The idea of fruit in salads, or indeed fruit in any savoury dish, is extremely divisive it turns out. I am a huge fan, but it wasn’t until I started discussing this fact with family and friends hat I noticed a few winkled noses “Oh no, that’s all wrong”.
I am persevering here with my love of sweet, juicy fruit in a bright summer salad and hope that I can convert those of you who'd usually consider a hard pass.
Grilled peach and burrata salad recipe
It’s no secret that finding a perfectly ripe peach in this country is quite the challenge - but non-perfect peaches are ideal l for this salad. By griddling the stone fruit first, you bring out some of the natural juices and the balsamic reduction only adds to that. I like the bitterness of rocket as a base, but feel free to use a more delicately flavoured leaf, should you prefer.
Serves 2 as a starter or light lunch
• 2 large handfuls of rocket or your favourite leaf
• 2 x peaches, stones removed and each cut into 6 slices
• 1 Burrata, drained
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Balsamic reduction for drizzling
• Sea salt flakes
1. Heat a griddle pan on a medium high heat and brush with 1tbsp olive oil.
2. Place the peach slices onto the pan, one of the cut sides down.
3. Allow to cook until you can see they're charring nicely, then flip over and do the same on the other cut side. Once coloured, remove from the heat, ready to assemble the salad.
4. I don’t dress the leaves as such, but I pour 1tbsp olive oil into the palm of my hand and gently massage the salad leaves just to give them the slightest shine.
5. Scatter the leaves over your serving plate and place the peach slices over the top.
6. Tear the burrata open gently to let some of the milky centre begin to escape, sprinkle with sea salt and then drizzle with the balsamic reduction.
Delicious served with warm focaccia.
Pear, walnut and blue cheese salad recipe
We not only grow delicious pears here in Kent, we do great blue cheese too and, if you’re lucky, you can find some locally grown walnuts. I quite like a medium -ripe pear for this salad, as you still want a bit of crunch. Kentish Blue is my choice of cheese, but the salad also works well with softer Kingcott Blue or with a Stilton or Roquefort.
I dress the bowl rather than the salad itself and just bring everything together at the table - prevents any sogginess!
Serves 2
• 1 large pear, cored and cut into thin slices (sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent discolouration)
• 2 large handfuls lamb lettuce (or baby spinach)
• 50g toasted walnuts, crumbled
• 50g favourite blue cheese, crumbled or broken into small pieces
For dressing:-
• 50g blue cheese
• 40ml sour cream or natural yoghurt
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• ½ tsp grain mustard
• Good pinch of salt
1. Make your dressing first either by placing everything into a small blender (or using a stick blender) and whizzing. If you have neither, you can work the ingredients together in a bowl with a fork, but it won’t be as smooth or emulsified. If you find it’s too thick add a tiny drop of warm water.
2. Spoon the dressing onto the base of your serving plate.
3. Pile on the leaves and then scatter over the sliced pears, crumbled walnuts and blue cheese.
4. Just as you are about to eat, toss the salad bringing the dressing upwards.
Top Tip:- if you have an airfryer, 5 minutes on high gives you the most perfect toasted nuts.
Apricot and pistachio cous cous salad recipe
I often hear people saying that couscous is boring. Agreed, as simple grain, it doesn’t have a huge amount of flavour on its own, but as a vehicle for exciting seasonings and combinations, it’s perfect in my humble opinion. I like mint and flat leaf parsley stirred through this, but any variety of soft herbs (basil, coriander, lovage) would give it a lift.
Serves 2-4
• 125g cous cous
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 heaped teaspoons of Ras el Hanout (available in most supermarkets now)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 10 soft dried apricots, chopped small
• 30g shelled pistachios, chopped
• 3 stalks of mint, leaves only, ripped or chopped
• 3 stalks of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Approx. 60g of seeds from one medium pomegranate
• Sea salt flakes
1. Put the cous cous into a heatproof bowl with the Ras el Hanout, a good pinch of salt and the olive oil. Cover with approximately 125g boiling water or until you have about 1cm of water about the grains. Place a plate over the bowl and leave for around 15 minutes.
2. Remove the plate and fluff up the cous cous with a fork. Stir through the lemon zest, apricots, pistachios and then the chopped herbs. Check for seasoning and add another pinch of salt if necessary.
3. Finally add half of the pomegranate seeds and mix, leaving the rest for garnishing the top.
4. Serve with hummus for a light lunch or perfect for alongside a tagine.
