The Roasting Tin author on three ways to add colour and crunch to your summer feasting table
by Rukmini Iyer
These recipes highlight that a few good ingredients need little more than a simple dressing to shine.
In all three, the star ingredient – from my favourite Navarrico jarred butter beans to free-range chicken and good feta cheese – has a short stint marinating in a herby lemon and olive oil dressing before stirring it through with a handful of complementary ingredients.
Each salad takes just a few minutes to prepare, and they work beautifully together for a summer feasting table: with crunch, colour and texture from the radishes, hazelnuts and courgette, and complementary flavours from the citrus, mint and dill.
As a bonus if you’re cooking for guests, they can all be prepared and left at room temperature for up to an hour before serving.
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Roast chicken with grapefruit, watercress and hazelnuts
Prep 10 min plus at least 1 hr to marinate
Cook 25-30 min
Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side
2 free-range organic chicken breasts
1 heaped tbsp natural yoghurt
1⁄2 lemon, juice only
1 large clove garlic, grated
1 tsp smoked paprika
1⁄2 tsp sea salt
1 pink grapefruit
80g watercress
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Handful toasted hazelnuts
Stir the yoghurt, lemon juice, grated garlic, smoked paprika and salt together in a shallow dish, then add the chicken breasts, turning to coat evenly. Let them marinate in the fridge for one hour or overnight.
Before cooking, preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C/gas mark 6. Roast the marinated chicken for 25-30 minutes until cooked through, then leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into thick slices.
Slice the top and bottom off of the grapefruit. Using a sharp knife, peel off the skin, following the shape of the grapefruit. Halve and slice, then set aside along with any juice.
On a large plate, dress the watercress with olive oil and sea salt flakes. Add the sliced chicken and grapefruit, and mix gently before scattering with toasted hazelnuts.
Garlic butter beans with baby courgettes, mint and lemon
Prep 10 min
Serves 4 as a side
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700g jar Navarrico Judion butter beans, drained and rinsed (regular butter beans will work well here too)
1 lemon, juice and zest (about 30ml juice)
1 small clove garlic, grated
1 tsp sea salt flakes
30ml extra virgin olive oil
1⁄2 tsp chilli flakes
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 packet baby courgettes
Large handful mint leaves
Mix the drained and rinsed butter beans with the lemon juice, zest, garlic, sea salt, olive oil, chilli flakes and spring onions. Set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
Use a speed peeler (a potato peeler with a swivel head) to peel the courgettes into the bowl with the butter bean mix.
Add most of the mint leaves and gently mix with your hands to thoroughly coat the courgette ribbons in the dressing.
Transfer the salad to a large plate, and dress with a little more extra virgin olive oil, and a scatter of chilli flakes and mint leaves before serving at room temperature.
Radishes, broad beans, feta and dill
Prep 20 minutes
Serves 4 as a side
200g radishes, halved
200g good feta
10g fresh dill
½ lemon, juice only
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
250g broad beans
Pop the halved radishes in a bowl of cold water. Cut the feta into 1.5cm cubes, and gently stir with the dill, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.
Dunk the broad beans in a bowl of boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain and run under cold water. You can now gently pinch and squeeze the bright green beans from the thick outer skins – this might seem like a pain, but very much worth it for the lovely colour and improved texture.
Drain the radishes, and stir them through the feta with the broad beans.
You can serve this immediately, or let it sit for up to an hour at room temperature.
Rukmini Iyer is the author of The Roasting Tin series. The Green Barbecue: Vegan & Vegetarian Recipes to Cook Outdoors & In is out now (Square Peg)
Source: Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
