Introducing Our Favourite Salads
As it starts to get warmer (and in the lead-up to the silly season) now is a perfect opportunity to make fresh, lighter meals. We're sharing some of our best-loved salads to suit all occasions.
Hello,
We hope this finds you well and that you’re in the swing of the new season, wherever you may be. In the lead-up to the silly season now is a perfect opportunity to make fresh, lighter meals. We’re both big advocates of a well-made salad (like a good sandwich, they are only as good as the ingredients they use). Salads are the perfect lunch, and when done right, make an excellent dinner too.
The trick to a good salad is balance — crunchy and creamy, sweet and salty, tangy and rich, hearty yet fresh, and just the right amount of ingredients to keep your palate entertained.
Salads can get a bad rap — they can be boring, not filling enough, too repetitive, over-dressed, under-dressed… the list goes on. It doesn’t have to be this way! You’ve just been eating bad salad. If you’re a salad skeptic, we’re hoping we might be able to change your mind.
Salads for Every Day
These are the salads we just can’t stop eating, which are perfect for any occasion.
We both love our Niçoise Salad from Summer at Home. Rose always thought she didn’t like Niçoise, until we made this fabulous version. It’s easy to adapt to suit what you have at hand and your flavour preferences. This recipe is also really substantial and filling, which is something we love in a salad — it feels like a proper meal. As the salmon in New Zealand is so good, Annabel loves making this with hot smoked salmon, whereas Rose will often use sardines or anchovies (as she lives in Portugal — the land of tinned fish!). You make this with poached or grilled chicken too.
Another fab salad from Summer at Home that we make at least once a week is our Everyday Green Salad, which is the perfect side salad to accompany just about anything. The magic is in the dressing — tangy Dijon, finely minced shallot, a little sweetness from honey, and the perfect balance of vinegar and olive oil. We can’t live without this fabulous dressing. We often make it in bulk as it keeps for over a week in the fridge and works with any kind of green salad.
Our Herbed Potato Salad is another winner from Summer at Home. We’ve been making iterations of this potato salad for years. Originally adapted from one they served at Amisfield, these days we love it bulked out with eggs and a mountain of fresh herbs. Whilst there is a time and place for a creamy mayo potato salad, we love how light and fresh this version is. The addition of cornichons is the perfect touch, and the dressing is wonderfully tart but a little sweet thanks to the inclusion of pickle brine.
So often it’s the dressing that makes the difference between an outstanding salad and a ho-hum one. Bright, aromatic Asian flavours are wonderfully refreshing and well-suited to delicious salads. Annabel’s Thai-Style Beef Salad is one we come back to again and again and is great to make in the summertime as you can cook the meat on the barbecue. This salad is served at room temperature, which is handy when you’re cooking for friends because you won’t be rushing around at the last minute. To prepare it ahead of time, cut up the vegetables and herbs, cover, and chill. Cook the meat about an hour before serving and leave it on the bench to rest. Combine all the ingredients just before serving (preparing the meat like this with a long resting period is the secret to a juicy, evenly cooked result).
This Vietnamese Chicken Salad is another herbaceous, flavour-packed salad on our regular rotation at this time of year. It’s loaded with crunchy fresh vegetables, which you can play with depending on what you have at hand. This salad is also very yummy with cooked prawns. The Vietnamese Dressing is such a useful thing to have up your sleeve, it’s the perfect balance of sweet and sour, acid and aromatic.
On the veggie side of things, you can’t beat a good soba noodle salad. These Shiitake Soba Noodles are so simple and yet so perfect — the mushrooms have a amazing depth of flavour and the sake dressing carries everything so well. We’ve chosen to use soba noodles as the buckwheat gives you a little more nutrient value than rice noodles, and they have a lovely bite, but this works with vermicelli or rice stick noodles if you prefer and as a gluten-free alternative.
Make-Ahead Salads
If you know you’re having a busy week, we recommend making a big, hearty salad to have for lunches throughout the week. When you’re time-poor it can be challenging to prepare healthy food from scratch, but with a bit of forward-thinking, you can prepare nourishing meals for your future self. Robust vegetables and grains will keep best, plus they will fill you up — giving you the energy you need to power through your day.
Our Middle Eastern Grain Salad is a great place to start, as it is quite possibly the perfect grain salad. Robust and filling, this salad has it all — the crunch of the nuts and seeds, the tang of the cranberries and lemon, the creaminess of the dressing, and the goodness and satisfying bite of the grains and pulses. If you’re making this ahead of time, don’t add the nuts or seeds until you’re ready to serve. For extra protein, serve this alongside some falafels, chicken, or lamb.
In a similar vein, this wonderfully flavourful Chickpea & Eggplant Salad is another favourite in our household. If you are making this in advance add the leafy greens and dress just before serving. You can use crumbled feta in place of the yoghurt dressing, and use sliced store-bought roasted red peppers too. When it’s in season, use roasted cauliflower in place of the eggplant.
One of Rose’s all-time favourite recipes to riff off is Chargrilled Greens with Feta and Freekeh, which has all the best elements of a good salad — lots of greens, creamy cheese, crunchy nuts, a filling grain, and plenty of fresh herbs. Heaven on a plate! Plus, it keeps well. When it’s not asparagus season use green beans, and if you can’t get broccolini use broccoli florets. We did a version of this with garlicky mushrooms for What to Cook Tonight and it was so yummy. For a gluten-free version use quinoa in place of freekeh or farro.
Another weekday favourite is Annabel’s Cob Salad of Corn, Avocado & Tomato which is one of our most popular salad recipes of all time. To make this go even further (and for added protein) add 1-2 cups cooked quinoa. You can also shred the flesh of 1 or 2 smoked or poached chicken breasts into the salad to transform it into a heartier stand-alone meal. If you generously squeeze the avocado with lemon or lime juice it will prevent it from oxidising and turning brown.
If we’re having a Sunday roast, we’ll often roast an extra tray of vegetables to make a big salad of Couscous with Roasted Vegetables. Simple and economical, you can use whatever root vegetables you have at hand and dress this up or down as you please. It’s also excellent with larger pearl couscous if you can find it.
What to Cook Tonight
We’ve written lots of fantastic brand-new salad recipes (and many more super yummy things) for What to Cook Tonight — our weekly paid email. Every Sunday we share three delicious recipes for the week ahead plus a shopping list. This is where we share our insider chef tips and secrets to elevate your home cooking, making you look like a pro. Learn how to build depth in your dishes without relying on fat, how to ensure your salads aren’t soggy, meals are well-balanced, as well as tips for mushrooms that are always flavour-packed, and getting your lentils perfectly al-dente. We’ve already written over 84 recipes which you will have immediate access to when you become a paid subscriber!
If you have someone in your life who loves cooking too, you might like to think about gifting them a subscription for Christmas. And if you need any further convincing, here’s some of the fab feedback we’ve received recently…
Thank you so much for creating one of the most value for dollars Substacks in the realm of food and cooking! — Claire
That buttermilk chicken is fabulous! Best schnitzel I've probably ever had. We loved it. Thanks, ladies. — Melissa
Joel's fennel pasta is amazing! I added shredded roast chicken and a handful of rocket. So good. Also love the fennel and prawn pasta with harrisa you posted a while back...have made it many times for visitors. — Gillian
A Delectable Drop for the Festive Season
If you’ve yet to meet our fantastic, award-winning gin, there’s never been a better time. We’re offering free shipping for NZ customers for the entire month of November! NZ customers can purchase here. Australian customers can purchase locally via this link.
Made from wild plums and eighteen different aromatics, this luscious elixir is silky and full-bodied, with rounded spice notes. We love drinking it as-is, on the rocks, with a splash of soda, or in many a cocktail.
Recently at an event, the ‘Bella Kir’ was crowned THE cocktail of the festive season. A splash of Bella topped with chilled bubbles or prosecco is such a sparkly pretty pink tipple with aromatic Christmas spices and festive flavours. Simply divine!
Last but not least, if you want to get ahead on your holiday shopping, we have reprinted Essential Volume One: Best-Ever Meals for Busy Lives just in time for Christmas. With more than 650 tried-and-tested savoury recipes, there’s something for all tastes, seasons, and occasions. It makes a lovely gift for a special someone (which might even be you). You can buy the book here.
That is everything from us for now, do stay tuned for a very exciting competition we’re running with Kenwood in the coming weeks!
As we start to lead up to the end-of-year madness, we would love to know how we can help you this festive season. Would you like ideas for effortless entertaining? Menu plans? Elaborate desserts? Finger food? Fun playlists? Travel tips? Something else? Do let us know by commenting below.
With love,
Annabel & Rose