Midweek Meals: Five salad recipes to try this summer — including couscous, pasta and more

A salad for every occasion 

Midweek Meals: Salads to try

Gino D’Acampo’s pasta salad

recipe by:Gino D’Acampo

This versatile recipe is flavoured with chicken, ham and red pesto.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 6 mins

Cooking Time

 18 mins

Total Time

 24 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 400g dried fusilli pasta

• 150g broccoli florets

• 100g green beans, trimmed and halved

• 5tbsp good-quality mayonnaise

• 3tbsp good-quality shop-bought red pesto

• 1 large red onion, peeled and finely sliced

• 1 large red apple, cored, cut into 1cm chunks

• 8 basil leaves, torn in half

• 150g cold chicken breast, cut into 1cm chunks

• 150g thick slice of ham, cut into 1cm chunks

• 5 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

• 4tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Fill a medium saucepan with water, add one tablespoon of salt and bring to the boil over a high heat. Add the pasta and cook for two minutes less than instructed on the packet, giving you a very al dente bite, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, drain in a large colander and rinse under cold water to stop it cooking. Leave to drain in the sink while you prepare the vegetables.

2. Fill the same saucepan with water and one tablespoon of salt and again bring to the boil over a high heat. Add the broccoli and boil for one minute. Add the beans and boil for a further two minutes. Meanwhile, pour the drained pasta into a large bowl.

3. Remove the broccoli and beans from the heat and drain in the same colander you used to drain the pasta. Rinse under cold water and leave to drain in the sink.

4. Place the mayonnaise, pesto, red onion, apple, basil, chicken, ham and half a teaspoon of pepper into the bowl with the pasta. Sprinkle in one teaspoon of salt and mix well with a wooden spoon. Stir in the cooled broccoli and beans.

5. Place the pasta salad on a large serving platter. Sprinkle over the spring onions and drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately, or place in the fridge until needed. Please remember always to serve this at room temperature, to appreciate the flavours of each ingredient.

Colm O'Gorman's Som Tum salad with pork

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

"‘Som’ means sour and Tum’ loosely translates as pounded which arcuately describes both the flavour profile and preparation of this beautiful salad."

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 150g raw peanuts

• 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil

• 200g pork mince

• 1 star anise

• 1 green papaya, around 500g

• 100g fine green beans

• 150g cherry tomatoes

• 3-4 spring onions

• 4 cloves garlic

• 2 red or green chillies

• 50g coconut or light brown sugar

• 2 limes

• 2 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 handful fresh coriander

• Small handful fresh mint leaves

• To serve

• Lime wedges

• Chopped fresh coriander and mint

• Thinly sliced red chilli

Method

1. Pop the peanuts on a baking tray and roast them in an oven preheated to 180 Celsius for fifteen minutes until they are lightly golden brown. Transfer the nuts to a shallow bowl and allow them to cool for ten minutes. When they are cooled enough to handle, stir them around in the bowl using your hand; the skins will come away from the kernels as you stir. When most of the skins have come away, go outside and simply blow the skins out of the bowl. Lightly chop or crush the peanut and set aside for now.

2. Heat a non-stick pan over a high heat and add two tablespoons of toasted sesame oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, reduce the heat to medium. Add the minced pork and the star anise. Stir fry for four to five minutes until the pork is cooked through and begins to caramelise. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

3. Peel the green papaya. Use a spoon to remove any seeds from the centre. Shred the papaya using a spiraliser or a mandolin. You can do this using a sharp knife, but it will be a bit fiddlier. If you prefer, use the coarsest side of a grater to shred the papaya.

4. Trim the green beans and cut them into 3cm sized pieces. Lay them in a single layer on a chopping board and bash them gently with a rolling pin to lightly spilt and bruise the beans. Go gently, you just want to soften and open them up little as they will be served raw in the salad.

5. Trim and chop the spring onions on the diagonal. Wash and cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters or halves if they are very small. Wash and roughly chop the mint leaves and the coriander.

6. Next, prepare the dressing for your salad. Peel and roughly chop the garlic. Trim the stalks from the chillies and roughly chop those as well. If you want a milder dressing, remove the seeds and pith from the chillies before you chop them. Zest one of the limes and juice both.

7. Put the chopped garlic and chilli into a mortar and pestle and pound them until they are broken down. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, pulse the garlic and chilli in a food processor to break them down into a smooth paste. Add the sugar and pound into a smooth paste. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and zest and the final tablespoon of toasted sesame oil. Stir to combine and taste. Add more lime juice, sugar or fish sauce if required.

8. Warm the pork though a little. You do not want it piping hot, just stir it over medium heat for a few minutes to warm it through. Pop the prepared papaya, green beans, spring onions, tomatoes, chopped herbs into a large bowl. Add the pork and two thirds of the chopped peanuts.

9. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss it thoroughly.

10. Serve the salad on plates or in shallow bowls and garnish each portion with the remainder of the chopped peanuts, some more chopped herbs, thinly sliced red chilli and a few lime wedges.