MEXICAN CAESAR SALAD

This is a super Caesar! I'd even add two to three slight cuts of new jalapeño or serrano chile to the mayonnaise mixture you prepare in the blender. On the off chance that you would prefer not to go to the inconvenience of browning tortillas, you can beat the greens with pepitas, or toasted pumpkin seeds. Queso fresco is a decent complete; discover it at a Latin merchant.


1 cup mayonnaise, divided

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

cup finely chopped green onions, white part only

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

¼ cup anchovy paste

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 large heads romaine lettuce

½ cup queso fresco

6 to 8 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips and fried until crisp

To make the dressing, combine ½ cup of the mayonnaise, the garlic, cilantro, green onions, salt, pepper, lime juice, anchovy paste, and Dijon in a blender or food processor. Blend until mixed. Whisk in the remaining ½ cup mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the salad, rinse, trim, and tear the romaine lettuce into 1-inch pieces. Toss half of the dressing and the queso fresco with the lettuce. Serve on plates and top with the fried tortilla strips. Pass the extra dressing.

Salad 8:54 AM No comments Read More

Barley-Corn Salad from Santa Fe

Two summers ago, I spent a month in Santa Fe, visiting friends who were happy to let me use their kitchen to cook with baskets of produce I picked up from the amazing farmer’s market nearby. I went to the farmer’s market as often as I could, and one day I noticed that Deborah Madison, one of my favorite cookbook writers, was giving a talk. This was a treat—and from her talk that day I learned the combination of fresh herbs that I’ve used in this salad.

3 cups cooked and cooled pearl barley

2 cups cooked, fresh or frozen corn kernels

2 cups cooked black beans (drain and rinse them if canned)

4 medium-size ripe tomatoes, chopped

3 serrano or jalapeño peppers, ribbed, seeded, and chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 cup diced jicama

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

1 garlic clove

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cumin

¼ cup fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon white wine, broth, or orange juice

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a large bowl, combine barley, corn, black beans, tomatoes, serrano or jalapeño pepper, onion, jicama, and the herbs.

2. In a mortar, crush the garlic clove together with the salt and cumin. Mash them to a paste. Whisk in lime juice, vinegar, wine, and sugar. Whisk until the sugar dissolves, then whisk in olive oil.

3. Pour over the salad and toss to mix. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. This salad can sit covered and at room temperature for several hours before serving. It can be made a day ahead, covered, refrigerated, and returned to room temperature before serving.

Barley-Corn Salad from Santa Fe

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Salad 12:25 PM No comments Read More

Grilled avocado and cherry tomato with lime and coriander

I’m sitting opposite one of my favourite people (an Irish New Yorker called Ultan who somehow seems to know stuff about everything from architecture to daffodils, to oysters and beer, to buttons and bows). Over lunch, he starts talking about a salad made from grilled avocado. I now make it once a month because it’s the perfect small supper and grilling the avocado gives it a nutty, silky flavour. Even the simplest version of this recipe, with just tomatoes, coriander and lime juice, is sensational.

226 calories per portion
2½ of your five-a-day
Serves 2
1 whole avocado, ripe but on the firm side
2 limes
230g cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 tsp olive oil
1 small clove fresh garlic, minced
a small handful coriander leaves, torn from the stem
plenty of salt and pepper
1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan until golden


Heat a frying pan until very hot. Slice the avocados in half across the middle and discard the stone, then place them cut face down in the hot pan and cook for 2 minutes. Remove, score the flesh and squeeze the juice of 1 lime over them.

Next, add the cherry tomatoes to the hot pan and swirl them around for 30 seconds until lightly warmed through.

Toss the warm cherry tomatoes in the olive oil with the garlic, juice from the remaining lime, coriander and plenty of salt and pepper.

Top the avocado with the fragrant tomato mixture piled into the hollow and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over. Serve warm, with a spoon or a fork as the only implement needed.


Add finely chopped chilli (red and green), a heaped tablespoon of crab meat per avocado half, toasted sunflower seeds, paprika. Use lemon juice instead of lime and basil instead of coriander, finely chopped spring onions instead of garlic. This would also be delicious with the cherry tomatoes and some Lime and Coriander Pesto. I like having this salad warm, as it releases the flavours beautifully, but you can also just have it all cold if you prefer.

Salad 8:48 PM No comments Read More

A salad of mushrooms and deep fried egg

This warm salad is a bit of a wacky combination: half French, half Vietnamese and with some other unexpected flavours thrown in. If you’ve never had a deep-fried egg, you’re in for such a surprise! Chanterelles impart so much flavour, but if you want to make this salad when wild mushrooms are out of season, try a mixture of chestnut  mushrooms, sliced portobello, shiitake, enoki and even button.

237 calories per portion
2 of your five-a-day
Serves 4
600g mixed mushrooms, wiped clean with kitchen paper and cut into halves or quarters
1 tbsp olive oil
10g butter salt and white pepper
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp truffle oil
1 tsp Balsamic Glaze
a head round lettuce, broken into big leaves, washed and spun dry
a small handful parsley, finely chopped

For the deep-fried egg
500ml vegetable oil
4 medium, very fresh free-range eggs

Heat a large frying pan with the olive oil until hot. Add the mushrooms to the pan. Cook until they are golden-brown, then add the butter and cook for another 2 minutes, until the butter has been totally absorbed.

Once the mushrooms are cooked, turn off the heat, season generously with salt and white pepper and scatter the chopped spring onions over. Drizzle with the truffle oil, then the Balsamic Glaze. Toss to combine.

Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan – when it is hot it will start to shimmer in the pan. Carefully drop in a little bit of bread to gauge the temperature. You want the bread to react to the oil within a few seconds – then you know the temperature is right.

Next, crack an egg (this is a one-by-one job) into a small bowl and lower it over the hot oil. Carefully drop the egg into the middle of the oil then stand back. Count to 45 in your head, then remove the egg from the oil with a slotted spoon and place it on a plate covered in kitchen paper. Repeat the process until all the eggs are done.

Finally, layer up big leaves of lettuce with mushrooms and spring onions, top with the deep-fried egg and sprinkle with parsley. Serve warm with crusty bread.

Replace truffle oil with strips of cured ham, such as Serrano or Parma, as well as some freshly nipped chives. This salad is also lovely with a poached egg.

Salad 8:05 PM No comments Read More