#116 - Salads That Will Actually Fill You Up

Hello Feeder gang!

I’ve probably whinged about this before over here, but I generally get pretty sad at the idea of a salad for dinner. Maybe it is something to do with the fact that salad in the UK has historically not sprung to mind anything very inspiring (some iceberg, tomatoes and cucumber, perhaps?), or the fact that salads can sometimes have a diet culture skew which means they are just not filling in the slightest. I need my dinner to fill me up! I need carbs! I need protein!

The food you probably know me for is indulgent, hearty stuff. Pastas! Pies! All the good stuff! The never-ending scorcher of a UK summer means that I am trying to eat slightly lighter feeling meals, but still not that light. Salads can be hearty too. None of this week’s recipes are restrictive in any way. I like my salads to be bulky. They feature bread, mayonnaise, potatoes, and creme fraiche, for goodness sake. You probably wouldn’t eat them if you were on a diet, but you know that isn’t my bag. This week, I’m giving you some recipes for salads that would actually fill you up, and I think they taste pretty good too.

Defining a salad is hard, but I’ll give it a go. In my mind, a salad is a medley of things that you toss together with a dressing. Traditionally they are probably cold, but a warm or room temperature salad I think is better. Cold stuff generally has duller flavour than warm stuff. All my salads are a bit warm. All involve a bit of cooking. But if you are reading this, I imagine you like cooking, so this shouldn’t be a problem.

We’ve got a warm beans, potatoes and shallots with anchovy and almonds; a really lovely miso and sesame chicken salad; and harissa crispy rice with roasted tomatoes and feta.

Enjoy!

Sophie x

There is no salad more substantial than a potato salad. It is no secret that I love them (see my entire newsletter dedicated to them here). Some of you might complain that a potato salad is not a salad at all, but what if I told you that you can roast them with green beans, and toss them with crunchy almonds, tarragon and anchovies to create something that most certainly is a salad, and is a salad far more filling and lovely than a lot of limp vegetable affairs? You can’t argue with that.

This is such a nice dinner on it’s own, but would also be great as an accompaniment for slow roast lamb, roast chicken, or even some grilled white fish.

Serves 4

500g baby potatoes

4 banana shallots

400g fine green beans

5 tinned anchovies

100g blanched almonds

20g tarragon

1 lemon

2 tbsp creme fraiche

salt and olive oil

1. Halve the potatoes. Bring a large pan of salted water up to a boil, then add the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes.

2. Heat the oven to 190°C fan.

3. Peel the shallots then quarter them lengthways. Once the potatoes have cooked, drain them in a colander, then tip them into a roasting tray along with the potatoes. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt, then give it all a toss. Bake for 30 minutes.

4. Cut any woody ends off the green beans. Remove the tray from the oven, and add the beans. Give it a toss, then cook for another 10 minutes.

5. Pour the almonds onto a baking tray, and cook them in the oven for 5 minutes.

6. Finely chop the tarragon, and add it to a large mixing bowl, along with the zest and juice of the lemon, creme fraiche and 1 tbsp olive oil.

7. Once the almonds have cooled to room temperature, roughly chop them, and add them to the bowl.

8. Allow the potatoes and beans to cool for 5 minutes before pouring the whole tray into the mixing bowl and combining it with your hands. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

9. Add the mixture to a serving bowl or platter, and serve.

The vibe of this is a bit like a chicken caesar salad, because who doesn’t love those, but this one has gone on a trip to Japan. There is a creamy mayo-y dressing with parmesan in there, but also miso paste for an extra umami punch, and a healthy dose of sesame too. This is exactly how I want my salads to be - INDULGENT! It nourishes me, but also fills me up, and gives me a dose of that comfort food that I still need in the summer months.

The soy cured eggs are heaven, and one of the eggs out there least likely to give me the ick. The amount of curing liquid this recipe makes could accommodate another 2 eggs easily, and they keep in the fridge for a couple of days, so pop a couple more in there for an easy snack or meal topper.

The ingredients list looks long, but I promise there is a lot of repetition! Lots of the ingredients are sure to be kicking around in your cupboard, too.

Serves 2

For the eggs: