Summery Salads - N°5: Glass noodle salad

I think this will be the last one of the series for a while since maybe you got a bit tired of just reading about salads. To remain true to myself, it’s yet another Asian salad. Very easy and quick to prepare.

Ingredients (for 1 bowl of salad):

150g glass noodles

50g raw cashew nuts

300g cherry tomatoes

½ red onion

100g bean sprouts

3 tbsp. honey

1 handful of coriander leaves

1 handful of Thai basil leaves (or sweet basil leaves)

Chilli powder

1 garlic clove

2 Chillies

4 tbsp. lime juice

½ tsp. lime zest

4 tbsp. fish sauce

Preparation:

Cook the glass noodles in a saucepan (in boiling water for about 2-3 minutes). Drain the water and rinse the noodles with cold water. Dry the noodles with a paper towel and add them to a salad bowl.

Heat a frying pan (medium-high heat) and add the cashew nuts. Dry-roast until they start to brown. Add the chilli powder and 1 tbsp. of honey and stir until the cashew nuts are well coated. Once the nuts are cooled down, chop them roughly. Add the cherry tomatoes, onion, bean sprouts, coriander and Thai basil to the bowl with the glass noodles. For the dressing, mix the finely chopped garlic with the chillies (deseeded and sliced), lime juice, lime zest, fish sauce and 2 tbsp. honey. Add the dressing to the salad and serve it with the roasted cashew nuts. 

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Summery Salads - N°4: Malaysian papaya salad

So, number two in the series is, surprise surprise, an Asian summer salad! I don't think it needs much more introduction, so here comes the recipe:

Ingredients (for 2 reasonably big portions):

50g green beans and/or 

50g sugar peas

1 small (unripe) papaya

½ cucumber

¼ Chinese cabbage (optional)

1 mandarin

½ avocado

4 cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp. fresh coriander

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

½ red onion (or 1 spring onion)

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp. sesame seeds

1 tsp. Sambal Oelek

1 tbsp. raw cane sugar

Juice from 1 lemon

1 tbsp. fish sauce

Preparation:

Blanch the beans and/or sugar peas in boiling water for 3 minutes. Half the cucumber and papaya, remove the seeds and cut into small cubes. Fry the onion and the garlic (chopped finely) in the oil. Mix the sugar with the lemon juice and fish sauce. Cut the cabbage (if you choose to put it in), the mandarin and avocado. Roast the sesame seeds. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and decorate the salad with the sesame seeds, cherry tomatoes and coriander. 

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Summery Salads - N°3 - Tabbouleh

Now, this is the Lebanese version of Tabbouleh (i.e. based on a lot of parsley rather than a lot of bulgur or couscous as is the Moroccan version). Yet, you still need a bit of bulgur for the Lebanese version too. In case you don’t know what that is, let me explain quickly: “Burgul” is the Turkish word whereas in Arabic it is called “burghul”. It looks a lot like couscous, but is a bit thicker. According to Wikipedia, bulgur is made from the groats of several different wheat species, most commonly from durum wheat. You find it a lot in Middle Eastern cuisine, as for example in Tabbouleh. So here comes the recipe:

Ingredients (for a bowl of salad):

4 bunches of flat parsley

1 bunch of fresh mint

½ cucumber (optional)

5 tomatoes

1 small white onion

5 tbsp. bulgur

Olive oil

Juice of 1-2 lemons

Salt and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pepper)

Lettuce and cabbage leaves

Preparation:

Wash the parsley and mint and dry them thoroughly. Chop both finely and add them in a bowl. Cut the cucumber, tomatoes and onion and keep separately (the Tabbouleh gets soggy quite quickly). Shortly before serving, mix in the tomatoes, onions (and cucumber) with the parsley and mint and add the bulgur (no cooking needed!). Add the liquids: lemon juice and olive oil and season with salt and the spices. Mix well and serve with lettuce or cabbage leaves. 

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Summery Salads - N°2: Quinoa-pomegranate

Yep, you might think that I have a newfound addiction to pomegranates... But actually, I am just trying to use my rests in an intelligent way. So here comes a semi-self invented summery salad with pomegranates, radish and raisins.

Enjoy!

Ingredients (for 1 reasonably filling portion):

150g Quinoa (1 cup)

30 cl water (2 cups)

½ cucumber

½ pomegranate

7 radishes (or more)

Raisins or dried dates to your liking

2 tbsp. fresh mint

Lime juice

Olive oil

Salt

Preparation:

Rinse the Quinoa in water (much like rice) to remove the bitter coating. Bring the water to the boil and add the Quinoa. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes (until the germ separates from the seed and the water is absorbed).

Half the cucumber and remove the seeds. Chop into cubes. Cut the radishes into slices. Mix the Quinoa (cooled down), pomegranates seeds (see Summer Beef salad recipe for instructions on how to best remove the pomegranate seeds), cucumber, radishes, raisins (or dried dates) and mint in a bowl and add the lime juice and olive oil. Season with salt.

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Summery Salads - N°1: Ebly-strawberry salad

I thought that over the next days, I would put a series of summery salads. Technically, the beef salad with pomegranate could have been the first one of these salads. But well. Now this - own creation - Ebly salad with strawberries will be! Enjoy (and let's hope the weather will play along!).

Ingredients (for 1 person):

1 cup of Ebly

2 cups of broth

1 small onion

½ cucumber

½ capsicum (red bell pepper)

50g sugar peas

Strawberries (as many as you like)

Olive oil

Vinegar (best is a glazing Balsamic vinegar that is a bit fruity)

Salt & pepper

Preparation:

Chop the onions and braise them in olive oil. Add the Ebly and broth and simmer for about 10 minutes (or until the water is absorbed and the Ebly is soft). Cut off the ends of the sugar peas and blanch them in boiling water for about two minutes. Cut the peas, capsicum, strawberries and cucumber into cubes. Put them in a bowl and add the Ebly. Season with vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper. 

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Summer beef salad (with pomegranate)

This summery and very yummy beef salad is a creation of my own, inspired by Asian beef salads (with mango for example). The fruits used here can be exchanged, or others added.
Bon appétit!

Ingredients (for 1 person) :
- 150g beef (preferably filet)
- 1 spring onion
- 1 carrot
- 1/3 of a cucumber
- 6 strawberries
- 1/2 pomegranate
- fresh mint
- fresh coriander
- oil

Sauce :
- rice vinegar or lime juice
- soy sauce (preferably sweet)
- fish sauce

Preparation :
Chop the spring onions and fry them in a pan; add the sliced beef. Season with fish sauce and sweet soy sauce and fry until the beef is no longer pink.
Cut the carrot (either in little dice or with a vegetable peeler into thin stripes); half the cucumber and remove the seeds; cut in dice; also cut the strawberries.
Put the halfed pomegranate into a bowl of cold water and, holding the fruit under water, pull it apart. The water limits the amount of pomegranate juice squirting into all directions and the skin between the seeds floats on the water, making it easier to separate the seeds from it.
Put all the ingredients into a bowl; season with rice vinegar (or lime juice), fish sauce and soy sauce and finely cut the mint and coriander over the salad with scissors. 

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