Four Delicious Autumn Salads

The Guardian Cook magazine featured some delicious autumn salads today. The winning recipe, mushroom and lentils salad with feta, was a TwinnyDip creation. As Allegra McEvedy nicely said... 'the name doesn't quite do justice to [this] gorgeous, moreish seasonal autumn salad'. Lentils are great in a salad during early autumn, when it is not quite cold enough to make a huge pot of lentil soup, but we tend to crave for something hearty, wholesome, and satisfying. This salad just hits the spot – with a nice nutty crunch but refreshing at the same time! We like using red or yellow lentils to brighten up the dish!

In addition to the Mushroom and lentils salad, we want to share three additional recipes with you. We hope you will enjoy some if not all of them! Thai-style Nicoise salad features delicious minced pork and runny sunny side up - always a favourite combination served with rice! Here, this winning combo is paired with fresh herbs and lettuce to give a refreshing note. And the heat of chili will warm you through and through...

The third and forth recipes both feature figs. Fig is a late summer / early autumn fruit. Because it is naturally high in sugar content, it makes a perfect complement to salty parma ham ( in recipe #3) or a firm and tart goat's cheese (in recipe #4). In the parma ham and figs salad, bright green pistachios are added to give a lovely crunchy texture to the dish. As for the goat's cheese and roasted figs salad, instead of using walnuts which can be bitter some times, pecans are used to add a rich buttery flavour.

Bon appétit!

1. Mushroom and lentils salad with feta

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

For the mushroom

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp paprika

A handful of rosemary, leaves only, chopped

Small pinch of chili flakes (optional)

300g brown mushrooms, thickly sliced

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 tsp honey mustard ( or 2 tsp english mustard and 1 tsp honey)

150-200ml cider

Salt and pepper to taste

For the dressing

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp basalmic vinegar

1 tsp honey mustard (or 1 tsp English mustard and ½ tsp honey)

Salt and pepper, to taste

60g feta cheese, crumbled

30g pine nuts, toasted80g lentils

2 large handful of spinach, washed and roughly chopped

A handful of parsley, roughly chopped

1. Prepare the mushroom. Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, garlic, rosemary, paprika and chili flakes (optional) and cook for 1 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 2 – 3 minutes. Add mushrooms to the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Add cider and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Then stir in the mustard and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a further 3 – 5 minutes, or until the juice is reduced. Set aside.

2. While the mushroom is cooking, prepare the lentils according to package instructions.

3. Prepare the dressing by mixing all ingredients in a cup / bowl.

4. Add the cooked mushroom, feta, cooked lentils, spinach, and pine nuts into a large salad bowl.

5. Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Toss well before serving warm with fresh parsley.

2. Thai-style Nicoise salad

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

500g minced pork (or minced chicken for a healthier option)

For the pork marinade

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 shallots, minced

1 chili (optional)lime juice (from 1 lime)

1-2 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped

For the dressing

1 clove garlic, minced

1-2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp warm water

1 tbsp lime juice

1 chili (optional)

500g fine beans

1 gem lettuce

1 shredded carrot

Handful of fresh mint, coarsely chopped

Handful of fresh coriander, coarsely chopped

4 tbsp coarsely crushed roasted peanuts

4 large eggs

2 tbsp vegetable oil for cooking

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTION

1. In a large bowl mix together the pork marinade. Add minced pork and marinade for 30 min to an hour.

2. Meanwhile mix all the ingredients in the Dressing (mix sugar with warm water and lime juice first to ensure the sugar is completely dissolved).

3. Blanche the fine beans, set aside.

4. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, and add in minced pork. Cook until pork is cooked through.

5. In a salad bowl, mix the fine beans, gem lettuce, carrot, mint, coriander, peanuts and minced pork. Add the dressing a mix thoroughly. Serve them on four individual plates.

6. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a big frying pan, and crack the eggs one by one into a small bowl, and slide them into the frying pan. Cover with a lid. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

7. Place one sunny-side up fried egg on each plate, add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

3. Parma ham and figs salad with pistachios

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

6 slices of parma ham

2 figs

30g pistachios, lightly crushed

A handful of lamb lettuce

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil

½ tsp honey, plus more, as needed

Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTION

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Carefully cut the figs halfway down from the top but not all the way to the bottom, forming the shape of a cross. Slightly squeeze the bottom of the fig so that the top of the figs open up slightly like a 'flower'.

3. Place the figs on a lightly greased baking tray. If the figs are not perfectly ripe, drizzle ½ tsp honey over the figs.

4. Bake the figs in the pre-heated oven. If the figs are perfectly ripe, 5 - 10 minutes in the pre-heated oven will be sufficient. However if they figs are a bit hard and not riped, bake for a further 5 - 10 minutes. However, do not overcook them or you will risk having hard crusty figs that resembles dried figs. For this dish, you want the figs to be hot and remain soft and juicy.

5. Whilst the figs are roasting, cover each serving plate with three slices of parma ham so that there is a small triangular gap in the middle. Place a handful of lamb lettuce onto the middle of each serving dish. When the figs are ready, place a fig on each of the salad pile. Reserve the roasting juice.

6. Make the dressing by combining 1 Tbsp of the fig roasting juice (if you don’t have enough, make it up with honey), 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle salad dressing over the figs and salad leaves.

7. Sprinkle crushed pistachios on to each serving plates. Serve with warm bread.

4. Goat's cheese and roasted figs salad with pecans

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

100g soft goat's cheese, with rind (e.g. soignon goat's cheese)

4 ripe figs

50g pecan nuts

120g lamb lettuce

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp honey, plus more as needed

salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTION

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Roast the pecan nuts in a baking tray in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until they are slightly brown but not burnt. When ready, take the pecan nuts out and set them aside. Let cool.

3. Trim off the hard tips of the figs. Carefully cut the figs halfway down from the top but not all the way to the bottom, forming the shape of a cross. Slightly squeeze the bottom of the fig so that the top of the figs open up slightly like a 'flower'.

4. Place the figs on a lightly greased baking tray. Drizzle a teaspoon of honey over the figs.

5. Bake the figs in the pre-heated oven. If the figs are perfectly ripe, 10 - 15 minutes in the pre-heated oven will be sufficient. However if they figs are a bit hard and not riped, bake for a further 5 - 10 minutes. However, do not overcook them or you will risk having hard crusty figs that resembles dried figs. For this dish, you want the figs to remain soft and juicy.

6. Whilst the figs are roasting, place 1/2 of the lamb lettuce, and crumble 1/2 of the goat's cheese in each serving dish.

7. Remove the figs from the oven when ready, set aside and reserve the fig juice in the roasting tin.

8. Quarter two of the figs, and leaving the other two in the 'flower' shape.

9. Place the four quarters of the figs into each serving dish.

10. Place in the middle of each serving dish a fig 'flower'.

11. Slightly crushed pecan nuts and sprinkle 1/2 of the nuts into each serving dish.

12. For the dressing, mix a tbsp of balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp of olive oil into the reserved fig juice (about 1 tbsp, and if not, make it up with honey)

13. Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Serve with warm bread.

#sourceguardianreadersrecipeswap