FENNEL SALAD

This is a very simple summer salad - great with blue grilled fish.
You need:

- two fennel bulbs
- 1 orange
- a handful of black olives (pitted)
- pink pepper (to taste)
- 3 tables spoons of (good) virgin olive oil
- 1.5 tablespoons of vinegar
- salt

Cut the fennel in really thin slices (ideally with a mandoline). Add the olive oil and vinegar and let it rest for 20 minutes or so. Then cut the orange in chunks (getting rid of the white skin) Half the olives. Mix the oranges and olives with the fennel. Add salt and sprinkle with the pink pepper.  Done!

VINAIGRETTE

I normally dress the salad by just pouring some salt, olive oil and red wine vinegar on top of it (in this order). If you get enough practice you will not even need to measure the ingredients. The rule in Spain is that the salad should be oily, salty and not too vinaigry -  but I love vinegar (and I also love breaking rules) so my salads (which I eat pretty much every day) are always on the vinaigry side. The alternative to this rudimentary way of dressing salads is to prepare a proper vinaigrette and keep in in the fridge for a few days. You need:

- 200 ml of light olive oil
- 40 ml water
- a tablespoon of mustard (dijon is best)
- a teaspoon of salt
- 2 tablespoons of red wine

Whisk the olive oil and mustard. When the mixture is emulsionated (i.e. it becomes a thick sauce) add the water, then the salt and vinegar. Whisk it a bit more and keep in a jar in the fridge.

You can also do a variation of this by replacing the mustard by a tablespoon of shop-bought mayonnaise and increasing the amount of water to 60 ml.

Whatever you do please do not add any sugar or honey to it - that is the easiest way to ruin any salad.

It keeps in the fridge for a week.

COBB SALAD

Have recently spent a few days in Miami and, as always when I go to the US, I have lived on cobb salads. Not the healthiest of choicest, but difficult to find a nicer combination of textures and flavours…and then there is that killer ranch sauce of course…

You need (for two people)
- 2 gem lettuce or a quarter of an iceberg lettuce, chopped very thinly
- 1 avocado (in small cubes)
- 60 gr of bacon (in small cubes)
- 1 egg (in small cubes)
- 2 tomatoes(deseeded and chopped in to small cubes)
- 60 gr blue cheese ( in small cubes)
- 80 gr chicken (in small cubes)

And for the sauce:
-two table spoons of mayonnaise (either our 'two minutes mayonnaise sauce or any shop bought one)
-  clove of garlic (minced)
- a pinch of salt
- a pinch of chopped parsley, a pinch of chopped dill and a pinch of chopped chives (or any combination of these)
- a tablespoon of sour cream
- 200 gr of buttermilk ( of 75 ml of greek yogurt mixed with 125 ml of milk - if you want it runnier add more milk)
- a teaspoon of lemon sauce
- pepper

Mix all the salad ingredient. Separately mix all the sauce ingredients. Pour the sauce over the salad, mix well and eat.

My children often complaint when I serve salad.
Let me rephrase that: my children often complaint, period.
When it comes to salads, they  tend to eat it better if they help to make it.
Blue cheese is one step too far though.

PRAWN 'LITTLE SALAD' - ENSALADILLA DE GAMBAS

This is a version of the 'Ensaladilla Rusa/Little Russian Salad'  (see our recipe) that is typical from the South of Spain (from San Lucar de Barrameda, by the beautiful natural park of Donana in Cadiz, to Huelva).  They have  some of the best prawns in the world there. My children prefer this to the Little Russian salad that you can find all over Spain -  probably because it has more potatoes and less vegetables. You can do a summery lighter variation of this with white melon and prawns - it sounds like an odd combination but it is delicious.  You need:
- 500 gr potatoes
- 350 gr prawns (un-shelled)
- mayonnaise (1 egg, 200 ml sunflower oil, salt, juice of half a lemon)
- water
- salt

Fill a pan with lots of salty boiling water. Put the unshelled prawns into the pan, lower the heat and let them simmer for 2-3 minutes (the prawns should be pink - but do not over boil them or they will become dry). Take the prawns out of the water, but keep the water. Un-shell the prawns (don't get impatient because it just takes 3-4 minutes and the kids can help on this) cut them into mouthful chunks, and put the shells (including the heads of the prawns) back into the pan. Add the diced potatoes to the water and boil for 7-8 minutes until they are tender (the exact amount of time depends on the kind of potato that you may use). Take the potatoes our of the water and drain them well but keep half a glass of the liquid. Mix the potatoes  with the prawns. Prepare a mayonnaise (see our '2 minutes mayonnaise' recipe) with the egg, sunflower oil, salt and lemon. Mix half a glass of the boiling water with the mayonnaise and finally mix the mayonnaise with the potatoes and prawns. Put it all into the fridge as it should be served cold.

Add some crusty bread and a green salad and that is lunch done.

WATERMELON SALAD

We prepared this for the retirement party of a neighbourhood friend as it is really easy buffet summer food.

You need:

- a watermelon (if you are in the UK use a whole watermelon, but if you are in Spain, Italy or France use only half - British watermelons are half the size of Mediterranean ones, which is a bit bizarre as most of them are imported from the Mediterranean)
- one and a half packets of feta cheese
- three red onions
- 200 g of black olives
-  big bunch of parsley
 - 5 tablespoons of oil
- three and a half table spoons of vinegar
- salt

Cut the watermelon in bite size cubes. Cut the onions in half moons and put them on top of the watermelon. Crumble the feta cheese and add it to the salad. Finally sprinkle the parsley on top. Separately mix the oil, vinegar and salt and pour it over the salad. Toss it all together.

We were running really late for the party so I am afraid we took the picture of the salad in its foil container, which is convenient for the party but a bit ugly for the blog - on the bright side though it means you will not have to do any washing up.

'ENSALADILLA' or LITTLE RUSSIAN SALAD

This is a very typical tapa in Spain (more accurately this is called a 'racion' rather than a 'tapa') and it was also one of the staple dishes on celebration menus when I was little.

You need:
- 2 large potatoes
- 2 carrots
- six french beans
- 2 eggs
- 1 can of tuna
- 4 tinned red peppers (preferably piquillo peppers)
- 8 green olives
- 8 pickles (acidic like cornichons, not sweet ones)
- 2 cups of mayonaise ( shop-bought or our 2 minutes mayonnaise sauce - see separate recipe)

Boil the potatoes, carrots and beans into small cubes and boil them (in water and salt) until they are tender. It should take 10 minutes for the potatoes and the carrots and 8 minutes for the beans). We boil them separately so that the flavours do not mix, but if you do not have time just boil them altogether.
Separately hard-boil the eggs.

Cut the eggs into small cubes and mix them with the potatoes, carrots and beans. Drain the tuna and add it (cut into small bits) to the salad. Then slice the olives and cornichons thinly and add them too. Cut the red peppers into small bits, add them to the salad. Finally add the mayonnaise and mix it all taking care not to break the potatoes.

Normally this is served covered with mayonnaise and with a few strips of red peppers on top (unlike in the picture - a bit too much mayonnaise for my children's taste...)

LEEK AND EDAMAME SALAD

You need

- 3 leaks (chopped into 3 or 4 cm thick chunks) 

- edamame beans (2 handfulls)

- for the sauce: 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of vinegar, salt, a quarter of a red pepper, a quarter of an onion, a quarter of a garlic clove and parsley

Steam the leaks during five minutes (or boil them for 3-4 minutes) and put them on a dish. Add the edamame beans on top of the leaks (we buy them already boiled. If you buy raw beans just boil them in salty water for 4 minutes). Put all the ingredients of the sauce in a food processor and blitz it until all the ingredients are very thinly chopped and the oil is emulsionated (it normally takes 5 seconds) Add the sauce to the leaks and beans and serve. Add a little bit of olive oil on top of it all just so that the salad gets a nice shine. 

SALTED COD AND ORANGE SALAD

This is very simple, but the children found interesting the way in which salted cod changes in both taste and texture. You need:

-100 or 150 gr of salted cod - you need to get rid of the salt by putting it into cold water for 36 hours and changing the water every 12 hours. Cut the cod into slices as thinly as possible.
- one orange in thin slices
- one spring onion (cut not too thinly)
- a few black olives
- dressing: 3 tablespoons of live oil, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, half a teaspoon of mustard, salt and pepper.

Arrange the cod, orange, spring onions and olives on a plate (in this order). Mix the dressing and pour it on top of the salad.  This taste better if you let it rest for half an hour or so.

CHICKPEA SALAD

This is a very a very simple summer salad.
You need:
- one tin of chickpeas
- 3 spring onions ( cut into slices)
- 150 gr of chorizo cut into small squares
- 100 gr feta cheese cut into small squares
- 1 spoonful of chopped parsley
- half a clove of garlic
- olive oil
- wine vinegar

Mix the chickpeas, spring onions and feta cheese. Fry slightly the chorizo cubes and add it to the salad. Grate the clove of garlic and mix it with the vinegar and one table spoon of olive oil. Mix it all well. Sprinkle the parsley on top. We do not add any salt as the feta is naturally salted but add some if you wish.

ROAST PEPPERS

It takes a while for children to like this taste, but it really is the taste of the mediterranean sun. The peppers go well with any grilled meat, grilled tuna, fried eggs, omelet or just with bread... and they are full of vitamin C.

Just get 6 big peppers (the bigger the better). Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Put the peppers on a tray and add a bit of water on the bottom of the tray (half a glass more or less). Put the tray into the oven and roast the peppers for 35 minutes. Then turn them around and roast them for another 30 minutes. They should come up rather black.  Let them cool down and then peel them (it is easier if you put them into a pastil bag as they are cooling down). Add 3 tablespoons of the liquid that the peppers have produced while you were roasting them, 3 table spoons of olive oil, one and a half tablespoons of good vinegar and salt.

You can keep them for a few days in the fridge or freeze them  provided you do not add oil and vinegar.

BACON SALAD

This is not really a proper recipe, but my kids like it.

You need:
- 100-140 g of bacon cut into small cubes
- 1 tin of sweetcorn
- 1 cucumber - also into small cubes

Mix all the ingredients together. Add a pinch of salt, 1 table spoon of oil and half a table spoon of vinegar  (all to taste). if you are serving this to adults you may want to add also some chopped avocado.

GRILLED HALLOUMI

This could not be more simple.
You need:
- halloumi cheese (2-3 slices per person)
- pomegranate seeds (2 table spooons)
- chopped mint (1 teaspoon)
- olive oil

Heat a non-stick frying pan until it is hot (do not add any oil) Add the halloumi, wait for two minutes more or less and turn the halloumi slices around, wait for another two minutes and take it out. Scater the pomegranate seeds and mint on top and pour some (good) olive oil. That is all.

The children liked the colour of the halloumi but found it way too salty. They liked the pomegranate seeds though.

  

MIXED SALAD

You can serve this with olive oil and vinegar or with mayonnaise ( see 2 minutes mayonnaise sauce post). If you use mayonnaise then this is called 'little Russian salad' (ensaladilla) in Spanish.

You need:
3 big potatoes diced (small cubes)
3 carrot (also diced into small cubes)
3 hand fulls of frozen peas
4 cornichons (cut into tiny pieces)
8 green olives (also cut into tiny pieces)
4 tinned red peppers (cut into small pieces)
1 tin of tuna (into small flakes)
you can also add if you wish a couple of boiled eggs cut into small cubes ( we did not use them for the picture below)

Boil water in a pan.Using a steamer (we have a stained steel fan, but you can also use a Chinese steamer) steam the potatoes and carrots in salty water for 10 minutes ( you can also just boil them for 7-8 minutes  but the texture will not be as nice). Boil the peas  for 3-4 minutes. Mix the potatoes, carrots, peas and all the other ingredients. Taste it as you may need to add a bit more salt at the end. You can serve this  (with olive oil and vinegar or with mayonnaise) with a simple green salad as a main course for lunch.

MEDITERRANEAN SALAD

This is a really simple salad to make and a good way for kids to start getting used to dressing as the bread will cut the acidity of the vinegar. You need:
2 tomatoes (cut in cubes)
1 cucumber (cut in cubes)
1 pitta bread (put it in a toaster so that it becomes crunchy and then tear it into small bits)
2 table spoons of olive oil,
1 table spoon of vinegar
salt
All you need to do is to m ix all the ingredients and serve.
For some weird reason my children only eat salad if they prepare it so I always ask them to mix the ingredients and add the dressing. They can almost do this on their own... but remind them to wash the vegetables first!