Darina Allen: Elevate your autumn salads with these sweet fruit and smoky fish recipes

Plus upcoming National Organic Training Skillnet courses 

Green salad with salmon, cucumbers, lettuce, spices, caviar in plate

My goodness, haven’t salads come a long way since the word salad meant one thing: butterhead lettuce, sliced tomato, hard-boiled egg, a vinegary beetroot pickle and a scallion? Maybe a few radishes for a posh version and of course Chef salad cream. Fast forward to now and the world is your oyster. Think seasonal salads, they can be warm, cold or room temperature.

We’re definitely thinking cool after the recent heat waves. I love to incorporate ripe juicy nectarines, apricots or peaches into salads as well as crisp cucumber, beets, radishes, courgette, aubergines, and of course early tomatoes of many hues. Crisp lettuce is best.

The growth of some outdoor lettuce has actually been slowed because of the heat. Otherwise, a greyhound cabbage with its pointy nose is also delicious.

I love a few crunchy toasted nuts too and I can’t get enough of beets. At present were enjoying mixing purple, yellow, and striped chioggia beets for carpaccio of beetroot, just a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some rocket leaves maybe a few shreds of burrata and a grating of fresh lemon zest– simple and exquisite.

Café Cecilia across from Regents Canal in London is one of my favourite restaurants. This courgette, apricot, stracciatella and roast apricot salad is inspired by one of Max Rocha’s recipes. I love the way he’s perked up the flavours with a little chopped rosemary in the dressing.I also made this combination with some delicious smoked trout that I was gifted by Birgitta Hedin-Curtin from Burren Smokehouse in Co Clare.

Goatsbridge Trout Farm smoked trout is also worth seeking out or else you could warm smoke your own fish on some smouldering wood chips, just four to five minutes depending on the thickness of the fish fillet. It’s so easy to do, I use an old biscuit tin over a medium gas flame.

Crunchy toasted nuts also add an extra dimension to a salad, walnuts, pecans, even almonds. You’ll find the pickled radish and cucumber delicious in many salads and starters. Such a good recipe to use up a glut of radishes before they get woody.

Smoked Trout and Pickled Cucumber Salad

recipe by:Darina Allen

Max served a trout confit, but we love it with warm smoked trout too. Inspired by Max Rocha of Café Cecilia.

Servings

2

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the pickles

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 100ml white wine vinegar

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ cucumber, finely sliced (on a mandoline, ideally)

• 5 breakfast radishes, finely sliced (on a mandoline, ideally)

• hot smoked trout (see recipe)

• 200ml olive oil

• 3 sprigs thyme

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• For the salad

• 6 tbsp good-quality olive oil

• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar

• 1 bunch watercress (about 80g)

• juice of ½ lemon

• extra virgin olive oil, to finish

• 4 sprigs chervil, leaves picked

• 4 sprigs dill, leaves picked

•  

Method

1. First, make the pickle by combining 100ml water with the sugar, vinegar and salt in a saucepan, then gradually increase the heat until the sugar dissolves. Pour this over the cucumber and radishes in a bowl and set aside.

2. For the salad, combine the olive oil, mustard and white wine vinegar. Drain the pickles and put them in a bowl with the watercress and 1 ½ tablespoons of the vinaigrette (save the rest for other salads in the week). Mix and taste for seasoning, adding a squeeze of lemon juice, a few extra drops of olive oil and a pinch each of sea salt and black pepper as required.

3. Flake each trout fillet into 4-5 pieces, then divide half of the fish between 2 plates. Arrange half of the pickles and watercress mix on top, lay on the rest of the smoked fish, then top with the remaining pickle mix.

4. Garnish with the fresh herb sprigs and a pinch of flaky sea salt.

How to Hot-Smoke Fish

recipe by:Darina Allen

You don’t need any special equipment – a biscuit tin will do. The salt draws out excess moisture and inhibits the growth of bacteria. Both salt and smoke preserve. One you master the simple technique of hot-smoking, how about attempting to smoke chicken o

Servings

4

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 4-6 portions of wild salmon, trout, haddock, mackerel or hake

• pure salt (not table salt)

•  

Method

1. Lay the fish fillets, flesh side up, on a tray and sprinkle the fish with pure salt as though you were seasoning generously. Be careful as it’s easy to over-salt if the fillets are thin.

2. Depending on the thickness of the fish, leave for at least an hour but not more than three hours. Dry the fillets with kitchen paper, place on a wire rack and leave to dry in a cool, airy place for 30 minutes. Sprinkle two tablespoons of sawdust (I use apple wood) on the base of a rectangular biscuit cookie or smoking box.

3. Put a wire rack into the tin and lay the fish, flesh side up, on top. Put the box over a medium gas flame for a minute or so until the sawdust starts to smoulder. Cover the box.

4. Reduce the heat and smoke for 4-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Turn off the heat and leave the fish to sit in the tin/smoked unopened for four minutes.

5. Careful, it’s easy to over smoke!

6. Remove from the box and use as desired.

Max Rocha's Courgette, Apricot, Stracciatella and Roast Almonds

recipe by:Darina Allen

Top Tip: Make your own stracciatella. If you can’t source stracciatella, buy the best mozzarella (225g) you can find. Chop gently, cover with 175-225ml of cream, taste and add a pinch of flaky sea salt if necessary.

Servings

2

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 green courgette

• extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

• zest of 1 lemon

• ½ bunch of basil, leaves picked

• 1 garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 ripe apricots

• 200g stracciatella (see tip)

• Dressing

• 45g whole roast almonds

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp red wine vinegar

• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

•  

Method

1. Slice the courgette lengthwise into thin strips, brush with extra virgin olive oil and grill in a hot griddle pan for about two minutes per side, until richly charred.

2. Prepare the marinade by putting three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, basil, garlic and some salt and pepper in a bowl. Fold in the courgette until evenly coated.

3. Roughly chop the almonds, put them in a bowl with the olive oil, red wine vinegar, rosemary and some salt and pepper.

4. Halve, stone and slice the apricots into half-moons. Spoon half the stracciatella onto each plate, followed by the courgettes.

5. Finish with the apricots, dribble a tablespoon of the almond dressing over each portion and serve at once.

Seasonal Journal

Upcoming NOTS courses

Farm-Saved Seed and Cereal Cleaning Course taking place on Monday, September 28

Location: On-farm at Newtown Girley House, Fordstown, Co. Meath

Taking place on a working cereal farm in Meath, this 1-day course is all about home-saved and farm-saved seed and involves producing the best crop for your own use. You’ll learn how to select, clean, dry, and store seed effectively, while also understanding the rules and regulations that apply.

• Book directly via NOTS (National Organic Training Skillnet) nots.ie

BioFarm 2026

BioFarm, now in its ninth year, Ireland’s Biological Farming Conference is returning to its classic two-day in-person format. It will take place at Mount Wolseley Hotel, Tullow, Co Carlow, on November 10, and November 11.

• Book directly via NOTS (National Organic Training Skillnet) nots.ie

Savour Kilkenny 2026

Savour Kilkenny Food Festival runs from October 22-26 over the October Bank holiday weekend. The event celebrates the produce, food and culture of the Kilkenny area. Rory O’Connell will be on the Savour demo stage on Saturday, October 24 at 2pm.

• savourkilkenny.com