I made this salad a couple of weeks ago, did not have time to post the recipe and then worried that it would become out of date as the blackberries disappeared from the hedgerows. But then I saw some end of season blackberries glistening in the bright morning light while I was on my run this morning.
"So there is still time to say something about how to put together salads for autumn" I thought. Even if you cannot find blackberries, blueberries will suit just as well.
There are so many great ingredients available at the moment if you are lucky enough to shop in a good greengrocer's or supermarket like Booths, in Ilkley where I live.
For this salad I have assembled red endive, spiral florets of Romanesco cauliflower (which does taste slightly sweeter and nuttier than regular cauliflower), lovely candy striped beetroot and flakes of hot smoked salmon.
I have always loved the idea of fruity dressings, for example, made with fresh raspberry vinegar but my recipe is a quick solution to this. I got the idea of crushing berries and mixing them with maple syrup, olive oil and seasoning from the September edition of Delicious magazine. It works really well with blackberries and also blueberries as in the photo below.
You can either cook the cauliflower and the beetroot or leave them raw. Just remember if you do not cook them you will need to cut them up into small pieces so everyone can chew them. This takes time and care.
To make this salad into a complete meal you could add some crisp, crunchy, garlicky roasted potatoes.
This recipe is another quick to prepare, nutritious, one dish meal and it looks spectacular. I would happily serve this for a family meal or lunch with friends.
Hot smoked salmon salad with candy striped beetroot and berry and maple syrup dressing
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 handfuls of salad leaves
- 1 red chicory (endive), leaves separated
- 1/4 cucumber, halved and sliced diagonally
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- 2 small candy striped beetroot, scrubbed and rinsed
- 1/2 cauliflower, preferably Romanesco, rinsed
- 50g canned lentils, rinsed
- micro salad leaves like purple radish (optional) or cress
- a few hazelnuts (optional)
- 300g fresh or hot smoked salmon
- 50g blackberries or blueberries
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 50g blackberries or blueberries
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1tbsp maple syrup
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Arrange the salad leaves, endive, cucumber and spring onions on a large plate. Scrub the beetroot well. If the skin is smooth there is no need to peel just thinly slice to show off the lovely stripes and arrange on the plate with the cauliflower florets. Flake the salmon and scatter, together with the lentils, and remaining berries over the salad.
To make the dressing for the salad; crush half of the blueberries in a pestle and mortar and add the lemon juice, maple syrup and olive oil. Season and mix well and dribble over the finished salad.
I love this salad served with crisp, crunchy, garlicky roasted potatoes.
