Sweetly topped Turkish bread with barbecued steak

Easy to eat Crispy Mixed Salad

My husband, children and I spent the better part of the day on the school sports and activity circuit, which is part of our weekly routine during the school term. So by the early evening, I relished the opportunity to enjoy a relaxing Saturday family dinner at home. 

In several of my previous posts I have written with great enthusiasm about salads. Snazzy or simple, crisp and cool or wintery warm, salads are such a satisfying type of dish to make, share and eat. This evening while my husband was briefly barbecuing the butter-soft beef fillet steaks from Chilcott’s Butchery, I made two accompanying salads. The first – Sweet Tomato and Garden Parsley with Vino Cotto – was designed to be piled on top of chargrilled Turkish bread, bruschetta style.  My veggie patch was becoming overgrown with flat leaf parsley and I had to incorporate a fair bit of this into a meal which is how this salad came about. 

The second variety was a generously sized Crispy Mixed Salad, which was an opportunity to work our way through the excess baby fennel and celery in my veggie fridge. Both bowls featured fresh, Australian produce with a drizzle of dressing, just enough to enhance the flavour of the basic ingredients. I’m fairly picky about the amount of dressing on a salad. Too much and its like eating a swampy-like soup. Too little and the ingredients look and taste unfinished. Of course everyone’s tastebuds differ, so by all means adjust the dressing to suit your preference. 

Sweet Tomato and Garden Parsley with Vino Cotto to serve 4 – 5 people generously.

Washed and dried flat leaf parsley – use only the leaves, discard all the stems. You will need about 2 large bunches to end up with 2 heaped cups of roughly chopped leaves. 
About 200-250 grams sweet grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half.
1 tablespoon vino cotto
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
good grind of black pepper and sea salt to taste.

Combine all of the above ingredients, stir gently to combine and set aside at room temperature until the steaks are ready. Spoon on top of toasted or char grilled Turkish bread and devour with serviettes at the ready. 

Crispy Mixed Salad to serve 6 people

1 green oak lettuce, washed and spun dry
2 lovely long sticks of celery, peeled to remove stringy bits then thinly sliced
2 small carrots, finely sliced on the diagonal
1 baby fennel, shaved into rounds using a vegetable peeler
1 telegraph cucumber, cut in half lengthwise then sliced into 1cm pieces
1 whole Turkish bread sliced into portions

Combine all of the ingredients, with the exception of the bread, in a large salad bowl. Pour over the very simple dressing which consists of 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Serve immediately. Do not use dark balsamic vinegar because it will turn the iceberg lettuce a dirty, unappealing colour. 

This is a popular salad with small children because it looks fresh and pretty and contains lots of yummy crunchy vegetables.