D A D D Y B E A R S A L A D When I was growing up in Greece there were all these famous traditional salads, but to me they always seemed so boring; it was a mission in those days for my mother to convince me to eat my portion. Then came a point when all that changed – I moved to London and was living alone for the first time in my life, in student halls. I hadn't cooked much for myself before, but the fridge was always full of leftovers and bits and bobs. So I started just chucking everything together in a bowl, adding greens and anything that looked interesting. The need for something to eat fast and without hassle was urgent and frequent!
And let me tell you, in less than a year of daily salad creations I lost my belly, which my mother's fridge had been hell-bent on preserving throughout my teenage years.
Even now, with many more recipes in my repertoire, a great salad is still my absolute favourite.
For the Bear's Salad you could follow the recipe but I encourage you to play around as much as you want. The secret alchemy of a great salad is just the limits of your imagination. The brilliant thing is that you can mix anything, from leafy greens to colourful flowers, fruit to raw mushrooms, raisins to nuts. The trick is to unify it all with a clever dressing; get that right and you have a feast to which little else compares!
The key to an E X C E L L E N T S A L A D:
Lots of leafy greens, like spinach, chard, kale, rocket, watercress, parsley and dill.
Any veg can go into a salad, from the tough ones like beets, carrots and red cabbage to classic cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers – but you want it all finely sliced.
I like to put in some cooked veg, too – like roasted sweet potatoes or fried onions and mushrooms.
Any dry nuts you have handy will work; my favourites are walnuts and pistachios but they are crazy expensive, so we often go for sunflower seeds or peanuts (lightly toasting them gives great flavour).
Fruits are a fresh necessity; I find that citrus and sour fruits work better in combination with savoury food. So oranges, grapes, grapefruit, pineapple, apples, melons; even kiwis and strawberries can be great.
Dry fruits are another must. Dry figs, in my opinion, are the best, but it's the same as with fresh fruit – you need to let your imagination unfold the possibilities.
I N G R E D I E N T S Serves 2 Four big handful’s of spinach One handful of rocket One handful of lettuce 4 radish thinly sliced 5 strawberries sliced 4 mushrooms thinly sliced 1 tomato cut into chunks 1 orange cut into chunks A small handful of toasted peanuts A small handful of dried cranberries and sliced prunes Chuck it all together and mix it up, now for...
T H E D R E S S I N G:
(Getting the balance right leads to perfection)
100 ml extra virgin olive oil 10 ml balsamic vinegar or lemon juice 1 tsp honey 1 tbsp mustard 1 tbsp yogurt 1 tbsp tahini 1 tsp oregano a pinch of salt a good dash of pepper
Blend it all up or pop in a Jar and shake to your heart’s content! S E R V E In a big bowl with hunks of crusty bread and devour.