Fruity Spring Salad

Seasonal abundance

A good salad is so much more than lettuce, tomato, cucumber and maybe an olive or two with some feta and a dressing. Why not make your next salads the hero on the table? The secret to a scrumptious salad is to keep things simple, so don’t fall into the habit of combining too many ingredients in one bowl. This tasty homemade salad dressing with mustard and herbs is the perfect way to complement the seasonal ingredients. Heleen says this is her go-to salad dressing, so you can even make a double batch and have it on hand for any salad.

Adding seasonal fruit to a salad is a great way to keep it interesting, colourful and healthy. Spring and summer fruit is definitely not only good for breakfast, fruit salad or a dessert, but is a delicious addition to a basic green salad. They also don’t only look good but add wholesomeness to the meal as well. Assemble the ingredients in a platter or any interesting dish to show off the ingredients – it doesn’t have to be in a salad bowl. We do eat with our eyes first, so if it looks good, it is even more appetising. This combination of lettuce and fresh herbs with green beans, cucumber and colourful seasonal fruit is sure to be a showstopper at your next braai.

Fruity spring salad

Recipe by Heleen Meyer

Serves 4 – 6

Mustard & herb salad dressing

45 ml (3 tbsp) olive oil

20 ml (4 tsp) apple cider or raspberry or any other mild fruity vinegar

15 ml (1 tbsp) honey

10 ml (2 tsp) wholegrain mustard

15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Salad

45 ml (3 tbsp) sunflower seeds

45 ml (3 tbsp) pumpkin seeds

150 g green beans, halved width-wise

250 g each red and white grapes

¼ cucumber, cut into ribbons with a vegetable peeler

handfuls fresh berries, like raspberries or blueberries

large handfuls salad leaves and herbs, like baby spinach or rocket, basil and mint

1-2 slices of feta, crumbled or pecorino cheese, cut into shavings

1. Salad dressing: Mix all the ingredients together and season to taste.
2. Salad: Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and toast seeds without any oil until golden brown, taking care not to burn them. Spoon out and allow to cool.
3. Place the green beans in a shallow dish. Pour boiling water over them and allow to stand for 5-7 minutes or until just cooked. Drain and rinse with cold water. Alternatively, lightly cook in a little water, but they must remain crunchy and bright green.
4. Halve some of the grapes and seed them, if necessary and keep the rest whole.
5. Arrange grapes and green beans with the rest of the salad ingredients on a large salad platter. Sprinkle with seeds and feta and serve with the salad dressing.

Tip:

1. Any other seasonal fruit will be delicious in this salad. Try peaches or nectarines, cut into wedges, strawberries, halved or mango, cut into cubes.

Visit Heleen’s website for more recipes like this.

Image: Heleen Meyer.