Green Bean & Tuna Salad

June 17, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

Green beans add loads of crunch and fibre to a salad, and at the same time they bring a little sweetness.

Green Bean & Tuna Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients
– 100gms green beans
– small bunch red onions
– 100gms grilled zuchinni
– 50gms micro greens
– 2 cans drained solid tuna
– 60gms ripe cherry tomatoes
– 1/4 cup lemon juice
– 1/4 cup olive oil
– salt & pepper

Blanch the green beans in boiling water for 2-minutes. Drain and plunge into icey water. To assemble the salad place all ingredients in a large bowl and dress with the olive oil and lemon juice. Toss and serve. The salad will get better the longer it stands.

Tuna Chick Pea Salad

April 27, 2014 by TSJC 2 Comments

Healthy and Light!

I love the nutty flavour of chick peas, I love their low fat, low carb profile and I love the fact that they fill you up without a tonne of extra calories. Give this Tuna, Olive and Chick pea salad a shot it’s a great diet meal that doesn’t taste like one, it takes 2 minutes to assemble and tastes even better after it’s had a few hours in your lunch box.

INGREDIENTS
– 1 can tuna in brine drained
– 1/2 can chick peas (a whole can if you like a bigger lunch)
– 20gms rocket
– onion rings to taste
– 2 tbsp chopped parsley
– 8 cherry tomatoes
– 1 tbsp capers
– 12 black olives
– balsamic and olive oil

Drain the tuna and the chick peas, assemble with all the ingredients, dress and enjoy! This is a basic add the flavours you enjoy to make it your own.

Tabloueh

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

Great North African lunch treat!

Quick and easy to prepare, cous cous is a North African product produced from Durham wheat. This versatile starch is quick to prepare (less than 5 minutes) and because of its fairly neutral taste, it is a great ingredient to add other flavours to. Give this North African cous cous salad, Tabouleh, a try you want to use loads of fresh herbs, and try and give the salad an hour or two to stand before eating so that the flavours can develop.

INGREDIENTS
– 1 x 500g packet cous cous
– 30g mint
– 30g flat leaf parsley
– 30g dhunia leaves
– 3 large tomatoes deseeded and diced
– 6 spring onions finely sliced
– 1 can chick peas
– 1/4 tsp ground cumin
– 400g Danish feta cubed
– salt & pepper
– 200g grilled aubergine
– 150g roasted red peppers
– 60g rocket leaves
– 2 green chili finely sliced
– 120ml E V Olive oil
– 70ml white vinegar
– salt & pepper

Prepare the cous cous to the pack instructions and set aside. Prepare and combine all other ingredients, except the olive oil, vinegar and cumin combine these separately.
Add the cous cous to the herb and vegetable mix, and then dress, toss lightly to prevent it from going mushy.
This salad is great the day after.

Salad Woes Away

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

Diet food and salads are synonymous, and frankly diet salads are generally boring and not much fun. I like to load up on varied flavours and textures to keep it as interesting as possible. Today’s salad includes toasted pine nuts, grilled artichokes, ricotta cheese (naturally low fat), Parmesan cheese, rocket, basil, grilled zucchini, roasted cherry tomatoes all dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. Delish!

And remember the pine nuts will help with keeping you feeling fuller for longer due to the pinolenic acid.

Mango Coppa Salad

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

I am a huge fan of Parma ham and melon, I love the sweet fruitiness of the melon against the salty pork flavour. Try my adaptation of the classic Parma Ham & Melon – a Coppa, Mango and Pine Nut Salad.
Coppa is cured pork shoulder or neck, it has an intensely porky flavour and goes really well on it’s own or with other ingredients, it stands up better to the intense tropical fruit flavours of mango.

Ingredients
Serves 4

– 1 large mango
– 80gms finely sliced coppa
– 3 tbsp pine nuts
– small baby leaf salad

Peel and slice the mango. Arrange the mango on your plate, then add the salad greens in the centre of the plate and top with finely cut coppa and a sprinkle of pine nuts. I dress the salad with a black balsamic but even the white balsamic dressing works brilliantly adding a tart sweetness.

Grilled Haloumi

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

Autumn officially started on Friday, so I decided it was time to do a few warm salads. This intense salad is perfect for cooler days, grilled halloumi, zucchini, aubergines, roasted red peppers, crisp croutons, salad greens with my take on an anchoïade dressing.
You can use whatever roast veggies you have at hand. The secret to this salad is how you assemble it. Have all your ingredients ready, if you are using any ingredients out of the fridge take them out before hand and let them come to temperature. Grill the halloumi and make your croutons at the same time, have 3/4 of your dressing ready and waiting in a salad bowl. Immediately add the hot grilled halloumi and croutons and toss a few times, then add the balance of the ingredients and toss well. This ensures that your garlicky anchoïade dressing is warmed really releasing its rich flavour, plus the croutons absorb some of the dressing!

Anchoïade is a Provençal anchovy vegetable spread. I have adapted the original recipe suit this type of salad and to suit the fact that it’s a dressing.

Anchoïade Dressing
Ingredients

– 150ml extra virgin olive oil
– 60gms anchovy fillets
– 2 cloves of garlic
– 3 tbsp wine vinegar
– 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
– zest of half a lemon
– 1tsp lemon juice

Start by gently warming the olive oil on the stove, don’t make it hot. Then in a food processor blend all the other ingredients till smooth and slowly drizzle the warm olive oil. If you don’t like anchovies this would work equally well with a pesto dressing.

To grill halloumi I use a heavy based pan, brushed very sparingly with olive oil, I add the halloumi to a sizzling hot pan.

Fig and Blue Cheese Salad

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

This quick starter (or light meal) takes about 4-minutes to prepare, it looks elegant and has great flavour. The secret is in making sure you use great ingredients, sweet pears and figs and tangy, creamy blue cheese.
Layer rocket salad, sweet Bosc pears (peeled & sliced and dipped in a solution of water and lemon juice), fresh figs (torn into 1/4’s), handful of fresh pecan nuts and some finely sliced celery. Drizzle it with a sweet dressings. I use a really great quality balsamic for this salad because it adds so much to the flavour whisked with some good olive oil and a tiny bit of fynbos honey.

Caesar Salad

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

The original recipe for Caesar Salad did not include anchovy pieces, but I love their salty bite. My Caesar salad includes boiled egg, anchovy pieces, Parmesan shavings and croutons. All drizzled with an anchovy dressing which I make by combining olive oil, mayonnaise and anchovy pieces in a blender till smooth. For extra bite I like to add sprinkle of crisply fried capers on top.

Butternut Salad

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

I love contrasting flavours and textures in a meal, especially in a salad it’s a great way to add some depth.
Try a simple salad of sweet roasted chunks of butternut, tangy balsamic roasted onions, creamy Danish feta and crunch pine nuts.

Bosc Pear

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

The Bosc pear – in season at the moment – is famed for it’s dense, juicy, smooth flesh which is why it’s also known as the king of pears. Dress a few slices of pear with blueberries, raspberries, figs and some yoghurt for a quick fix breakfast loaded with flavour and nutrients.

The Secret Jozi Chef

Home of The Cookery

Green Bean & Tuna Salad

Tuna Chick Pea Salad

Tabloueh

Salad Woes Away

Mango Coppa Salad

Grilled Haloumi

Fig and Blue Cheese Salad

Caesar Salad

Butternut Salad

Bosc Pear

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