Health on a summery plate
Francois O’Neill, Brompton Bar & Grill
Bressola, Nectarine and Mozzarella Salad with Lemon & Mint
Serves 2
Salad
• 6 slices of Bressola
• 1 nectarine – halved and sliced into 8-10 pieces
• 1 ball of mozzarella – torn into pieces
• 1 large handful of lambs lettuce
• 4 mint leaves – finely shredded
Dressing
• Lemon oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Olive oil
• Very small pinch of sugar
• Salt & pepper
Whisk the lemon juice and olive oil together: 1/3 lemon to 2/3 olive oil. Season the oil to taste adding a pinch of sugar, salt & pepper. Leave to one side. Place the lambs lettuce, mozzarella, nectarine and mint into a salad bowl and gently dress with the lemon oil and season with black pepper. Divide between two plates and place 3 pieces of bressola around each salad.
Justin Saunders, High Timber
Balsamic root vegetable salad with buttermilk and goats cheese dressing
Serves4-6
Ingredients
• 1 Kolrabi
• 1 celeriac, grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• Sunflower seeds
• pumpkin seeds
• Linseeds
• Poppy seeds
• Pea shoots
• Radish cress
• Beetroot cress
• Garlic chives
• 125ml buttermilk
• 50g goats curd
Marinade
• 25ml aged Balsamic
• 100ml Extra virgin olive oil
• salt /pepper
Whisk the vinegar and oil together and pour over the vegetable. Set aside for one hour to marinate. Toast the seeds in a dry pan till lightly coloured, set aside. For the dressing, mix together the buttermilk and goats cheese curd. Then mix altogether and top with the cresses.
David Gingell, Wright Brothers
Watermelon, goat’s curd and gem salad
Serves 2
• 2 heads of gem lettuce, torn
• 2 handfuls of diced watermelon
• 100g goat’s curd (or 4 heaped tablespoons)
• 50g of hazelnuts, pine nuts, or walnuts – crushed
French vinaigrette:
• 1 tsp of mustard
• 1 tsp of white wine vinegar
• 50 ml of vegetable oil
• 50 ml of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 finely chopped shallot
Toast the nuts in a frying pan until golden brown. Arrange the gem lettuce leaves on a plate and top with the watermelon and goat’s curd. To make the vinaigrette dressing, whisk or blend all the ingredients. Pour over salad and top with the nuts.
Tom Oldroyd, polpo group
English lettuce, white currant and fennel
Serves 6
• 1 large fennel very thinly sliced
• Half a head of any English lettuce, leaves removed, washed and dried
• 1 punnet of white currants removed from the stalk.
• A few leaves of mint roughly chopped.
In a large bowl, combine the lettuce with the fennel and chopped mint and dress with a squeeze of lemon juice and a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Taste. Scatter with the white currants.
CHEF’S TIPS | SUMMER SALADS
Mickael Weiss, head chef at Coq D’Argent
• Stick to only a few ingredients but make sure they’re the best quality you can find.
• Fresh seafood is lovely addition in the summer as it’s light and fresh flavoured – I love quick pan fried scallops.
• Use fresh fruit: it looks lovely on the plate and pairs wonderfully with certain cheeses, e.g. apple and goats cheese, or pear and stilton
• Sharp, zingy flavours for marinades and dressings such as chilli and lime work well
• The addition of fresh herbs will make your salad taste, look and smell amazing
www.coqdargent.co.uk