Darina Allen: Three summer salad recipes to enjoy on a sunny day

Plus, here are my tips to help make the perfect potato salad

Salad of Nectarines, Green Beans, Almonds and Feta with Simple Vinaigrette. Recipe by Sarah Johnson

During this spell of gorgeous weather, we’ve been feasting on huge salads. The garden is bursting with beautiful produce, there are scarcely enough meal slots to enjoy and celebrate it all, and the work of the heroic gardeners who sowed the seeds many months ago. Apart from a great big green salad, our other staple is a bowl of unctuous potato salad flecked with green scallion tops and parsley.

For those of you who think that potato salad is always dull, let me share the secrets of a truly moreish and surprisingly delicious potato salad. Myrtle Allen, my late mother-in-law whom I spent many years learning from and cooking side-by-side with in the kitchens of Ballymaloe House, was very pernickety about small details which very often made the difference between something tasting utterly delicious rather than ‘just OK’.

In the case of potato salad, the variety of potato was very important. Unlike many, she preferred a floury rather than waxy potato, maybe Home Guard or Golden Wonders. Cook them in boiling, well-salted water in their jackets. If you haven’t got some good mayo, remember it takes less than five minutes to make it by hand, even faster in a food processor but you’ll need to start with four egg yolks rather than just two, otherwise the blades won’t be able to pick it up. It’s always worth making more mayonnaise than you think you’ll need. It keeps for ages in your fridge, maybe four or five weeks or more, unlike what you might think.

Some French dressing will take just a few more minutes more. Take a tablespoon — three parts extra-virgin olive oil to one part wine vinegar works really well. I use Mani, Greek olive oil made from the Koroniki olive and love Forum white wine vinegar, but use whatever really good extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar you can lay hands on.

It’s worth investing in good ingredients, the quality will make all the difference to your dressing and you don’t need to use very much. I like to grate in a clove of garlic, a pinch of flaky sea salt, and lots of freshly ground pepper.

Finally, add a little finely chopped parsley and chives. Sometimes I add a little honey but not if I’m using it for a potato salad. Good feisty dressings are essential for tasty salads.

So, here’s the secret of a delicious potato salad. While the potatoes are still warm, quickly peel and cut into chunky cubes. Season well with flaky sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Whisk the French dressing to re-emulsify, toss well so the potato cubes are nicely coated. Already you’ll have a delicious potato salad, but I love a little mayonnaise also. Thin the mayonnaise with a little water if necessary to achieve a coating consistency. Add in lots of chopped spring onions or scallions and parsley, and fold through the potato salad. Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary.

Just before serving, sprinkle with some more chopped spring onions and coarsely snipped parsley. So delicious on its own or as a side with grilled lamb chops, a seared steak, some crispy chicken with one or several additions.

Everyone loves a brilliant potato salad, but if you make it with cold, soapy potatoes, you’ll wonder why it’s so dull. To compose an enticing salad, one needs to think, not just colour– peppers, radishes… but texture, flavour, and mouthfeel also.

Perhaps, have a base of crunchy salad leaves and maybe some beans, lentils or chickpeas, lots of fresh herbs. Maybe, incorporate sweet, sour, salty, and bitter flavours to tantalise the taste buds. Play with Asian flavours, soy sauce, nam pla (fish sauce), sweet chilli sauce, gochujang, Moroccan flavours, zaatar, gutsy spices, rose petals — I love salads with a little light coating of mayo but also those like carrot, cabbage, and apple, just with a honey and wine vinegar dressing.

This is a brilliant one to get your children to help with, they love the clean flavour, just grate some fresh crunchy carrots and apple on the coarsest part of a box grater, some finely shredded summer cabbage, maybe a few plump sultanas, some chopped fresh mint, then toss in some honey and vinegar dressing. Taste and check the honey and vinegar per portion and tweak if necessary.

It is also good to remember the seasons. Lots of juicy nectarines, peaches, and cherries at the moment. I’m loving the combination of slivered raw beetroot and fresh raspberry at present, and raw courgette salad with extra-virgin olive oil, finely grated lemon zest, and slivers of Parmesan.

I also love a torn burrata with a coarse purée of peas and fresh mint leaves. Maybe scatter some edible flowers and flower petals over the top — dill or fennel flowers have an intoxicating aroma and flavour, a surprising little pop of anise flavour. We love bright orange marigold petals, and the flowers of sage, chives, thyme, and rosemary. They really add a pop of colour and unexpected excitement to your salad. Have fun experimenting and enjoy every moment of the sunny days.

Sarah’s Salad of Nectarines, Green Beans, Almonds and Feta with Simple Vinaigrette

The appeal of this salad from its contrasting flavours and textures. Make this in midsummer, when the nectarines are ripened by the sun and the green beans are still tender. Recipe from Fruitful by Sarah Johnson published by Kyle Books

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 350-400g trimmed green beans

• 3-4 tbsp simple vinaigrette

• 60g whole almonds, toasted until golden and halved lengthways

• 75g feta, crumbled

• 2 ripe and fragrant nectarines

• Fennel blossoms, tender fennel fronds or green anise (optional)

• Good-quality oil, for drizzling

• Salt and pepper

• For Simple Vinaigrette

• 1 small shallot, finely diced

• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 tsp Dijon mustard

• 150ml extra virgin olive oil

• salt and pepper

Method

1. Start by cooking the green beans. Bring a saucepan of water to a rolling boil and add a few pinches of salt.

2. Fill a bowl with cold water and set aside. Drop the trimmed green beans into the boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes until the green beans begin to soften but still have a snap. Later in the season, when the beans are bigger, cook for 3-4 minutes.

3. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the cold water to stop them cooking, then lay on a clean tea towel to dry.

4. Place the green beans into a bowl and toss with the vinaigrette, add two-thirds of the almonds and half the feta, then gently fold a couple of times to combine, taking care not to smear the feta into the beans.

5. Stone and slice the nectarines into wedges and gently fold into the salad. Taste for seasoning, adjust if necessary, then transfer to a wide serving plate. Finish with the rest of the feta and almonds, a drizzle of good oil and pepper. Scatter fennel blossoms over the top (if using) and serve.

6. For Simple Vinaigrette

7. Place the diced shallots into a small bowl with the red wine vinegar, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Leave the shallots to soften for 10-15 minutes. Pound the garlic in a mortar (or it can be smashed on a cutting board using the side of a knife), then transfer the garlic to a bowl with the mustard and macerated shallots. Whisk everything together, then gradually whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Adjust with salt and pepper. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Carpaccio of Courgette with Slivers of Parmesan and Crispy Capers

recipe by:Darina Allen

This salad needs to be served immediately after the zucchini are dressed.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 675g freshly picked yellow and green courgettes, not more than 12.5cm in length

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• freshly squeezed lemon juice

• Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 225g rocket leaves, gently washed and dried

• 110-175g Parmesan, (Parmigiano Reggiano) in the piece, sliced into slivers

• courgette flowers (optional)

• 2 tbsp capers (optional)

Method

1. First, make the crispy capers.

2. Carefully heat oil in a pan (or use a deep fry), toss in the capers, they will crackle and open out in crispy flowers. Drain on kitchen paper.

3. Trim the ends off the courgettes and slice at an angle or lengthways into 3mm thick slices.

4. Place the sliced zucchini in a large bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix gently with your fingers, taste and correct the seasoning. You may need a little more oil and lemon juice.

5. Lay the rocket leaves in a single layer on a large flat serving dish or on individual serving plates. Scatter on the courgettes, again in a single layer.

6. Finish the salads with a few shavings of Parmesan, capers if using and courgette blossoms over the top.

7. Serve immediately.

Spiced Miso Beef Salad

recipe by:Darina Allen

This is one of many delicious recipes from Donna Hay’s Sunshine, Lemon and Sea Salt cookbook published by Fourth Estate.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 45 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 600g beef eye fillet, trimmed

• 2 tsp sesame oil

• 1 tbsp white miso paste

• 1 tsp light soy sauce

• 2 tsp finely grated ginger

• For the sugar snap salad

• 120g mixed salad leaves

• 150g sugar snap peas, trimmed, blanched and halved

• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced

• 4 red or watermelon radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced

• For the spiced miso dressing

• 80ml lime juice

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

• 1 ½ tsp sesame oil

• 1 ½ tbsp white miso paste

• 1 ½ tbsp firmly packed brown sugar

• ½ tsp shichimi togarashi

• To serve

• Sliced long green chilli and extra shichimi togarashi

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6

2. Brush the beef with 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil. Combine the miso, remaining sesame oil, soy and ginger.

3. Heat an ovenproof non-stick frying pan over high heat. Sear the beef for 2-3 minutes on all sides, until evenly browned.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and brush the beef with the miso mixture. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes. Allow the beef to cool slightly, then thinly slice.

5. While the beef is cooking, make the sugar snap salad. Combine the salad leaves, sugar snap peas, cucumber and radish.

6. To make the spiced miso dressing, combine the lime juice, soy, sesame oil, miso paste, sugar and togarashi.

7. Place the sugar snap salad on a serving platter and drizzle with the dressing. Top with the beef and serve sprinkled with chilli and extra togarashi.

Seasonal Journal

The Magic of Herbs with Darina Allen

Ballymaloe Organic Farm School, Shanagarry July 15

Fresh herbs add magic to our food, and my kind of cooking depends on having access to lots of them for both flavouring and garnishing. Dried herbs are just not the same.

During this intensive afternoon, you’ll learn how to grow and how to use a wide variety of fresh herbs. When you decide to start a herb garden, plant it as close as possible to your kitchen door so you can nip out and snip both herbs and herb flowers at a moment’s notice. It can be as simple as a window box, a couple of herbs in a pot, barrel or zinc container. As complex as our formal herb garden here at Ballymaloe Cookery School, you’ll see examples of many different possibilities and designs.

Darina will also talk about annuals and perennials and the many delicious ways to use each herb. Light refreshments will be served upon arrival at the Ballymaloe Farm School Classroom.

• ballymaloecookeryschool.ie/farm-school

The Garden Café Truck

Great news! The Garden Café Field Truck has just reopened for the summer season at the Ballymaloe Cookery School beside the Organic Farm and Gardens (also open to the public from 9.30-5.30 Monday–Saturday).

Open Tuesday to Saturday from 10-4pm (light lunches served from 12-3pm) serving delicious soup, quiche, toasties, coffee, tea, fermented drinks and unctuous pastries and bikkies.