Caesar Salad Dressing with Roasted Garlic

A delicious, creamy dressing, packed full of flavour.

This tastes a thousand times better than anything you can buy in a bottle, and you can tweak it to your own tastes.

It's also incredibly easy to make, and if you're gluten free, there's an easy substitution you can make for one of the ingredients, plus if you don't like the flavour of anchovy, you can skip it.

It will keep in the fridge for a week, so get yourself some Cos lettuce (tip: soaking the leaves in ice cold water whilst you prepare other ingredients will crisp it right up), and any 'illegal' toppings you fancy adding to it - I like grilled chicken and crispy bacon, but shhhh, don't tell the purists!

Quick Beetroot, Goat's Cheese and Puy Lentil Salad with a Balsamic and Basil Dressing

A simple and tasty dish to throw together, especially if you're in a rush!

So this dish came about one evening, when I didn't have much time left, and wanted to throw together something simple and tasty in time to watch Masterchef together (because it ALWAYS makes you hungry when you watch that programme, and you have to have something nice to eat!).

I threw the lentils into a bowl, dressed them to taste, went to get the pack of vacuum-packed cooked beetroot I had in the fridge, only to find out that I hadn't! Fail! I did at least have some beetroot, even though it wasn't already cooked, so had to compromise by throwing it into the oven to roast, while we watched Masterchef feeling increasingly 'hangry', then threw the rest together afterwards once it was cooked! However, provided you have a little more foresight than I did, and the ingredients to hand, then this will be a quick and easy meal to throw together in a matter of minutes.

If you wanted to, you could serve the lentil and beetroot element of this warm instead of cold, by giving it a quick blast in the microwave, or warming through gently in a pan with a splash of extra water.

Serves three for lunch or a light meal, or two for dinner (it's surprisingly filling!), or of course, more as a starter! 

Calories - for three lighter portions, 232 to 278 calories per portion (French vs. full fat cheese); For two larger portions, 348 to 417 calories per portion.

Spicy Chicken Salad - Yo Sushi Style

I do love a bit of sushi and sashimi - and yet if I go to Yo Sushi!, I can't resist a bowl of their spicy chicken salad whilst I'm there!

So, one not-so-fine Saturday afternoon, after a discussion about edible seaweed, I was craving a bit of Japanese food and got it into my head that I really fancied a Yo Sushi! style chicken salad. Not living in the vicinity of a Yo Sushi!, I did a bit of scouting around the internet for a recipe... and a bit more... and for once, it really wasn't very successful, so I had to make up my own!

Apparently, they have a cookbook (which I don't have), and I was able to find the ingredients (minus quantities) online on Eat My Books - however... maybe it's an old book, or they've changed things now, as they just didn't seem quite right compared with the colour and flavour of the chicken I was used to eating at Yo Sushi, and the other ingredients in the salad. I'm accustomed to a spicy, orange-coloured, highly-flavoured chicken on a bed of lettuce, julienned carrot, edamame beans and a few bean sprouts etc., but I couldn't find anything that convinced me it would recreate this. I couldn't even find a Japanese name for the salad - although I'm quite familiar with Japanese food - and to be honest, although delicious, the flavours of the chicken had always seemed a little out of sorts with my experience of Japanese food.

Turns out there's a reason for that! 

Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Salad with Griddled Courgettes

Quick and delicious - classic flavour combinations in a tasty salad that is ready in minutes.

Pop the griddle or grill on to heat up while you chop up your salad and shake up your dressing, and you can have this ready to eat in ten minutes or less.

Great for a light packed lunch too - just take your dressing in a separate little pot.

Serves one as a main, or two as a starter.

475 calories for a main portion, 238 calories for a starter.

Want to cut the calories? Leave out the avocado and take it down to 317 calories for a main portion.

Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad (includes Thermomix method)

A modern take on salade niçoise, topped with a seared tuna steak and a delicious, chunky dressing packed with bursts of niçoise flavours.

Contrary to popular belief, tuna isn't actually one of the core ingredients of a nicoise salad - anchovies are more likely to frequent the more authentic presentations, and the two wouldn't usually be served together. Cooked vegetables (e.g. potatoes and green beans) are also not part of an authentic salade niçoise recipe - fresh and raw broad beans are the way to go. I remember thinking I'd been 'done' when I ordered a nicoise salad in France a couple of decades ago, because they'd 'missed out half the ingredients'. But, what is this? Next I'll be telling you there are no boiled eggs either!

       

No, don't worry there are. However, there are as many recipes for salad niçoise, as there are for chilli con carne no doubt, and it's just as contentious! Even the modern Niçois break the 'rules' and serve tuna and anchovies together. So, if they can, so can we, and while we're at it, let's break a few more and keep everybody happy and call it Nicoise Salad instead! (I doubt anyone Niçois would be reading a recipe for it in English anyway - especially if they saw a photo with potatoes and green beans on it - sacré bleu!!). With this recipe, you can choose whether to serve it warm or cold - I like to have my potatoes, beans and eggs warm, which makes it a great dish for winter or summer.

So after our first little harvest of French beans this year (lovingly grown by the good man), together with a motley collection of different tomatoes, hastily picked according to ripeness (rather than variety!), I was inspired to blog my version of Nicoise salad, which has evolved over the years. Mine involves serving a seared tuna steak over the warm steamed green beans and potatoes (optionally tossed in a little olive oil), with lettuce and cherry tomatoes on the side topped with a fresh a boiled egg (of course!), and a wonderfully piquant chunky dressing, with the olives, anchovies and basil within it, warmed through until the anchovies melt into the dressing and finished with capers and diced tomato then spooned over the top... fancy joining me?

You can play around with the salad ingredients (or the dressing), of course, according to what you have and love - add peppers, cucumbers, radishes or whatever you have to hand, use rocket leaves, and even try it with the fresh broad beans if you want to see what you're missing out on! I have a love of fresh tuna, just seared on the outside and rare in the middle - cook your tuna the way you like it, or if you prefer, use a good quality (dolphin-friendly) jarred or tinned tuna (in oil, if you're going to do it the more Gallic way).

Serves two people, easily doubled. 470 calories per serving (328 calories without the dressing, if you want to use a bought dressing, or just have a drizzle of balsamic for a few calories). Halve these quantities for a sophisticated starter at 235 calories [Calories in square brackets - it will of course be more if you add more extra virgin olive oil for tossing potatoes in and drizzles!]

Ten-minute Trout, Asparagus and New Potato (Warm) Salad

Simple, quick and satisfying and ready in minutes - a delicious dish with minimal effort.

If you prefer, substitute salmon fillet(s) instead, from the tail end where they're flat and triangular, which will be equally delicious - ready-to-eat smoked trout fillets would work really well too, if you don't want to cook the trout yourself. A nice addition which combines perfectly with the other flavours is a boiled egg with a creamy yolk, quartered and nestling on top.

Serves two, 315 calories per serving - easily halved or doubled (calories in square brackets if you're counting). Add another 88 calories for a UK medium sized egg (58g).

Carpaccio of Beef with a Mustard Dressing, Rocket, Capers and Parmesan

Greaseproof paper and a rolling pin means that you don't have to have the world's best knife skills!

Wafer-thin fillet steak is tender to the point of almost melt-in-the mouth consistency, when prepared this way and perfectly complimented by the rich mustardy dressing, peppery rocket, slivers of salty parmesan and tiny capers that give little bursts of flavour in your mouth.

Simple to make, no cooking necessary (although you can optionally quickly sear the very outside of the beef, see method) and an elegant dish which could be a light lunch, or a delicious starter.

This serves two people (but is easily doubled), at 265 calories per serving (if you're counting - calories in square brackets).

Greek Village Salad (Horiatiki Salata)

A timeless classic, great on its own, or as a side dish

A handful of good quality ingredients is what makes this simple salad so enduring. Go for a decent barrel-aged feta, juicy vine-ripened tomatoes and the best Greek olives you can get your hands on: classic purply-brown to black almond-shaped Kalamata olives, or if you're breaking from tradition, go for a nice plump green variety, like Halkidiki or some Olympian green olives.

I tend to switch depending on what I'm having it with, and who else is eating it - if in doubt, just put your favourites in!

Serves up to eight as a small side dish, or four as a light lunch, from 79 calories per serving for a small side and 159 calories as a light lunch (see below for information re. calories).

Italian Tricolore (and more) Salad

Italian Tricolore Salad is one of my favourite Italian salads

It's just so simple, but so delicious. This isn't so much a recipe, as me satisfying my own curiosity as to how many calories there were in what I was eating. But given that I write recipes for people who want recipes for under 500 calories, it was a great idea, as it's very easily under 500 calories even with extras! So working out the calories for the different ingredients, kind of made it into a recipe, and discovering that it was something delicious and simple which could be consumed for far fewer calories than I thought, made it a must-blog to share... (warm ciabatta not pictured!)

So, my apologies that it's not set out in a purist or traditional fashion, and that there are extras on the side, but I wasn't planning to post this as a tricolore salad, or even necessarily as a recipe - just as something summery and vague on a sunny day, showing my appreciation of the simple things in life. Also... I kind of like to keep the balsamic to the tomatoes, to make them more piquant, rather than staining my mozarella or avocado, and I like the grassy tones of a good extra virgin oil shared between the tomatoes and mozarella, with it's greenish golden tones trickling over the white of the cheese.

But I digress... you want to know how you can fit something like this in for under 500 calories (because if you're not counting, you're like a kid in a sweetshop in the deli, and you don't care!).

Serves one, from 326 calories.

Artichoke, Asparagus and Fennel Salad with a Lemon Dressing

This is a beautiful, Spanish-inspired dish, which really takes salad to a whole new level.

It makes great use of what some would consider luxury ingredients, and with the Spanish slant, goes wonderfully with things like grilled chicken, fish and seafood, or my Moorish-Spiced Pork and Padron Pepper kebabs, and makes a stunning dish on a table of food to share with friends.

Serves four as a side, 91 calories per portion.
Feel free to chop and change the ingredients according to what you’ve got! [Calories in square brackets]

Larp Gai (Thai Spicy Minced Chicken Salad) - including Thermomix instructions

I first fell in love with this in Sheffield, of all places, when a friend of mine made it...

But a trip to Thailand soon followed. This is one of the really well known Thai salads, and is incredibly refreshing and full of flavour. It's also very easy to make, full of flavour, healthy and can be a great sharing food if you provide the leaves of baby gem lettuces to use as little cups for the salad (or assemble them in about 12 small baby gem lettuce leaves, for canapes for friends to help themselves to).

Serves two (or more as a starter, or sharing platter), easily doubled.

Calories per serving (between two) 203 for chicken salad, 37 calories for suggested vegetables

A popular spicy chicken salad, originating from the North East of Thailand, served with raw vegetables. Eaten cool, so great to prepare ahead, or even make as a meal the night before, then put the rest into your lunchbox (with vegetables/salad in a separate tub) for the next day. 

[Calories in square brackets]

Wakame and Shaved Vegetable Salad in a Soy-Ginger Dressing with Toasted Seeds

Now that the sun is starting to coyly tease us with its presence, it's time to think about some exciting new salads for refreshing accompaniments or meals on warmer days!

But... seaweed? Really? Yes!!!  This tastes amazing!

Serves 4 (possibly a couple more as a side dish). For the whole salad for 4 people: 747 calories with avocado, 471 without. Per serving: 187 calories with avocado, 118 without.

Go on, step away from the iceberg lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes, and push the boat out. Believe it or not, the whole family loved this, including my two children (aged 9 and 11). It's healthy, tasty and packed with different textures and flavours - and if you invest in some dried wakame a little goes a very long way (see below!) and it's great in things like miso soup too (my miso soup recipe is here). Makes a great side dish to all kinds of Japanese/oriental-flavoured marinated, grilled, griddled or barbequed meat, poultry, fish or tofu etc. (think teryaki, yakitori etc.), with a side of rice or noodles.

Tea-Smoked Chicken, Mango and Asparagus Salad with a Toasted Sesame and Soy Dressing

A simple salad to throw together - you could use any cooked chicken, or tea-smoke your own!

Tired of eating the same old salads? Bored of bland, dry, chicken? Want something that is equally delightful as a light meal or an impressive starter if you make the smoked chicken yourself?

All you need to smoke the chicken yourself is a wok, some foil, and either wood-dust, or a tablespoon each of tea leaves, sugar and raw rice. And you can make it a day or two before-hand, and just slice and serve.

More about that here.

Otherwise, you could use char-grilled, barbequed, or roasted chicken breasts, or even the leftovers from Sunday lunch and you will still have a delicious salad to go.

Keep the dressing separate, and you have a delicious lunch to take to work with you (or even make for your nearest and dearest, ahhhh). Got your tastebuds tingling? And it's only 262 calories per portion, or 131 calories as a starter! Serves two as a main, four as a starter. Here's the recipe:

Smoked Trout and Celeriac Remoulade with a Twist

Hot off the press!

While I'm busy trying to add the huge backlog of recipes I have, here's one I've just written up... whilst wandering around trying to decide what to have for dinner while the rest of my clan had decided on home-made burgers, I spotted some cold-smoked trout fillets, so decided to have them grilled with some celeriac remoulade. I added a little ground fennel seed to the celeriac, to complement the aniseed notes, and served it simply with some green leaves, for a quick and tasty treat.

You could just use some ready-to-eat hot-smoked trout, as you don't often find it cold-smoked, or use some lightly smoked salmon fillets if you see them. Or even some sliced smoked salmon (obviously, I doubt you'd want to grill that!). If you're feeling adventurous, you can buy fresh trout or salmon and give it a quick smoke yourself (see notes). If you're not counting calories, drizzle the leaves with some good extra virgin olive oil, and add mayonnaise to the celeriac to your taste - home-made is best, of course, but use your favourite if your wrist is feeling too tired to make your own...

Smoked Trout with a Lemony Celeriac Remoulade

Simple but delicious, choose which mayonnaise you use to determine how many calories are in your meal, if you're counting.

Serves 4, easily halved. Calories per serving: 217 if using extra light mayonnaise; if you use light mayonnaise it will be 259 calories per portion; and 339 calories per portion if using full fat mayonnaise – all within range, go for your personal preference!