Greek Farmer Salad

This salad goes best with Flatbread Greek style and a chilled Rosé

Attention! It tastes best if you make it the day before and put it in the fridge.

This is a tasty salad for hot summer days

Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons) Approx. 15-20 black Kalamata olives (with stone) and 10 green olives (without stone). The Kalamata (they have the stone) are simply the best. 4 or 5 green mild Peperoncini 1/2 small onion 1 or 2 cloves of garlic 275 g feta cheese 100 rocket salad (small w/o big stems that you'd cut off) to 150 g (larger) rocket salad 5 small tomatoes 1/2 bell-pepper, red 4 Tbsp white wine vinegar 15 to 17 Tbsp good olive oil salt, black ground pepper
Preparation To mix all ingredients, taka a large bowl: break the feta cheese into small pieces. Cut the rest into small pieces - if you want, you can cut the olives, too (I don't).
Mixing the ingredients Add all the ingredients to the bowl with the feta cheese. Pour the vinegar and the olive oil over it, mix it well with a spoon, then add salt and pepper to your liking. The whole thing must then be put in the fridge for at least 1 hour (the longer the better).

 

Couscous Salad

It goes well with a red wine or a rosé.

Preparation time approx. half an hour

Preparation You'll need: Two large bowls (one with lid) A small pot
Ingredients (as side dish) If you want to serve this as a full meal, double the ingredients 175 g couscous 1 tsp salt (for the cooking water) 1 medium tomatoe 1/2 spring onion (complete) 1/4-1/3 cucumber 1/2 pointed pepper (e.g. Sweet Palermo) 2-3 stalks of parsley Some mint 2-3 Tbsp each plain and good olive oil 2-3 EL pomegranate syrup 1/2 lime 1 TL paprika 1/2 EL tomato paste 1/2 EL Harissa
Preparation Put 175 g couscous in a large coverable bowl. Bring 125 mL water to the boil, add 1/2 tsp. salt and stir. Now pour enough water over the couscous so that everything is nice and wet, but not floating. Cover the bowl and leave to stand for at least 15 minutes. In the meantime... Chop 1 medium tomato, 1 whole spring onion (only about half is needed, but of everything, mixed), 1/4-1/3 cucumber (peeled) and 1/2 pointed pepper into relatively small pieces (about the size of a hazelnut). Roughly chop the leaves of 2-3 stalks of parsley and some mint. Put everything together on the side for a short time. Put 2-3 Tbsp. plain olive oil in the small pan and heat it. Add: 1/2 Tbsp each tomato paste and harissa, 1 tsp paprika powder. Mix well and fry for 2-3 minutes. Juice half a lime and pour the juice into a little bowl. After 2-3 minutes, remove from the heat, add half of the lime juice and mix well again. Loosen the couscous with a fork and then add the paste. Mix well and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Finally, carefully fold the vegetables into the couscous. Cover and put to one side until you are ready to eat. Important when serving: The salad should then be refined by everyone at the table according to taste with these ingredients: Remainder of lime juice, pomegranate syrup and good olive oil. Simply put it on the table for self-service.

 

Pad Thai Goong (Updated - v2)

Preparation time approx. 1 h

This can be simply served as a salad with shrimps, or, if your hunger is a bit larger, I'd recommend adding rice noodles.
Those usually just need quite some time soaking in water (40 minutes for those that I use).

A variation could be to drop the beans and cucumber, only take 1 Tbsp. sugar and to add small pieces of 2 ripe mangos.

I admit, it doesn't really have that much to do with the Thai dish anymore. The dish is supposed to be stir-fried and with noodles. Here, the noodles are optional (I like them, Carinne not so much) and only the shrimps are fried. It is simply the salad version of Pad Thai ☺.

Preparation You'll need: A large pan 1 or 2 small bowls A sealable bowl for marinating
Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons) 300-350 g large Gambas without shells (500-700 g, if you bought those with head and shell) 6 Tbsp. light soy sauce 1 generous pinch of black ground pepper 4-6 large cloves of garlic 2-3 red thai chilis 10 stems of Coriander Some coriander root, if available 100 to 150 g mung bean sprouts 1 cucumber 2 limes 2 Tbsp. sugar 5 Tbsp. fish sauce If you like: 75 g rice noodles
First steps If the prawns are frozen, remove them from the fridge. You can even do this 1 hour before cooking. Check that there is white wine in the fridge! The rice noodles need to soak in water for some time before heating (approx. 40-45 minutes, see packaging).
Marinade the gambas If needed, let them slowly thaw, start in advance. Remove head and shell, devein them. Rinse them, dry with kitchen paper and let them marinade in the fridge in 5 to 6 Tbsp. soy sauce and some pepper for at least 20 minutes.
Further preparations In the meantime rinse and peel the cucumber. Cut lengthwise in quarters and these into 5 mm thick pieces. Clean the coriander, pluck the leaves and place them and the stems aside. Cut 2-3 chilis in half and remove the seeds. Wash the mung bean sprouts. Finely chop coriander root, coriander stems, 4-6 cloves of garlic and chilis.
The vinaigrette Mix in a small bowl 6 Tbsp. lime juice, 2 Tbsp. sugar (better: Xylit) and 5 Tbsp. fish sauce. ChezTeddy Tip: If you find fish sauce too salty, let it cook up in a pan for just a moment, then let it cool down. Afterwards pour it into the bowl. You will find salt remaining in the pan. Add the mix of coriander, garlic and chili and mix well.
Fry the prawns briefly, heat the pasta Now heat the rice noodles in hot, not boiling, water for 5 minutes. Heat a little oil in a pan. Tip away the sauce and give the prawns another quick rinse, then fry over a medium-high to high heat, turning frequently, for just 3 minutes until they are red (if they were still raw - otherwise just heat for 1 to 2 minutes.
Arrange everything on the dinner plates First place the cucumber pieces on the plates, then add the rice noodles and the mung bean sprouts. Arrange the prawns on the plates as well. Sprinkle the plucked coriander leaves on top and drizzle with some of the vinaigrette. Place the rest of the vinaigrette in a small bowl on the table, so that everyone can achieve the desired spiciness by adding it.

Exotic Red Cabbage Salad

Attention! The salad should be kept in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours! It tastes best if you prepare it the day before!

Raw red cabbage salad in an exotic variation.
This is best served with Greek or Moroccan flat bread

Preparation You'll need: A large closeable bowl
Ingredients (for 2 persons) The amount is for a vegetarian meal with flatbread. As a side dish to e.g. grilled meat (which fits very well!) you can reduce it by half. 300 g red cabbage ¼ tsp. salt 3 Tbsp. good olive oil 2½ TL lime juice (lemon also works) 100 g feta cheese 200 g Süzme (high-fat Turkish yoghurt; you can also take normal yoghurt) It may be that you should add another 1-2 tbsp. of yoghurt before the meal, depending on how dry the salad is after sitting for a long time. approx. 75 g dates a fistful of parsley some pepper 2 tsp. chili flakes 6-8 Tbsp. pomegranate seeds (approx. ½ pomegranate) For very last: approx. 2 tsp. sesame seeds
Preparation Cut the raw red cabbage into thin strips and place in the bowl. Sprinkle ¼ tsp. salt over it and massage in well. Chop the parsley, cut the dates into small pieces. Remove the pomegranate seeds from the fruit. Add all ingredients except the sesame seeds to the large bowl. Mix well and place covered in the refrigerator.
Final Step just right before serving! 2 tsp. sesame seeds are only needed just before the meal: Roast them in a hot pan until they are medium to dark brown. Add to salad and mix well. Then serve.

Goat Cheese Toast on Salad

 

Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons) Goat Cheese (200-400 g) Fresh Baguette Salad (like Lollo Bionda) Vinaigrette Maybe some dry-cured ham, like Jamón serrano or Prosciutto di Parma.
Preparation Cut the baguette into slices. Cut the goat cheese into matching sizes and place on the slices. Place in the oven at 200℃ for a few minutes - until the cheese starts to melt. Meanwhile, you can wash the salad and arrange the individual leaves on the plates - pour over the vinaigrette. To serve, place the toasts on top and add the ham decoratively.

Pasta Salad

Preparation You'll need: A large bowl A large pot
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 125 g pasta (e. g. Fusilli, Rigatoni, Tortiglioni, Penne) ½ red bell pepper Some chives, or 2-3 spring onions (only stems and leaves) 1-2 Tomatoes (approx. 175 g) 10 cm cucumber 5 Tbsp liquid of a glass with gherkins Vegetable stock, around 2 to 3 litres, diluted, to cook the pasta in it 2 tsp spicy mustard Some ground pepper 90 g yoghurt 60 g Miracle Whip If there is no meat to go with it (the salad goes well with grilled meat), you could cut 50 g of poultry sausage into it.
Preparation Cook 125 g pasta in diluted vegetable stock. Chop ½ red pepper, approx. 175 g tomatoes, 2-3 spring onions or some chives and 10 cm cucumber into small pieces and add to the bowl. The pasta must be cold (quench), then you can also put it in the bowl. Now add 5 Tbsp cucumber water, 2 tsp mustard, 90 g yoghurt and 60 g Miracle Whip, stir and season with pepper. Stir well again. Chill in the refrigerator for at least half an hour (or overnight), then serve.