the cooked and the raw

Although it’s been raining for days and days, I really feel it’s time to introduce some summer fruit and vegetables into my diet. The other day I bought some very summery ‘vegetable creatures’: strawberries and cucumbers. I’ve always loved both, but never thought about having them together as main ingredients in a salad. I got the idea from a book on vegetarian Indian cuisine (Yamuna Devi’s The Best of Lord Krishna’s Cuisine), and slightly changed the recipe. This sweet-savoury salad is indeed very light and refreshing, and works perfectly as a salad, on its own, or as an easy fruit salad to finish a meal. I think I’ll make it more often as soon as the weather gets warmer. A great thing about it, is that you can make it sweeter or more savoury by varying the amounts of salt and rice malt syrup ;) For best results, choose organic fruit and vegetables. 

Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

For the salad

1 basket fresh strawberries

1 medium-sized cucumber

For the dressing

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tablespoon fresh mint, minced

whole sea salt (to taste)

rice malt syrup (2 to 4 teaspoons, depending on taste)

powdered dried ginger (to taste)

Salad

Wash the stawberries, drain them and remove the caps, then cut them into halves or quarters. Wash the cucumber and cut it into slices or smaller bite-sized pieces. Set aside and prepare the dressing.  

Dressing

In a medium bowl, whisk the orange juice, rice malt syrup, salt and ginger together, then add the mint and stir.

To assemble

Add the strawberries and cucumber to the dressing bowl, toss and serve. Alternatively, you can serve the salad directly into individual small bowls.

This combination of celeriac, apple and cabbage sounds wintery but fresh at the same time… You can probably substitute the celeriac with celery for an even fresher result. I really loved this salad…like any other dish featuring that fabulous root vegetable also known as celeriac! To make this salad I chose organic vegetables (…the apple is organic, too) and organic soy cream.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

For the salad

1 small celeriac, peeled

1 green apple, peeled and cored

1 small white cabbage

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

For the dessing

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon powdered, dried mint

whole sea salt (to taste)

ground black pepper (to taste)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons unsweetened soy cream

Dressing

In a bowl, whisk the olive oil, soy cream (rawists might want to replace this with 4 teaspoons almond butter, mixed with 2 teaspoons water to reach a thinner texture), lemon juice and apple vinegar together, then add the dried mint and season with black pepper and sea salt. Stir and set aside.

Salad

Shred the apple and the celeriac using the large holes of a box grater. Transfer the shreds in to a bowl and stir in the lemon juice to prevent the apple and celeriac from turning brown. Thinly slice the cabbage and add it to the apple and celeriac. Toast the walnuts in a pan for 2 to 3 minutes (rawists can certainly ignore this step!). Add the dressing and the walnuts to the salad and toss gently to combine. 

This is a very easy salad which can be served as a very healthy and satisfying main course.
I love the texture of the chickpeas but what I love even more is their pronounced nutty flavour which matches perfectly with the mild bitterness of the Swiss chard. The miso and lemon dressing gives the dish a very unique, pleasant, sweet and tangy taste. I like cooking my own chickpeas, but preparing this salad can be even quicker if you use canned ones.

Ingredients (makes 4-6 servings):

For the salad

2 cups chickpeas, cooked

green parts of 6-8 Swiss chard leaves, and 2 stems

3 tablespoons oil of your choice for stir fry

whole sea salt (to taste)

white pepper

For the dressing

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1½ teaspoon brown rice miso paste

juice of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon brown rice syrup

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

whole sea salt (to taste)

Salad

Wash well the chard stems and cut off any tough parts. Cut into pieces about 1-2 cm wide. Wash the Swiss chard leaves and chop them up. In a wok heat your chosen oil. Add a little bit of water, throw in the chard stems and leaves, and cook, stirring, until wilted, for a few minutes. Add the chickpeas, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss. Transfer the Swiss chards to a salad bowl, draining off any liquid, and let it cool while you prepare the dressing.

Dressing

In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, brown rice syrup, lemon juice, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Melt the miso paste in 1 tablespoon warm water, stirring until dissolved. Add the miso to the rest of the dressing and stir well. Adjust with sea salt (if necessary).

Assembling your Swiss chard salad

To serve, divide the salad among individual plates and drizzle with the dressing. Add some more sesame seeds, for garnish.