As Ireland doesn't really have a traditional salad, I decided it needed one, so here's hoping it catches on for the sake of the country's nutritional needs! When I did an internet search for 'traditional Irish salad' one of the top results presented me with an article on the '9 Essential Elements of an Irish Salad', which made me chuckle:
" 1. Two slice of ham, rolled up. Got to get the meat in. Bonus points if it's crumbed... 2. Some slices of cheese... 3. A hard boiled egg cut in half. An Irish salad without an hard boiled egg is a failed salad... 4. Scallions... 5. A few cursory bits of lettuce. The lettuce is put in, but only out of obligation. Sure it tastes alright if it's doused with... 6. Chef salad cream... 7. A dollop of potato salad... 8. Coleslaw... 9. Beetroot from a jar. " (Source)
And I thought: yep, sounds about right. Here noses crinkle at the idea of limp lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes - they like their spuds and breads and pasties... nice and heavy, fill yer belly. So I decided to create a compromise - lots of nutritious vegetables alongside the country's favoured potatoes and bread. Surely no Irish could deny this is a good meal! Also it's a bit too wintry now for a crisp summer salad, so the addition of a warm potato salad and salmon fresh out the oven makes this season-suitable.
As most of you know by now, I adore vegetables and good whole foods. That's all my kitchen is stocked with and so happily I was already prepared for this week's Culinary Challenge before it was even announced! I live nearly 2 miles from the nearest shop and don't have a car, so it's a bit of a hike if you need special ingredients! The ingredients I've used are available year round here, so this is a salad for all seasons. I wanted to create a nice Irish theme for my salad so here's my thinking:
Salad theme components:
- An array of different coloured vegetables for the 'rainbow' (an array of nutrients too);
- A warm golden potato salad for the 'gold', as we all know here in Ireland where there's a rainbow there's a pot of gold. For this I made a homemade mayonnaise coloured with turmeric, which also adds a woody-spiciness. Potatoes truly are like gold in this country, considering the Great Famine which is never forgotten.
- A lucky shamrock centrepiece made using my traditional Irish Soda Farles recipes, but coloured with wheatgrass powder (of course I don't 'do' artificial colours)
- Fresh Donegal salmon
And why is it a lucky salad? Well, I guess it's lucky for me I rely on myself for nutrition, considering the alternative 9 salad elements above!
What you will need: (per person)
60g fine wholewheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1 heaped tsp wheatgrass powder
40ml buttermilk (or regular milk with 1/2 tsp vinegar added, leave 15 mins to sour)
1 large potato
Coconut oil (for roasting)
1 large free-range egg yolk
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp wholegrain mustard
1/2 tsp salt
10 tsp avocado or olive oil
2 tsp honey
1 heaped tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Small chunk of red cabbage (enough for one)
1/2 red onion
1/6 red pepper
1/6 yellow pepper
1/6 green pepper
1 inch chunk courgette
5 cherry tomatoes
1 large carrot
3 cloves garlic
1-2 scallions
Handful of mixed seeds (eg pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, linseed)
Drizzle honey
Chilli flakes
1 salmon fillet/darne
Seasoning
Method:
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and wheatgrass powder. Add the buttermilk and mix with your hand into a nice dough
On a surface lightly dusted with a mixture of flour & wheatgrass powder, roll out the dough to about 0.3 inch thick. Cut out 4 heart shapes with a pastry cutter
Again, lightly dust a baking tray with a mixture of flour & wheatgrass powder, place the heart shapes onto it, then pop into a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool on a wire rack.
In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, honey, salt, turmeric, cinnamon. Adding a small amount at a time, gradually beat in the oil until the mayonnaise thickens.
Set aside for later.
On a large chopping board prepare all your salad vegetables, slicing and dicing them any way you choose. I finely sliced the red cabbage and red onion, finely sliced then halved the courgette, roughly diced the peppers, grated the carrot, quartered the tomatoes, finely chopped the garlic and scallions.
Roast the seeds under a medium-hot grill until they start to pop and turn golden-brown.
Now it's time to arrange the salad on a dinner plate. As I wanted the golden potato salad and shamrock soda bread in the centre, I placed a tin lid there to keep the space free. Arrange the chunky salad ingredients around the tin lid in attractive way, then sprinkle on the garlic and scallions. Lastly drizzle with honey and sprinkle with chilli flakes. Pop into the fridge until the rest of the salad components are ready.
Peel and dice the potato into small chunks.
Put them into a baking tray with coconut oil, and pop into a hot oven at about 210 degrees Celcius for 30 minutes.
Whilst the potatoes are roasting, prepare the salmon. Slice the fillet into strips then place them into an oven-proof dish. Add a little water to prevent the fish drying, and sprinkle with seasoning of your choice. I used oregano and chilli flakes. Pop into the oven for about 15 minutes
When the potatoes are nicely roasted, transfer them into a small bowl and add enough of the golden mayonnaise to give them a good coating (but not too sloppy).
Remove the tin lid from the centre of the salad plate and spoon the golden potato salad into the space. Place the salmon strips on top of the salad vegetables. On top of the potato salad, place the soda farle heart shapes to form a shamrock.
Enjoy!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please follow me and you can look forward to more yummy and healthy recipes!
Many thanks to @englishtchrivy for holding this culinary challenge - it's a lot of fun!
Thanks also to sponsors @smooth, @roelandp, and honourable mentions by @razvanelulmarin and @wingz
Logo kindly created for me by @papa-pepper
All photos in this post are my own original