Summer salads for Christmas
Christmas is days away and at this point I wonder if I will get everything done?
Keep menus simple and prepare as much as possible in advance to prevent last
minute stress.
Christmas Salad
This is a colourful salad to serve on Christmas Day and is delicious served with ham, turkey or barbecued meats.
Ingredients:
1 punnet of strawberries, sliced
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 bunch radishes, finely sliced
1 punnet cocktail tomatoes
Bunch of mint, roughly chopped
1 pomegranate - can be these already prepped in the supermarket.
Method:
Gently combine all ingredients and toss with above dressing, just prior to serving.
Hint:
To prep fresh pomegranates.
Cut pomegranate in half as you would cut a grapefruit in half.
Place a medium sized bowl in the sink, and hold pomegranate cut side down in your hand with your fingers outspread.
Bang the skin side of the fruit with the flat side of the blade of a heavy knife. Slowly the seeds will be released and fall through your fingers into the bowl beneath, leaving white pith behind. The juice from these ruby bright seeds will stain, hencethe need to do this in the sink!
Herby Garden Salad
This is a very simple salad using your choice of salad greens, lots of fresh, roughly chopped, garden herbs, tossed with the dressing and lastly garnished with edible flowers. Forexample - nasturtiums, heartsease (small pansies), unsprayed rose petals, and if you have them, dianthus.
My basic vinaigrette is as follows:
Dressing Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
NZ sea salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Method:
Whisk together until combined, adjust according to your taste. I like it slightly oily so I add an extra tablespoon of olive oil. Some people like a sweeter dressing so add a small teaspoon of honey.
Summer taking shape in Hester’s garden…
Photography by Pippa Marffy