Recipe Recap: Summer Salads Galore!

It is definitely heating up here! Nothing makes me happier than fresh, crisp ingredients all mixed up in a bowl and popping with colour. I was on a hunt for salad inspiration this week and came across these delicious creations guaranteed to make you smile on the inside on a hot summer’s day. And the contenders…Slide1

Summer Garden Linguine with Corn, Tomatoes and Fresh Herbs by Heather Christo

Ingredients (Serves 4)Summer Garden Salad
  • 1 pound linguine (gluten free)
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 cobs fresh corn kernels
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cup micro basil or finely sliced basil
  • ½ cup chives, minced
  • ¼ cup parsley, minced
  • kosher salt
  • (Use chives blossoms, julienned squash blossoms and arugula flowers to garnish)
  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gluten free linguine and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain.
  2. Use the sale pot and immediately put it back on the stove over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the corn and then add the pasta and the pasta water. Toss the pasta until well coated. Season to taste with kosher salt.
  3. Add the cherry tomatoes and all of the fresh herbs and edible flowers if you are using them and toss everything together. Serve hot.

*Note: Gluten Free and Vegan

Superfood Salad by Jamie Oliver

Ingredients (Serves 6)
  • 700 g sweet potatoes
  • 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 1 pinch of ground coriander
  • 1 small pinch of ground cinnamon1460_2_1429690919_lrg
  • olive oil
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 200 g quinoa
  • 320 g broccoli
  • 35 g mixed nuts, such as walnuts, almonds and Brazil nuts
  • 1 pomegranate
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 limes, juice of
  • 1 splash of balsamic vinegar
  • 40 g mixed sprouts
  • 1 punnet cress, (use a mixture of varieties if possible)
  • 1 fresh red chilli
  • 1 bunch of fresh coriander
  • 1 ripe avocado

To Serve: 1 punnet of salad cress and 20 g feta cheese

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Scrub and chop the sweet potatoes into 2.5cm chunks. Place into a roasting tray with the chilli flakes, ground coriander and cinnamon, a drizzle of olive oil and a little salt and pepper, then toss well. Spread out into an even layer and place in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
  2. Meanwhile, cook the quinoa according to the packet instructions in  a medium pan of boiling salted water. Click off and slice the broccoli into small florets, then halve and finely slice the stalk. Place into a heatproof colander and rest it over the quinoa pan. Cover and steam for 3 minutes, or until just tender. Once cooked, drain and rinse the quinoa under cold running water, then leave to cool along with the broccoli. Remove the sweet potato from the oven and leave it to cool, too.
  3. Meanwhile, toast the nuts in a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a pestle and mortar and crush lightly. Halve the pomegranate and squeeze the juice from one half into a large bowl. Add 3 times as much extra virgin olive oil, the lime juice and balsamic vinegar. Whisk well and season to taste.
  4. Add the cooled broccoli and sprouts to the dressing, then snip in the cress. Roughly chop the coriander (stalks and all), finely slice the chilli and add to the bowl along with the quinoa and sweet potato. Toss well, spread out on a serving platter, then scoop out and dot over the avocado flesh. Bash the reserved pomegranate half with a wooden spoon so the seeds come tumbling out and scatter these over the platter along with the nuts, snip the cress on top, then serve with a crumbling of feta cheese.

The Best Shredded Kale Salad by Oh She Glows

Ingredients (Serves 4)
FOR THE SALAD & DRESSING:
  • 2 medium bunches destemmed Lacinato/dinosaur kale, finely chopped (8 cups chopped)bestkalesalad-3680
  • 2 large garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  • 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (just eyeball it)
  • 1-2 handfuls dried sweetened cranberries, for garnish

FOR THE PECAN PARMESAN:

  • 1 cup pecan halves, toasted
  • 1.5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 pinches fine grain sea salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 300F. Spread the pecans onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden.
  2. Remove the stems from the kale and discard (you can save for smoothies if you are hard core!). Finely chop the kale leaves (the smaller, the better!).
  3. Wash the kale and spin dry. Place dried kale into a large bowl.
  4. For the dressing: In a mini food processor, process the garlic until minced. Now add the lemon, oil, salt, and pepper and process until combined. Adjust to taste, if desired. Pour the dressing onto the kale and mix it into the kale with your hands or toss with spoons. Keep mixing for about 1 minute to ensure everything is coated perfectly.
  5. For the pecan parm: Rinse out the mini processor and pat dry. Add the pecans into the processor and process until the pecans are the size of peas or a bit larger. Now add in the nutritional yeast, oil, and salt and process again until it’s a coarse crumb. Be sure not to over-process – we still want a nice crunchy texture here, not powder.
  6. Sprinkle the pecan Parmesan all over the salad. Toss on a handful or two of dried cranberries. Wrap and place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to soften. I tried letting this salad sit overnight in the fridge and I greatly preferred the flavour of the salad served the day of, so I don’t recommend making this salad the day before and letting it sit in the fridge overnight.

Note: 1) Instead of a mini processor, you can chop/whisk the dressing and pecan “parmesan” by hand. 2) For a nut-free version, try using breadcrumbs instead of pecans.

1 Comment
  1. The superfood salad seems exciting. I haven’t tried anything like it before. I got to try that soon! Thanks for sharing this recipe!

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