Salad days

The sun is out, the sky is blue, there's not a cloud to spoil the view. To quote a line in a Buddy Holly song. Its still spring but it feels like summer this week as we have this glorious weather here in the Cotswolds.

Although summer weather makes you want to eat salad, there is no reason not to eat salad all year round. I do. Salad has changed out of recognition in my lifetime. I remember as a child eating my mums salads which were usually Lettuce, a tomato (cut up), a piece of cheese, radish, beetroot, a dollop of salad cream and if you were lucky a spring onion or maybe a slice of quiche.  

Salads today are so different and so tasty and you don’t have to wait for the temperature to reach the 90s to eat one either. We eat a much more varied diet now than we did back in the 60s & 70s when I was growing up. This enables us to have salad alongside a main dish, be it pizza, a pie, falafels etc, dishes that were not really on our radar back then.

I thought I would give you a tasty salad you might like to try courtesy of our friends down at Lunchbox London.

Baby kale & roasted aubergine bruschetta with tahini  

A Moroccan-style snack or canapé with warming spices  

                                         Time 30 mins                           serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 tsp (heaped) of Garlic Granules, Mixed Italian Herbs, Cumin and Chilli Flakes
• 1 Handful of Florette Baby Kale
• 1 Bruschetta Loaf (cut into chunky slices)
• 1 Red Onion (finely sliced)
• 1 Large Aubergine (cut into 1cm thick rounds)
•  4 Beef Tomatoes (finely sliced)
• 1 Lemon (juice).

    For the Yogurt Dressing:

• 2 tbsp Crème Fraiche
• 2 tbsp Tahini
• Squeeze of Lemon
• 2 tbsp of Chopped Parsley

Method

1. Slice the aubergine into 1cm circles, cover with the dried herbs and spread out over a baking tray. Drizzle well with vegetable oil and season. Roast for 30 minutes in a 200 C oven until soft and crisp.
2. Meanwhile. mix the yogurt dressing ingredients together and set aside.
3. Add the lemon and a splash of oil to the chopped onion and set aside to soften the flavour.
4. Once the aubergine is nearly there, brush the bruschetta with oil and griddle or roast until toasted and coloured.
5. Mix the kale through the onion and lemon.
6. Serve the aubergine and tomato stacked on the bruschetta with the kale on top and a generous drizzle of the yogurt dressing.