Honey-mustard dressed salad

PATRICIA SOPER

MAIN OR SIDE: The vegetables in this hearty salad are growing in my garden right now, or available cheaply at the supermarket. The indispensable ingredients are blue cheese (or feta) and crispy-fried bacon. For a one-dish meal, add canned chick peas or cannellini beans.

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Salad used to mean shredded lettuce topped with tomato, hardboiled eggs and cucumber, served with a mayonnaise made from sweetened condensed milk, vinegar and mustard.

This traditional Kiwi favourite still makes a regular appearance, but salads have come a long way in the past 20 years or so.

As a nation we still love lettuce, which is easily grown in the home garden and also sold year-round in supermarkets. There has been a swing back to hearting varieties such as iceberg and Webbs wonderful, following our flirtation with coloured and soft-leafed varieties. The advantage of hearty lettuce is its keeping qualities; properly stored and refrigerated, it stays crisp for days. Hearting varieties have another advantage. Because they lift themselves up from the soil rather than spread, detritus is less likely to become lodged in their leaves.

These days a salad can be a mixture of many ingredients – pulses, pasta, meat and vegetables, cooked or raw, you name it.

Dressings have also assumed a greater focus as our tastes have widened; make today's dressing by hand or in a blender.

When including broccoli in a salad, ensure the florets are small; large pieces can be unappetising. I have used finely sliced sugarsnap peas but tender young peas are just as delicious.

Broad beans are now mature; peel them if they have tough outer skins. Fiddly, yes, but worthwhile.

Salad ingredients

• 3 cups chopped streaky bacon wSmall head broccoli
• 100g blue cheese, cubed or crumbled
• 2 finely sliced young carrots
• 1 cup sliced sugarsnap peas
• 1 cup young (or peeled) broad beans
• 1 finely sliced medium green capsicum
• Pea leaves and tendrils to garnish (optional)

Method: Fry bacon in a hot, dry pan until crisp. Set aside.

Break the broccoli into small florets.

Bring salted water to boil in a large pan. Add the broccoli and sliced carrots and cook for 2 minutes.

Drain then refresh under cold water then place in a colander.

Allow to drain thoroughly and pat with a paper towel. wAssemble the salad by combining then tossing together all ingredients.

Dress a few minutes before serving.

Honey-mustard dressing ingredients

• 1/3 cup mild liquid honey
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 or 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic

Method: In a bowl or blender combine all ingredients except oil.

Add the oil in a very slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. The dressing should be smooth and creamy.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge.

This recipe can be doubled.

Excellent value and easy to make.

Cook's tip: Instead of cooked carrots, make ribbons with a potato peeler then add to salad.

- © Fairfax NZ News