It’s been rather hot in these parts lately, so all we live on are endless cold coffees, salads, melons and sorbets – anything that’s hydrating (well, apart from coffee but one has to feed their addiction somehow 😉 ) and refreshing. Today’s salad is a simple affair and a vegan nod towards a classic – salad nicoise.
It’s bursting with colour and texture, it’s filling and satisfying. This beauty is full of delicious seasonal produce: sweet tomatoes, crispy fennel and Romaine lettuce, peppery rocket, crunchy beans, salty capers and olives and crispy re-fried potatoes. Yum! If you want to halve the amount of work involved, simply use freshly boiled (or steamed) young potatoes instead of re-frying them in olive oil, but I personally like them re-fried a little better. I also pan fried the beans with a little garlic before adding them to the salad but again, that’s optional. I like to bring the most flavour out of my vegetables and boiling them in salted water doesn’t tend to do that. This salad is great for sharing, together with a few dips, nibbles and good quality bread, it will go down a treat as a summer lunch al fresco.
2 tsp wholegrain mustard 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp maple syrup or sugar 1 small garlic clove, finely grated black pepper, to taste fine sea salt, to taste
