This recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi is full of wonderful crisp textures, provided by iceberg lettuce wedges and slices of radish, with a delicious contrast of soft creamy avocado slices and a crunchy topping of nuts & seeds all combined with the smoky flavour of Ottolenghi's aubergine cream dressing is wonderful. It is taken from his book Flavour which uses different cooking processes and flavour combinations to use vegetables in ways you have never used them before, following the recipes in this book you will never think of vegetables as boring ever again.
If you swap out the sourdough breadcrumbs and add a few extra nuts it can become a great low-carb dish for those looking to reduce their carb intake.
This salad is great as a starter on its own or as a side, it goes really well with chicken pieces roasted with lemon, oregano & garlic and makes a great salad to serve at a BBQ.
Ingredients:
1 small head of iceberg lettuce, cut into 12 wedges
60ml olive oil
25g parmesan cheese, finely grated
45g radishes thinly sliced
2 small avocados, peeled & thinly sliced
5g chives, cut into 1 1/2cm lengths
salt & black pepper
Aubergine cream:
2 medium aubergines
2 1/2 tbsps lemon juice
1 garlic clove roughly chopped
50g Greek yoghurt
2tsp dijon mustard
60ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
Crunchy bits:
1tbsp olive oil
60g almonds, roughly chopped
100g sourdough, crusts removed & blitzed into coarse crumbs
50g pumpkin seeds
1/3 tsp chilli flakes
Burning aubergines:
There are various ways to burn the aubergine to get the smoky taste:
The one I use and I think is the simplest (but does depend on you having a gas hob) is to place a rack directly over the flame and put your aubergine onto it, turn regularly until it is black all over and collapses, place in a sieve over a bowl and when cool enough to handle remove charred skin & stems.
The second way is to rub lightly all over with olive oil and place on a hot chargrill pan and cook until you get the same result, again when blackened, place in a sieve over a bowl and when cool enough to handle remove charred skin & stems.
Lastly if you can't use either of these techniques, you can preheat your oven to 230˚C fan (roasting oven on an Aga) cut the aubergine in half lengthways, cut deep criss-crosses into each cut side, rub with a little oil, place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, cut side up and roast for 40-45 minutes until soft and very well browned. This method doesn't quite achieve the same smoky flavour as the first two methods but it will still result in a delicious dressing. When done transfer to a bowl, cover bowl with a plate to keep in the steam and leave to soften & cool for around 20 mins, scoop out flesh, discard skin, stalks & water.
Method:
First, make the aubergine cream.
Pierce aubergines 7 or 8 times all over with a fork, cook using one of the methods above.
When cooked measure out 200g of flesh, transfer to a food processor along with remaining ingredients, 1/2 tsp of salt & a good grind of black pepper and blitz until completely smooth. Set aside until needed.
2 medium aubergines, 2 1/2 tbsps lemon juice, 1 clove of garlic, 50g greek yoghurt, 2 tsps Dijon mustard, 60ml olive oil |
Meanwhile, make the crunchy bits.
Put oil into a large frying pan on a medium-high heat, add almonds and cook, stirring often for about 2 mins.
Add breadcrumbs, pumpkin seeds & 1/4 tsp of salt & cook for further 5 mins, stirring continuously until golden.
Add chilli flakes & cook for a further 30 seconds.
Transfer to a tray or plate & leave to cool completely.
1 tbsp olive oil, 60g roughly chopped almonds, 100g sourdough - crusts removed & blitzed to a coarse crumb, 50g pumpkin seeds, 1/3 tsp chilli flakes |
To assemble the salad.
Arrange iceberg wedges on a large platter, drizzle with 2 tbsps of oil & a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Spoon over aubergine cream, followed by parmesan, radish & avocado. Sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper again & drizzle with remaining 2 tbsps of olive oil. Top with chives and a generous amount of crunch topping, serve extra topping in a small bowl alongside, for people to help themselves.
Yotam Ottolenghi is one of my favourite chefs, his recipes are full of wonderful flavour combinations, his book Flavour takes vegetables to the next level, it gives simple recipes for weeknights & low-effort high-impact dishes.
The book is broken down into three parts, which reveal how to tap into the potential of ordinary vegetables to create extraordinary food:
Process explains cooking methods that elevate veg to great heights;
Pairing identifies four basic pairings that are fundamental to great flavour;
Produce offers impactful vegetables that do the work for you.
Thank you
Jacqui
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