Cucumber-Basil Egg Salad

I have a certain penchant for egg salad. My mother would rarely make it, but, oh goodness, when she did...
Heaven.
Eggy, mayonnaise-y, heaven.
I rarely make it myself, particularly after I saw just how much mayo went into it. Also, after years of bad deli experiences, my longing for it fizzled and slowly died.
But then I found myself with a bunch of hard boiled eggs on my hands. In a fit of "hardboiling" for the "Fish and Broad Bean Salad" recipe, I had boiled an entire carton of eggs and I was left with many many hard boiled leftovers with little to do with them.
If there was ever a time to justify egg salad...
But my fears about mayo overdose remained and so I trawled the internet searching for an egg salad that downplayed the white stuff and front-loaded other ingredients.
And Epicurious.com came to my rescue. Their recipe for an egg salad infused with cucumber and basil seemed exactly what I was looking for. Yes, it still called for 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, but I could work with this. After a little tweaking, I found myself in the possession of a fresh "healthier" version of egg salad that was absolutely phenomenal. Enough mayo had gone into the recipe to evoke memories of the mayo-drenched creations of my past, but supplementing some of the mayo with yogurt, plus the addition of cucumber, basic, and celery, gave it a much more refined feeling.

This recipe may not satisfy everyone's yen for egg salad (after all, I ended up only putting 3 eggs into it), but for me, it was the perfect balance.

Serves 2


Ingredients

3 hard-cooked eggs, diced
3/4 cup seeded, diced cucumbers (about 1/2 cucumber)
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/2 cup sliced green onions (green part only)
2 celery stalks (chopped)
3 tablespoons lightly packed chopped fresh basil (I used probably about 5 tbsp)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I also used a blend between regular mayo and a onion/mustard mayo I had found at Tesco)
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper

Method

Gently combine the eggs, cucumbers, shallots, celery, green onions, and basil in a medium bowl. Stir in the mayonnaise, yogurt, salt, and peppers. 

Store in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Kibbeh

Alternative grains. It basically breathes the word "hippie". But they've become the latest bandwagon to jump on, culinarily speaking. Quinoa, bulgur, cous cours, farro, wheat berries (seriously?), they all have become familiar items in your local supermarket all of a sudden. But apart from cous cous, I had rarely cooked with any of them.

But, on a crazy whim, I had recently decided to attempt tabbouleh, a dish fundamentally based on bulgur wheat. So, off I went, purchasing the requisite alternative grain. The dish was a hit, but now I was left with all this...well...alternative grain. Now, I like tabbouleh as much as the next person, but I certainly wasn't going to be eating it straight for the next three weeks to use it up. And I had no idea what else I could make with it.

Well, thanks needs to be given, once again, to Martha Schulman, who includes this recipe in her "Cleaning out the pantry" section of her column. Although, for some reason, her pantry seems to include every single alternative grain on the planet. Well, I suppose she is the writer behind a "healthy recipe" column. It does make a certain amount of sense.  

So, kibbeh (which strangely almost rhymes with tabbouleh...is there a bizarre rule of "-eh" endings when it comes to bulgur?). I had no idea what it was but it used bulgur and therefore was right up my alley.

It turns out, it's a wonderful hearty salad (although she makes it into little appetizer balls, an extra touch I wasn't going to do) with fabulous middle eastern flavors. It's also super easy. Win. Win. The only thing that takes some time is the soaking of the bulgur itself (just pour boiling water over it and let it stand an hour). Now, I was tempted to try and skimp on the timing, but a taste test after 35 minutes or so, I was convinced to give it the full hour treatment. Schulman's recipe also lacked oomph, so I boosted some flavors to make it a more aromatic salad. It's great as a main course salad without anything else, but if you want to make it extra hearty, throw some chopped chorizo on it or put it on a bed of salad leaves, and you're in business.

Ingredients

3/4 cup fine bulgur

2 garlic cloves, halved, green shoots removed

Salt to taste

1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and finely chopped

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 cup dried cranberries

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Method
Place the bulgur in a bowl, add salt to taste and pour on boiling water to cover by 1/2 inch. Let sit for one hour, then drain and squeeze out excess water.

Place the garlic in a mortar and pestle with a generous pinch of salt, and mash to a paste. Stir into the bulgur. Add the walnuts, olive oil, parsley, mint, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cranberries, and  the lemon juice. Moisten your hands and knead the mixture for a couple of minutes, then allow to sit for 15 to 30 minutes.

Serve either on its own as a salad or roll into small balls and place on top of lettuce leaves to serve as appetizers.

Yield: Four to Six

Sugar Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad

Summer means salads. As the sun doesn't set now until at least 9pm, it means that dinner is a much more relaxed affair, taken in the conservatory, and made while listening to the music of the ice cream truck go tootling by.
Ah yes, summer.
And salads.
In a perfect world, I would say that all the ingredients for this salad come straight from my garden (including walnuts from my generations-old walnut tree). Alas, my "garden" in this case is the friendly neighborhood Tesco but the turn of the seasons means that sugar snap peas, asparagus, and all the glories of summer produce are at my beck and corporate call.

I was looking for a perfect side salad to go with some hearty protein-y main course, but in the end, this little number became the star of the show. Blanching the peas is by far the hardest part of this dish (and in and of itself doesn't take more than 10 minutes) and you end up with the freshest "summeriest" salad you could hope for. Protein was forgotten instantly as my roommate and I munched on this salad for days.

The other great thing about this salad is that it's light on the oil. The dressing contains barely a tablespoon, helped out by some added water/chicken broth. I thought I'd be able to taste the difference, but the dill, lemon juice, and cayenne go a long way with these vegetables, and you don't end up with a cloying dressing.

I also added in some extra cayenne, dill, and walnuts to boost the flavor. We're all about bold flavors in our house, but tone down the spice if you really want the fresh veggie taste to come shining through.

Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 30 min

Ingredients
1 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, toasted
1 tablespoon fat-free chicken broth or water
2 tablespoons walnut oil
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Method

Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water. Cook peas in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until bright green and crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain and immediately transfer to ice water. When cold, drain well and pat dry.

Mash walnuts to a paste with a mortar and pestle and whisk in broth, oil, lemon juice, cayenne, and dill until blended. Season with salt and pepper. Toss walnut mixture with peas and cucumber until vegetables are coated.

Nutritional Info: Each serving has about 59 calories and 3 grams fat.

Grilled Squid and Melon Salad

I can't help it. I love squid. Well, really all seafood, but squid in particular holds a special place in my heart. I know, I know, it has a weird texture and it seems natural for us to balk at eating anything with tentacles, but all this ignores the simple fact that it's absolutely delicious.

But, I have to admit, even my boundaries were tested when I saw this recipe for a grilled squid and melon salad. Maybe it's just me, but they don't seem to be natural friends on a plate.

My courage got the best of me and I ended up trying it, enlisting my roommate and friend to be my co-guinea pigs.

And it was worth it. The marinade for the squid and melon go perfectly together. That sweet fiery taste highlights both in a way that borders on decadent. And then you put another fabulous dressing, made from lime juice and brown sugar on top of that. I mean, squid fan or no, you can't deny the flavor combination in this is anything but magnificent.

So I humbly present the Squid and Melon salad. I dare you, take the squid plunge. It will be worth it.

Ingredients
225g cleaned squid
1/2 honeydew melon, peeled and cut into thin wedges
1 tbsp roughly chopped mint leaves
1 tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves

for the marinade:
100 ml olive oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 garlic clove
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp. sugar

for the dressing:
2 tbsp nam pia (Thai fish sauce)
2 tbsp lime juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red and 1 green chili, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp brown sugar
optional: 4 kaffir lime leaves (finely shredded)


Method
Slit the squid open, cutting it into large rectangles and score it in a diamond pattern on the inner side. Leave the tentacles in large pieces. (Or, if your squid comes already cut into rings, simply score the inner side of them).

Mix all the marinade together in a large bowl, add the squid and melon and leave to marinate at room temperature for 2-3 hours.

Heat the grill to its highest setting. Remove the squid and melon from the marinade, place on the grill pan and grill for 4-5 minutes. (Or, if you don't have a grill pan, simply use a saute pan on high heat, for no more than 4 minutes). 

Transfer squid and melon to a bowl and sprinkle over the mint and coriander leaves.

Put all the ingredients for the dressing into a pan and heat gently. Pour the dressing over the squid and melon. Leave to cool at room temperature before serving.

Roquefort and Red Cabbage Salad

Ok, so the title might be a tad misleading. Technically this salad is supposed to be made with red cabbage, which is sweet and wonderful and photographs beautifully. Sadly, the local Tesco has not stocked red cabbage in months, if not years. So, alas, white/green cabbage it was.

Now, this is not to say that this wasn't delicious. I dare you to find me any salad that isn't made infinitely better with the addition of either bacon or cheese, but still, I feel a bit of the fraud by posting a red cabbage recipe which prominently features nothing of the kind. But ah well. If you are so lucky to live in a region with the rich bounty of red cabbage, please, do partake, and think of me when you do.


Roquefort and Red (ahem, white) Cabbage Salad

Ingredients
1/4 red (or white) cabbage, central core removed, thinly sliced
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
50g caster sugar
600ml water
100g streaky bacon (normal bacon for the Americans out there), cut into 2cm dice
2 slices of white bread, cut into 1cm cubes
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 heads of chicory (endive)
1 small head of radicchio
150g Roquefort (or any blue cheese) crumbled

for the Vinaigrette 
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp walnut oil
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp walnuts, roasted and broken into chunks
salt and pepper

Method

Put the cabbage in a bowl. Bring the vinegar to the boil, add the sugar and, once dissolved, pour it over the cabbage and stir well. Boil the water and pour that over the cabbage too. Leave to soak for 5 minutes, then drain in a colander and leave to cool.

Heat a frying pan over a high heat, add the bacon and cook it until it is crisp and the fat has been released. Add the bread and fry until golden, then stir in the garlic and fry for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Put the red cabbage in a salad bowl with the chicory and radicchio leaves, scatter over the bacon and croutons and the Roquefort cheese.
Whisk together all the ingredients for the vinaigrette and pour it over the salad.
Toss well, adjust the seasoning and serve.