Salad Days: Three easy salads and a Salad Dressing Masterclass

I often find when I am asked to bring along a salad for a casual BBQ that I feel a bit boring showing up with a standard lettuce/tomato/cucumber in a bowl. So I’ve put together some slightly different salad ideas to try next time you are asked to “just bring a salad”.

All recipes make enough salad to serve a crowd. Halve quantities if cooking for fewer. 

Roast pumpkin, spinach and lentil salad with mustardy vinaigrette

• 3 cups pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes (sweet potato works well too)
• olive or vegetable oil
• ½ red onion diced very finely
• 1 tin brown lentils, drained and rinsed
• 1 head broccoli cut into small florets and lightly steamed then refreshed in cold water
• 1 small bag baby spinach, washed if necessary
• ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• salt and pepper

Mustardy vinaigrette

• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
• pinch caster sugar
• salt and pepper

Drizzle the pumpkin with oil and roast in a 220C oven in a large baking dish for about 40 minutes or until cooked through and slightly caramelized at the edges. Allow to cool.

Shake all the dressing ingredients together in a jar with a well-fitting lid.

Place all the salad ingredients including the cooled pumpkin in a large mixing bowl. Just before serving, add dressing, gently mix together and transfer to a clean salad bowl.

Mediterranean chargrilled vegetable salad

• Any lovely Mediterranean vegetables you can find – tomato, capsicum, eggplant, zucchini, red onion.
• 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped roughly

Dressing

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar if you want to splash out)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed
• salt and pepper

Cut the vegetables into ½ cm thick strips (eggplant, zucchini, capsicum) or wedges (tomato, red onion) and cook them over a bbq chargrill or in a hot pan. You want them to be very well charred – a few burnt bits are fine.

Shake all the dressing ingredients together in a small jar with a well-fitting lid.

Place the hot vegetables in a large bowl, gently mix through the dressing and allow to cool to room temperature.

Add parsley, transfer to a clean bowl and serve.

Soft leaf salad

This delicate salad is a great partner to a light lunch such as quiche or fish.

• Soft herbs (chervil, flat parsley, dill, chives, tarragon, mint, basil)
• Soft leaves (mache, watercress, celery leaf, fennel fronds)

Dressing

• ½ cup light oil such as avocado or virgin olive oil (not extra virgin)
• 50mL white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar
• salt and pepper

Very carefully and gently pick the leaves from the stalks. Don’t chop them, you want all the leaves to remain whole, or even as small sprigs. Place them in a bowl.

Shake all the dressing ingredients together in a small jar with a well-fitting lid.

Carefully dress the salad and gently fold the dressing through the leaves until they are just coated.

Salad Dressing Masterclass