Salads you’re not making – but should be

It is the perfect time of year for a refreshing crisp salad, but do yours usually consist of some limp lettuce, a few tomatoes and a cucumber thrown in for good measure? The team at Sorted Food know we can do better than that, and want to inspire people to try making somehing a little different at home. Here are some of their favourites. All recipes serve two Sichuan-style smashed cucumber & chicken salad 2 cloves garlic 2 tbsp sesame oil ½ tsp chilli flakes 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp tahini 1 cucumber 4 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless 6 spring onions 250g microwave brown rice 2 tsp sesame seeds Peel and finely slice the garlic. Heat a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the sesame oil and heat until shimmering, then add the garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring regularly until golden brown. Add the chilli and remove from the heat. Transfer the chilli and garlic oil to a large mixing bowl and add the balsamic, soy, honey and tahini. Mix well until it comes together into a smooth dressing. Use a rolling pin to smash the cucumber into rough, uneven bite-sized pieces. Don’t worry about perfect cuts – jagged edges help the cucumber soak up flavour. Add to the dressing and leave to marinate. Slice the chicken into thin strips and season. Return the frying pan to a medium-high heat. Fry for five to six minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Once done, transfer the chicken straight into the bowl with the cucumber. Give it another good mix and set aside. Finely slice the spring onions. Keep the pan on the heat and add half of the spring onions. Microwave the rice and add to the pan. Pour in 50ml of water and stir to pick up any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan and stir-fry for two to three minutes, until piping hot. Season to taste. Serve the rice topped with the cucumber and chicken salad. Scatter over the sesame seeds and the remaining sliced spring onions. Fattoush style aubergine salad (Photo: Sorted Food) Fattoush-style salad with aubergine and herby yoghurt dressing 1 aubergine 2 plain naan breads 9 tbsp olive oil 15g fresh parsley 30g fresh mint 2 cloves garlic 1 tbsp honey 1 lemon 200g cherry tomatoes 1 cucumber 1 red onion 4 spring onions 150g Greek yoghurt Trim and dice the aubergine into 2cm cubes. Tear or cut the naan breads into bite-sized chunks. Season both with salt. Heat six tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add both the aubergine and naan chunks. Fry for six to eight minutes, until the bread is crisp and the aubergine is soft and golden. Finely chop the parsley and mint. Add the garlic cloves and half of the herbs to a small measuring jug, while reserving the other half for later. Add three tablespoons of olive oil along with the honey and the juice of the lemon. Season with a little salt and blitz with a hand blender to a smooth dressing. Halve the cherry tomatoes and cut the cucumber into 1cm cubes. Peel and thinly slice the red onion and spring onions. Once all of that is done, transfer the aubergine and the bread to a tray lined with a paper towel and season both well with salt and pepper. Add the prepared vegetables and the remaining chopped herbs to a large mixing bowl along with the aubergine and fried bread and toss with half of the dressing. Mix the yoghurt with the remaining dressing to create a creamy base for serving and spread over serving plates. Pile the salad on top and serve. Smoked mackerel salad (Photo: Sorted Food) Smoked mackerel and herby rice salad with yoghurt ½ red onion 1 lemon 30g fresh parsley 150g sugar snap peas, thinly sliced 180g smoked mackerel fillets 250g microwave white rice 50g rocket 2 tbsp olive oil 100g Greek yoghurt 1 clove garlic Peel and thinly slice the onion, then add it to a small mixing bowl. Finely grate the lemon zest into a large mixing bowl for later. Slice the lemon in half, squeeze half the juice into the red onion and the other half into the lemon zest. Season the onions with a pinch of salt and gently massage them with the lemon juice and salt. Finely chop the parsley and chuck it into the large mixing bowl, along with the sugar snap peas. Flake the smoked mackerel fillets into the large bowl with the lemon, parsley and sugar snaps, then crumble in the packet of microwaved white rice. Add the rocket. Drizzle over the olive oil and season with a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Give a gentle fold to combine; your hands are the best tools for this. In a medium mixing bowl, finely grate the clove of garlic and add the Greek yoghurt. Season with a pinch of salt and give it a mix. Divide the yoghurt between shallow bowls and spread it out into a circle. Place a heaped pile of the mackerel rice salad on top. Garnish with the pickled red onions and tuck in. Green gnocchi salad (Photo: Sorted Food) Green gnocchi salad with whipped honey goat’s cheese yoghurt 500g pre-cooked gnocchi 100g frozen peas 100g frozen broad beans 40g rocket 2 tbsp olive oil 75g goat’s cheese 100g Greek yoghurt 2 tbsp honey 30g hard Italian cheese Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the pre-cooked gnocchi and cook for two minutes. Add the frozen peas and frozen broad beans to the pan and cook for a further two to three minutes until the gnocchi floats and the vegetables are hot. Drain well and leave to cool slightly. Add the rocket to a large mixing bowl. Add the warm gnocchi, peas and broad beans to the bowl. Drizzle over the olive oil and toss everything together. Add the goat’s cheese, Greek yoghurt and honey to a small bowl. Blitz with a hand blender until smooth and light. Spread this whipped goat’s cheese over the bottoms of serving plates, then spoon the gnocchi salad on top. Use a peeler to finely shave the hard Italian cheese over the top and serve. Asparagus and halloumi harissa salad (Photo: Sorted Food) Asparagus and halloumi harissa couscous salad 400g asparagus 6 tbsp olive oil 225g halloumi 1 red onion 1 cucumber 150g couscous 2 tsp harissa paste 2 tsp Dijon mustard 2 tsp honey 1 lemon Place a large frying pan or griddle pan over a high heat. Fill a kettle with water and bring it to a boil. Cut and discard the bottom 2cm from each stalk of the asparagus – it is generally too woody to eat grilled. Cut the asparagus into thirds. Once the pan starts to smoke, carefully lower in the asparagus. Drizzle over one tablespoon of olive oil. Spread everything out into one even layer and then cook for five to six minutes, tossing occasionally until soft throughout and charred in places. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Dice the halloumi into 2cm cubes then fry in an even layer in the pan. Cook for one minute on each side, until golden brown. Halve, peel and finely slice the red onion. Slice the cucumber in half, then slice on a bias in 1cm pieces. Add the couscous to a large mixing bowl and season with salt. Tip in enough boiling water from the kettle to just cover the grains. Set aside until all the liquid has been absorbed by the grains and they have softened. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining three tablespoons of olive oil with the harissa paste, Dijon mustard and honey and squeeze in the juice from the lemon. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Add the asparagus, red onion, cucumber and halloumi to the bowl along with the dressing, then give it a good mix to combine. Divide the couscous between bowls and serve. Courgette and feta salad (Photo: Sorted Food) Grilled courgette, chorizo and feta herb salad with croutons 2 courgettes 1 red onion 5 tbsp olive oil 125g chorizo 1 ciabatta 1 beef tomato 1 lemon 2 tsp honey 15g fresh coriander 15g fresh mint 15g fresh parsley 75g feta cheese Preheat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/gas mark 8. Slice the courgettes lengthways into quarters, remove the green tops, then chop them into bite-sized chunks. Halve, peel and cut the red onion into quarters, then separate the onion into large petals. Tip the courgette and onion petals onto a large roasting tray along with two tablespoons of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Give it all a good toss and spread out the veg into an even layer. Roast in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until charred in places and tender. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Slice the chorizo into ½cm rounds. Add the chorizo to the pan and allow the fat to render from the meat, then fry for a further three to four minutes until golden in places. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. To make the croutons, tear or chop the ciabatta into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan with the chorizo. Give the bread a good toss to coat well in the oil, then season with salt and pepper.Place the pan into the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the bread is golden and crunchy. Dice the beef tomato into quarters, then into bite-sized pieces. In a large mixing bowl, squeeze in the juice from the lemon, drizzle in honey and two tablespoons of olive oil and give it a whisk. Add the courgette, onion, tomato, chorizo and croutons to the mixing bowl. Tear in the coriander, parsley and mint leaves. Crumble in the feta cheese and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Toss everything together well then divide the salad between shallow bowls and serve. 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