched KFC version crammed into little plastic tubs.

Push the fast food style of coleslaw to the back of your mind, because the varieties featured in this magazine mimic those that have snuck their way onto menus across Sydney, both in suburban and swish cafes and restaurants. Whether the slaw is served alongside a hearty piece of marbled scotch fillet steak, a moist fillet of local fish or simply stuffed between sourdough with roasted pork for the ultimate lunchtime sandwich, it is certainly front and centre for lunch and dinner. My vote in particular goes to this latter dish, served with a smile at Petersham’s gem of a corner cafe, The Pig and Pastry http://thepigandpastry.com.au

Any nose wrinkling misconceptions you may have about cabbage should be banished, because there is more to this humble veg than the over-boiled boarding school or hospital cafeteria style of side dishes of the past. Did you know that there are over 400 different types of cabbage? Each offers glorious garden colours, an assortment of textures and even variations in their juicy, freshly sweet flavours from delicate, tender savoy to a more robust red/purple cabbage.

It’s interesting how food trends seem to sweep in and then out again so quickly. Polenta, duck confit, faro, lentils, prosciutto, pomegranate, pork belly, salted caramel…the list goes on. I only hope that coleslaw remains long after the hype has gone because I could easily eat this Zesty Slaw Salad each week! Haloumi went through a must eat patch too and I included this on the salad I made last night to accompany BBQ lamb cutlets. Figs are another ingredient that pops up again and again because of this fruit’s versatility in sweet and savoury dishes. I featured this plump fruit in my Fig, Ricotta and Rocket Salad for Orthodox Christmas and have also included the recipe below as part of quattro of salad options to help you through the rest of the school holiday and summer entertaining season. For added protein, either as an additional dish or as a stand alone meal, you must try my Minty Basil Chicken Salad – it’s a tasty way to encourage so-called non salad eaters to dig in and surprise their tastebuds. Little ones especially enjoy the crunchy cos lettuce drizzled with warm chicken juices and the flavour of fresh mint leaves. This is my son Luka’s favourite, perhaps because adores everything minty. 

Zesty Slaw Salad to serve 5 – 6 people as a side salad
I couldn’t decide which slaw to make from Australian Gourmet Traveller and so I borrowed bits from several of them all to create my own version.

Half a large Chinese or savoy cabbage
1 baby fennel including the soft green fronds
1 pink grapefruit, flesh cut into bite sized segments, skin and white pith discarded
1 heaped cup of mint leaves
Dressing: juice of a small lemon, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, sea salt to taste. 

Using either a mandolin, a slicing blade on a food processor, or a sharp knife, finely shred the cabbage, fennel, and mint leaves. Place in a deep salad bowl and toss gently to combine.  

Scatter over the grapefruit and drizzle with the dressing before serving. 

Haloumi and Soft Lettuce Salad to serve 8 adults as a side dish

Ingredients
2 x 225 gram packs of haloumi
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 large head of green oak lettuce, leaves gently pulled into manageable pieces
1/2 cup of mixed olives (whole green, Ligurian, kalamata, stuffed)
small bunch of coriander – leaves only
3 tablespoons capers – I used capers in brine which I drained
2 x punnets of the sweetest grape, cherry or mini Roma tomatoes you can find. Cut them in half. 
2 x Lebanese cucumbers chopped into little pieces

Spread the lettuce out onto a platter. I used a long rectangular type to suit the shape of the haloumi. 

To prepare the haloumi, cut each block into 1.5cm slices. Fry the slices in a hot pan for 90 seconds on each side, sprinkling with dried oregano until dark brown slightly charred streaks form. Remove from the pan and arrange on top of the lettuce. You will need to fry the haloumi in batches to prevent over crowding. 

Scatter over the olives, capers, tomatoes, cucumber and coriander. 

For the dressing, drizzle over a couple of tablespoons of robust extra virgin olive oil, along with the juice of a large lemon and a good grind of sea salt and black pepper. Make sure the haloumi has tiny puddles of olive oil clinging to the surface which adds moisture and flavour to this dense cheese. Serve and eat ASAP to prevent the green oak lettuce from wilting. 


Fig, Ricotta and Rocket Salad to serve 10 – 12 adults as a side dish

Ingredients
250 – 300 grams rocket (doesn’t seem like a lot but it ends up being about 2/3 of a freezer bag full)