Salad Anyone?

Spring brings with it so many special fruits and vegetables that are unique to this time of the year.  One that I do enjoy staining my hands with is blood orange.

Underneath the dark orange mottled skin hides a rich, deep red flesh that whilst not too sweet, makes the most delicious desserts, beverages and salads.  

I find that salads can become incredibly boring when you get into the habit of making a salad to accompany your main meal.  I remember that when I was a child we always had salad with dinner:  lettuce, tomato, carrot, cucumber, celery, onion and the option extras of pineapple, beetroot and cottage cheese - yes this was the combination.  

The salad dressing that my mother used then was a dressing that her own mother made.  

It was a heaped teaspoon of sugar, we used raw sugar, a good grind of pepper and a pinch of salt all put into a glass.  Add to this enough Cornwalls white vinegar to get the sugar wet, but be careful to not be too heavy handed.  Add to this a little splash of water and mix it all together, enabling the sugar to dissolve.  Taste to ensure that it is not too sweet or too tart.  Even though I never met my grandmother the taste of this dressing brings her alive to me - it always has.

A salad that I experimented with the other day was a blood orange, roast veg, feta and pine nut salad.  To be honest, I would have been rather content to have this on its own as it is a rather substantial dish.

The measurements are very rough - total honesty here!  But find the right balance of ingredients for yourself.

Blood Orange, Roast Veg, Feta and Pine Nut Salad

two good handfuls of baby spinach washed

one blood orange, peeled and sliced

1/3 of a block of feta, crumbled

one small piece each of sweet potato and pumpkin, peeled and diced

a glug of olive oil

1/4 lebanese cucumber - enough for a handful of slices

one and a half handfuls of pine nuts

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Place the sweet potato and the pumpkin into a baking dish with the olive oil.  Toss the veg through to ensure that they are all covered in the oil.
Once the oven has reached its desired temperature put the vegetables into the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until they are golden brown. 

When the veg are almost done, place the pine nuts on a separate tray and put in the oven, keeping a close eye on them to ensure they do not burn!  Toss them frequently to ensure even toasting.

Whilst the roast veg and pine nuts are cooling, scatter the baby spinach on a plate, top with the sliced cucumber, then some of the pine nuts and some of the feta.  Scatter the cooled roast veg over the salad finishing off with the slices of blood orange, pine nuts and feta.  Add a sprinkle of salt and cracked black pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

Bon appetit!