Archive for the ‘Salads’ Category

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Judy’s Springtime Dinner Party – MyDish Menu #27

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

This dinner party menu is dedicated to Moody Judy as although the main course is under her husbands profile (Ivor) it was originally Judy’s and she chosen these recipes and put them together.

Starter

Crispy Duck and Watermelon Salad

Main Course

Greek Lamb

Greek Potatoes

Avocado and Papaya Salad

Lychee Salad

Dessert

Lemon Meringue Pie

Pineapple and melon with mint

The duck salad is made using a quarter of duck roasted – best as leftover if you are ever having roast duck – or just make some extra for the weekend salad!  Shred the duck and scatter it on a bed of herb leaves (basil, corriander, parsley and mint leaves).  Then  throw some cashew nuts on top and died watermelon.  The sauce is based on a Thai dressing called Green Nahmjim – only becareful you dont pour it all on as it is VERY spicy.

The key to the main course is to marinate the lamb the night before or early in the morning leaving the juices to infuse for a good few hours.  Shoulder or lamb shank is a good cut to use as after it has been cooking slowly for 4 hours it just falls apart and is so delicious and tender.  This is served with roast potatoes, Judy chose Nicola Greek potatoes just to keep with the Greek theme and the flavours complimented each other really well.  Then for those warm muggy evenings (remember them?) a selection of salads -

If you have room to move dessert is a slice of lemon meringue pie – tangy, sweet and very moorish – and for those guests who don’t do puddings after such a delicious meal – a platter of cubed melon mixed with pineapple and topped with a springly of mint and sugar pummeled together with a touch of rum for good measure to make a mojito salad.

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Posted in Dinner parties, Recipes, Salads | 1 Comment »

The sun is out! Boys to the barbie, girls sort the salad – how sexist!

Monday, April 11th, 2011

Well it has really been a beautiful weekend – the sun is shining and people smile a lot more.  In my road you can hear people mowing the lawn, having left the lawn mower in the shed for the last few months.  The ice cream van has come up our street everyday for the last week and of course we got the barbecue out for the first one of the season.  How many of you wished you had put it away clean – or like me had put all the outdoor toys in a place that was easy to lay your hands on again?

I remember when my Aunt came over from South Africa to live here, her first Summer she was amazed how as soon as the sun started shining we would be out in the park in Summer clothes – It was bright but not hot and she couldnt understand why everyone was lying out sunbathing – now she joins the rest of us.

Sothis weekend we joined the masses and got the fire going and my job was to do all the accompaniments – a really sterotypically divide!  I don’t know if it is like that at your place?  Let us know is this a girl boy thing or just in my house?

So my next quest is to find the best salads to make a Summer lunch or a barbecue that much more interesting.  (He can find the bbq recipes!)  I tried a number of salads out with our chicken kebabs and lamb and beef boerewoors.  What I love is a mixture of nuts and seeds to lift the salad, take a look at this crunchy coleslaw salad.

What I like to do is have one green leafy salad like Amanda’s Avocado Summer salad, one coleslaw and then something abit different – maybe a roast vegetable salad.

We have a great selection of people’s different salads , they are a lot more adventurous than I remember having growing up which was just leaves, cucumber, peppers and tomato .  People often tell me they had a great dish – a fab salad served to them and I always implore them to get their friend to post it and share it. Have you had a salad that has made an impact on you – if you add it to your recipe collection now you will be in with a chance to win an X-box!!!

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Posted in Salads, Seasonal Recipes, Summer, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Lunchtime treats on Mother's day

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

I had my mum over for Mothers day lunch and decided to make Seabass and a couple of salads.   My mother’s day treat from my boys was an undisturbed lie in (and some moisturiser and girly stuff).  I got up and I chose what I was going to make for lunch and added them to my shopping list here on MyDish and printed off the list to take to the shops.  It is a brilliant tool that lets you create a menu and pull together all the ingredients you are going to need before you start cooking.
The only issue I had running around the shops  this morning, was trying to find certain ingredients for the salad – The big supermarkets didn’t stock Orzo pasta and I had a lot of trouble sourcing duck sauce – I didn’t realise till I got back that hoisin or plum sauce is a substitute
The crunchy coleslaw was fantastic but the crispy noodle salad was spoilt due to the fact that I picked up fish oil for the dressing instead of sesame oil.  I only realised the mistake when the smell on my fingers drew attention to what I was doing. � I also made pine nut, red pepper and Orzo salad – once we located the Orzo which was only available in Waitrose.
So now the sun is shining and barbecue season is about to start I am looking out for really interesting and very easy lunchtime salads.  With ingredients that are easily available.

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