salmon salad with green goddess dressing

 

the weather in london has turned chilly and it seems ages since we were basking in the warm summer sunshine. however, i am hopeful that sunny days will return and will enjoy recreating this bill granger recipe for salmon salad with green goddess dressing.

the original green goddess salad was, apparently, created at the palace hotel in san franciso for the british actor george arliss who was appearing in a local production of william archer's the green goddess. the classic recipe for this californian dressing are anchovies, mayonnaise, garlic, tarragon, parsley and chives.

bill granger’s recipe is lighter, focussing on herbs and watercress with a mix of mayonnaise and yoghurt. i went with an even lighter version, omitting the mayo as well. however, this is obviously a forgiving recipe and quite happy to be adapted according to whatever you have in. it’s also a great accompaniment for the rest of the salad, which has a lovely balance of flavours – the richness of the avocado and the salmon is balanced by the grapefruit and tangy dressing.

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peach, prosciutto and avocado salad

the vegetable lasagne i cooked for friends last weekend was preceded by this very light and summery salad. it was inspired by lots of different dishes and, like the lasagne, can be adapted to use whatever ingredients you particularly like or happen to have in.

i mixed cubes of mango and peach with the flesh of a passion fruit, a squeeze of lime and chopped mint which was then set aside while i made a dressing from olive oil, fresh orange juice and wholegrain mustard.

to assemble the dish, i added slices of prosciutto and rocket to my fruit mix along with most of the dressing and then stacked this on the plate along with some diced avocado. a few pieces of parma ham and a slice of blue cheese were the final touches before drizzling with a little extra dressing.

crab with avocado, sesame wafers and grapefruit dressing

 

our starter last weekend was this crab and avocado stack with sesame wafers and a grapefruit dressing. it’s based on a recipe from shane osborn’s starters, a lovely little book which provides recipes for all sorts of starters, most of which can be adapted and turned into main courses.

when i was looking for a starter i looked at a few recipes and kept being drawn to crab and avocado combinations – there was a suzanne goin one which includes beetroot and a gordon ramsay one which has pink grapefruit in it. it was the grapefruit that really caught my eye and so i added it to the crab mix and used it as the basis for the dressing (rather than tomato given they are all still so bland at this time of year).

the resulting dish had  a wonderful freshness and was a lovely light starter. 

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cereal milk

a quick flick through the momofuku cook book made it abundantly clear that most of the recipes in here are multi-dimensional and time consuming. this cereal milk dessert is no exception, comprises four main components:

• cereal milk custard
• caramelised cornflakes
• chocolate-hazelnut thing (which requires you to make praline)
• avocado puree

however, with a cereal-loving boyfriend, adventurous friends expected for supper and a day off i decided to give it a try and kick the year off in style. so, how did i get on?

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devil’s nest

lindsay bareham’s week in recipes is fun reading – she talks about what she’s eaten and why and then provides you with the recipe. it has the same voyeuristic component that nigel slater’s kitchen diaries has, as well as most food blogs.

a description from a few weeks ago got stuck in my mind – she refers to an interview with jon hamm from mad men (this is a late find for david and i, we’re just nearing the end of series two and loving it), who, while being interviewed,  orders devil’s nest at a café in silver lake, a boho-chic part of la.  

it was described as “a scramble of avocado, sour cream and spicy sausage” which lindsay used as the basis to create her recipe for “monday’s perfect home-alone supper… i make it with crisp fried chorizo, coriander, a dribble of sweet chilli dipping sauce and dollop of soured cream to complement the almost-guacamole and scrambled eggs.”

i couldn’t decide if it would be "a mess on a plate" or delicious. thankfully it was the latter and i was glad that i decided to risk it for breakfast on sunday. i fancy trying a chorizo version at some point soon but will probably use fresh chorizo sausages rather than the slices of cured meat.

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