Tag: Salad

Salads with a Hint of Breakfast!

Having written several posts recently with different ideas for breakfasts,  I started to think about how to use some of these ingredients such as smoked bacon & eggs in salads.

Version 1 with lemon juice

Ingredients

  • 1 iceberg lettuce
  • 1 cucumber
  • 4 hard boiled eggs
  • 250g smoked bacon
  • Lemon juice
  • Chives to garnish
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Method

  • Cut the lettuce into shreds with a sharp knife.
  • Peel the cucumber or part peel in stripes lengthwise.
  • Chop the cucumber into small pieces.
  • Chop up the hard boiled eggs into small pieces.
  • Chop up the bacon into small squares and fry without extra oil until all the fat has come out.
  • Use kitchen roll to soak up the excess fat and leave to cool completely.
  • Mix all the ingredients together
  • Add salt & pepper to taste.
  • Add the lemon juice and stir.
  • Add chopped chives to serve.

 

 

 

Version 2 with soured cream

  • 1 iceberg lettuce
  • 1 cucumber
  • 4 hard boiled eggs
  • 250g smoked bacon
  • Lemon juice
  • 2 -3 tablespoons of soured cream
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Chives to garnish

Method

As version 1 with the addition of the soured cream at the end.

 

Version 3 with tomatoes

  • 1 iceberg lettuce
  • 1 cucumber
  • 4 hard boiled eggs
  • 250g smoked bacon
  • 20 cherry tomatoes
  • Lemon juice
  • Chives to garnish
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Method

As version 1 with the addition of the chopped cherry tomatoes.

 

 

 

Served in 1930s Glass Dishes

 

Turnips – 3 Ways!

White turnip – rzepa in Polish – is Brassica rapa, a root vegetable of the cabbage family.

 

3 Ways

  1. Raw & grated –  in a salad – surówka
  2. Cooked  & cold  – in a salad – sałatka
  3. Cooked & hot   – as a vegetable, side-dish with a meal

Raw & cooked, white turnip can be used instead of  celeriac or kohlrabi as in all of my posts:

Celeriac salads & More Celeriac salad recipes

Kohlrabi salads.

Various dressing can be used: lemon juice, soured cream, mayonnaise and yoghurt on their own or in various combinations.

Turnip, Carrot & Apple salad

Ingredients

2 Turnips

2 carrots

2  red skinned apples such as Braeburn or Pink Lady

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & pepper to taste

 

Method

Peel and coarse grate the turnips and carrots.

Core the apples and chop into small pieces.

Mix them all together wth the lemon juice.

 

Cooked Turnip Salad – 1

Ingredients

2 turnips

2 carrots

Around 100g of cooked frozen peas

2 -3 tablespoons of mayonnaise (full fat is best for cooked vegetables)

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Peel the turnips & carrots and steam them.

Chop them into rough cubes.

Mix them with the cooked peas and the mayonnaise

 

 

 

Cooked Turnip Salad – 2

As above with the addition of  3 to 4 chopped gherkins

 

Cooked Turnip – served hot

Peel and steam the turnip – not too much you do not want a watery pulp.

Rough mash the cooked turnip.

Serve hot with a variety of toppings.

Skwarki  – crispy smoked bacon bits

Chopped bacon is heated in a fryng pan until all the fat is released and the bacon pieces are crispy.

 

 

Slightly charred onion bits

Chopped onions are gently cooked in a little butter and then slowly heated until they are slightly charred.

 

 

Buttered breadcrumbs – à la polonaise.

 

 

More Celeriac Salads

My Polish friend who lives in Leeds, just came back from a visit to Poland and mentioned a celeriac salad with carrots and apples that she had enjoyed.

This started me thinking and I made this one and then I tried out a couple of other ones as well.

Ingredients -1

Half a celeriac – peeled

2 -3 carrots

3 apples

Lemon juice

2- 3 tablespoons of soured cream

salt & pepper

Optional

A little bit of sugar

Method – 1

Coarse grate the celeriac.

Peel and then coarse grate the carrots.

Coarse grate 2 of the apples.

Leave the skin on the other apples, remove the core  and chop it into small pieces.

In a bowl mix the celeriac, carrots and apple together.

Add the juice of a lemon and the soured cream and mix well.

Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

 

 

Note

I think this tastes best when made a few hours before serving.

Ingredients -2

Half a celeriac – peeled

2-3 hard pears (Conference are good)

3-4 tomatoes

1-2  tablespoons of olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & pepper

A little bit of sugar

Method – 2

Coarse grate the celeriac.

Peel the pears and remove the core and chop them into small chunks.

Chop the tomatoes into small chunks.

Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix.

Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

 

 

 

Ingredients -3

Half a celeriac – peeled

2-3 apples (Braeburn) are good

2-3  red peppers

1-2  tablespoons of olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & pepper

A little bit of sugar

Method – 3

Coarse grate the celeriac.

Chop the red peppers into small squares.

Blanch them with boiling water and leave to cool.

Strain and the dry the peppers – with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper.

Leave the skin on the apples, remove the core and chop them into small pieces.

Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix.

Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

 

Three Celeriac Salads

 

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Served in Carnation by Royal Doulton dishes from 1982 – 1998.

 

Potato Salad with a Honey Dressing

I came across this recipe for potato salad which instead of using mayonnaise has a dressing made with honey.

In my other potato salads, I use starchy potatoes but with this dressing the firmer more waxy potatoes work best.

Ingredients

Salad

500g of boiled or steamed baby salad potatoes (chopped into quarters if large)

2 tablespoons of capers

1 green apple such as a Granny Smith (chopped into small pieces)

Chopped chives or the green part of spring onions

Chopped dill

Dressing

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of runny honey

1 tablespoons of white wine or cider vinegar

1 tablespoons of made-up Mustard

Salt & ground black pepper

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Garnish – to serve

A few handfuls of torn baby spinach

Chopped dill

50g of chopped walnuts

Method

Mix all the salad ingredients together and place in a bowl.

Mix all the dressing ingredients together – use a little whisk.

Mix the salad with the dressing.

The salad is best made several hours before serving to let the dressing infuse into the potatoes.

Add the garnish just before serving to prevent the leaves becoming soggy.

The dressing is so delicious – I will be trying it out on other salads and vegetables .

Bean Salad

Bean Salad with Apple & Hard-boiled Eggs

As I was trying out some herring salads I came across the following mixture which worked so well together.  I decided it would make a good salad mixture on its own.

Originally this would have been made with soaked and then boiled haricot beans  – for ease I use a tin of baked beans from which the sauce has been washed off.

Ingredients

1 tin of haricot beans (tinned beans (410g) with the tomato sauce washed off , rinsed and patted dry).

1 thinly sliced then chopped onion

2 chopped (red skinned) apples

3- 4  chopped hard-boiled eggs

2-3 tablespoons of  mayonnaise ( full fat is the best here)

Salt & pepper to taste

 

 

 

 

Method

Prepare all the ingredients

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

You can sprinkle chopped flat-leaved parsley on top when serving.

 

 

 

 

 

Caraway & Dill & Parsley

When I think of Polish cooking three popular herbs which always spring to mind are caraway, dill and parsley.

They all  belong to the Apiaceae family which includes  carrot and celery. 

This family is also called  Umbelliferae (from the Latin – umbella  – for parasol or sunshade) – the flower heads consists of umbels  which have equal length flower stalks coming from a central point which forms a flattened head – rather like an umberella.

Carum carvi is caraway –  kminek – in Polish.

It  is native to  Europe,  North Africa & Western Asia.

Caraway – Drawing taken from Wikapedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caraway  fruits are often called seeds.

Caraway is thought to be an aid to digestion.

In 2011 Finland supplied over 25% of the world’s caraway.

 

 

 

Caraway Seeds

Caraway is often added to rye bread, to dishes with sauerkraut and also many meat dishes,  especially pork, such as Sauerkraut & Bacon, Pork & Prunes  and  Pork & Sauerkraut Gulasz.

Caraway  is often  added to twaròg (Polish soft curd cheese)

 

Anethum graveolens is dill – koperek  – in Polish.

Dill is grown for its leaves, which are fern like, and its seeds.

Dill leaves are  best when used fresh  (I never bother with dried dill).

 

 

 

 

 

Dill  leaves are used as a topping for many salads and for boiled new potatoes.

 

 

 

 

Dill leaves are added to twaròg (Polish soft curd cheese) and smetana (soured cream).

Dill leaves are used in sauces including ones served with fish.

 

 

Dill seeds are similar in flavour to caraway seeds.

Dill seeds are used in dill pickles –    – which are cucumbers preserved in brine – Ogórki – Gherkins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The name of the Polish astronomer  – Copernicus  in Polish is  Kopernik (so in Polish he is Mr Dill!)

Petroselinum crispum is flat leaf parsley – pietruszka –  in Polish

Flat Leaved Parsley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chopped flat leafed parsley  leaves are added as a garnish or topping for many salads and savoury dishes.

 

 

Petroselinum crispum tubersum

This is Parsley root or Hamburg parsley.

Flat leafed parsley is also grown for its white tap root which looks a lot like parsnip and is also used in  Polish cookery, often added to casseroles.

I have seen this for sale in Polish markets, you might find it in the larger Polish shops that have fresh produce.

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Parsley root grated with apple or pear and with added lemon juice is one suggestion for a fresh salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Little Caper!

Capparis spinosa is the caper bush.  The plant is best known for the edible, unripened  flower buds – capers – kapary (in Polish)  which are often used as a seasoning and are usually  pickled in brine, vinegar or wine.

These perennial plants are native to the Mediterranean and some parts of Asia. Their use dates back to around 2,000 BC  where they are mentioned as a food in Sumerian literature.

The caper buds are picked by hand which can make the cost of a small jar expensive.

Pickled nasturtium (Tropaeolum maius) (nasturcja in Polish)  seeds – often called poor man’s capers are a good substitute.

Cooking With Capers

Capers have long been used in the Mediterranean region especially  in Italian cooking.

Capers are usually  added to the dish toward the end of the cooking process, to keep their shape and flavour.

Sos kaparowy – Caper sauce

This is very popular in Poland and is made with chopped capers and mayonnaise  and is served with hard-boiled eggs.

Potato Salad with Capers

This is my variation of the classic Polish potato salad with caper  sauce.

Ingredients

  • 200g  waxy potatoes
  • 100g whole green beans
  • 100g peas
  • 2-3 spring onions – green part
  • 2 tablespoons of capers – drained
  • 2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise – home-made or a good full fat bought variety
  • 1 tablespoon of made up mustard
  • Salt & pepper
  • 2 – 3  hard-boiled eggs

    Method

  • The potatoes, green beans and the peas all need to be boiled or steamed, drained and then dried as much as possible using a clean tea towel.
  • I usually use starchy potatoes for potato salad but have found that waxy ones are better for this one.
  • Chop the beans into small pieces.
  • Chop the green parts of the onion into fine pieces.

Mix together the mayonnaise and the mustard.

I have found that the lighter sort of mayonnaise soon makes this salad have a watery dressing after a very short time.

It is better to use home-made mayonnaise or a good bought one – I use Hellmann’s.

  • Mix the vegetables with the dressing and add salt & pepper to taste.
  • Chop the hard-boiled eggs and scatter these on the top of the salad to serve.

Served here in a bowl by Meakin  –  Cadiz  – 1964  – 1970

Pasta Salads

The general word for pasta in Polish is makaron .. from the Italian macaroni or maccheroni which is thought to originate from the Greek makaria – food made from barley.

You need some cooked pasta – small shapes are the best – I often use Fiorelli – little tubes with lacy edges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I am cooking some pasta for a meal,  I often do a bit more so I have some left to make a salad the next day.

Try not to over cook the pasta.

The weight of dry pasta will result in around double the weight of cooked pasta  eg 250g of dry pasta will result in around 500g of cooked pasta.

I find that mayonnaise or mayonnaise based dressing  are best with these salads.

Cooked vegetables work well with these salads and also tinned or bottled vegetables and so it is a good store cupboard dish.

Below are several ideas – but you can do many variations – I always use a few different colours to make it look attractive.

Pasta, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad

  • 400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
  • 1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
  • 1 or 2  fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of  bottled peppers.
  • 1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • Salt & ground back pepper

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Method

  • In a large bowl mix the pasta and sweetcorn together.
  • If using fresh peppers then remove the stalk and the seeds and chop the flesh into small pieces.
  • Blanch the peppers by putting them in a dish with boiling water and letting them stand for about 10 minutes then drain and pat dry.

 

 

  • If using bottled peppers then drain them from the liquid and cut into small pieces.
  • Add the peppers to the salad mixture.
  • Mix in the mayonnaise.
  • Add salt & pepper to taste.

 

Pasta, Peas, Peppers  & Sweetcorn Salad

Ingredients

  • 400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
  • 1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
  • 1 or 2  fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of  bottled pepper
  • 150g of cooked frozen peas
  • 1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • Salt & ground back pepper.

Method

Make the salad as above then add the cooked peas and mix well

 

 

Pasta, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad with Tuna

  • 400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
  • 1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
  • 1 or 2  fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of  bottled peppers.
  • 1  x  145g tin of tuna chunks in oil or brine – drained
  • 1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise (variation –  add half a teaspoon of tomato puree or even hot pepper sauce)
  • Salt & pepper to taste – you will need less salt if you are using the tuna in brine.

Method

  • Make the salad as in Pasta, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad up to the addition of the mayonnaise.
  • Break up the tuna into smaller pieces and add this to the salad and mix it in.
  • Add the mayonnaise.
  • Salt & pepper to taste – (you will need less salt if you are using the tuna in brine).

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Variations

Add some chopped chillies to the mixture – I use  green ones to differentiate them from the red peppers.

Pasta, Peas, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad with Tuna

Ingredients

  • 400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
  • 1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
  • 1 or 2  fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of  bottled pepper
  • 150g of cooked frozen peas
  • 1  x  145g tin of tuna chunks in oil or brine – drained
  • 1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • Salt & ground back pepper.

Method

  • Make the salad as in Pasta, Peas, Peppers,  & Sweetcorn Salad
  • Break up the tuna into smaller pieces and add this to the salad. and mix it in
  • Salt & pepper to taste – (you will need less salt if you are using the tuna in brine).

20180114_170929

Pasta, Peas, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad with Polish Smoked Sausage.

Ingredients

  • 400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
  • 1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
  • 1 or 2  fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of  bottled pepper
  • 150g of cooked frozen peas
  • 200g of Polish smoked sausage or ham
  • 1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • Salt & ground back pepper

Method

  • Make the salad as in Pasta, Peas, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad.
  • Slice the sausage into thin slices and then chop these into halves and quarters.
  • Add this is to the salad and mix in
  • Salt & pepper to taste.

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Hard Boiled Egg Garnish

1 or 2 hard boiled eggs can be chopped and used to garnish the tuna or smoked sausage salads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rice Salads

For these salads you will need some cold cooked rice – I use long grained or Basmati rice  – but it can be whatever you like to use.

I rarely cook the rice specially – I am more likely to use what is left from a previous meal.

However for these I cooked some rice to see how much was needed.

I find the best dressing for these salads is one based on lemon juice with the addition of some runny honey if you want a little sweetness.

Rice, Peas & Sweetcorn Salad

 

 

 

 

20171108_094335

Ingredients

400g cold boiled rice

100g of cooked garden peas

1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & ground back pepper

1 tablespoon of honey if desired

Method

In a large bowl mix the rice, peas and sweetcorn together.

Pour over the juice of the lemon and mix well.

If you are adding honey then warm about 1 tablespoon gently and mix that in.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Rice, Peas,Sweetcorn & Peppers Salad

Ingredients

400g cold boiled rice

100g of cooked garden peas

1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)

1 or 2 fresh red peppers or bottled ones

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & ground back pepper

1 tablespoon of honey if desired

 

Method

In a large bowl mix the rice, peas and sweetcorn together.

If using fresh peppers then remove the stalk and the seeds and chop the flesh into small pieces.

I often blanch the peppers by putting them in a dish with boiling water and letting them stand for about 10 minutes the drain and pat dry.

 

 

If using bottled peppers then drain them from the liquid and cut into small pieces.

Add the peppers to the salad mixture.

Pour over the juice of the lemon and mix well.

If you are adding honey then warm about 1 tablespoon gently and mix that in.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Inspired in Castor – Rice Salad with Leeks

Not long ago I spent a stitching week in Castor, Cambridgeshire, with a  group of super ladies.  I was responsible for some of the catering.  One evening there was a large amount of leftover cooked rice, peas & sweetcorn, so I decided to make this into a salad with other ingredients we had in the kitchen.

This turned out to be a delicious salad and it got a lot of approval & I will certainly be making this again.

Ingredients

400g cold cooked rice

100g Cooked peas

1 small tin of sweetcorn – drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)

1 -2 Grated carrots

1 grated eating apple

1 -2 leeks

Green part of spring onions – chopped fine

Flat Leaf parsley – chopped fine

Salt & ground back pepper

Juice of 1 – 2 lemons.

Flat Leaved Parsely

Method

Chop the leeks as fine as you can into circles and then cut these into half and put them into a large dish.

Cover the leeks with boiling water and leave them to stand until the water is cool.

Strain the leeks, leave them to cool down completely and then dry them with a clean tea towel or kitchen roll.

 

 

Mix the rice, apple & vegetables together in a large dish.

Pour the lemon juice over the salad.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

This was served with a beef in beer gulasz (casserole) & the salad provided a good balance against the richness of the casserole.

 

 

 

 

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Kohlrabi Salads

Kohlrabi in Polish is kalarepa  –  it belongs to the cabbage family – the Brassicas  –  and has been cultivated from Brassica oleracea – the wild cabbage.

It is a swollen stem and spherical and its taste and texture is similar to cabbage heart and it  can be eaten both raw & cooked.

Kohlrabi

My auntie in Wembley used to grow kohlrabi  in the garden & on their allotment  but until recently I never saw it for sale in England whereas in Poland it is a common vegetable, it matures quickly, withstands the frost and can be stored for some time.

This kohlrabi I bought from the outdoor market in Leeds.

For all the salads below the raw kohlrabi has been peeled and then grated on a medium grater.

Here I have just used 1 kohlrabi per salad.

Simple Kohlrabi Salad

 

 

 

 

Served here in a Royal Doulton – Carnation dish – 1982 – 1998.

 

Ingredients

1 kohlrabi

2 – 3 tablespoons of soured cream

Juice of half a lemon.

Method

Mix the soured cream with the lemon juice.

Mix the grated kohlrabi  with the dressing.

Kohlrabi Salad with Apple

1 kohlrabi

1 Red or Pink eating apple

2 -3 tablespoons of full fat Greek yoghurt

1-2 tablespoons of apple juice

Method

Grated kohlrabi  is mixed with a chopped eating apple – use an apple with a red or pink skin for the lovely colour – here I used a Pink Lady which has a super taste.

Mix the natural Greek style full fat  yoghurt  and apple juice for the dressing.

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Served here in J & G Meakin – Topic by Alan Rogers, 1967.

Kohlrabi Salad with Apple & Raisins

This is made as the salad above with addition of around 40g of raisins

Kohlrabi & Carrot Salad

Ingredients

1 kohlrabi

1 carrot

2-3 tablespoons of soured cream

juice of half a lemon

Method

Grate the carrot & the kohlrabi using a medium grater

Mix the soured cream with the lemon juice

Mix everything together.

 

 

 

Served here in a Royal Doulton – Carnation dish – 1982 – 1998

The green part of spring onions or chives can be added to the carrots & apples

 

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Cooked kohlrabi in salads

You can steam the kohlrabi – steam several whole ones and peel them once they are cooked and cooled.

Use the steamed kohlrabi in place of steamed  Celeriac in salads.