Salad dressing ideas

Imaginative dressings can spice up the most simple salad.  Here are some ideas from The Times online.

"Dressings and mayos add variety. Some salads — leafy ones, in particular — go limp once dressed, so put your dressing in a separate pot and add it just before you eat. Dress beans, lentils and couscous at home, so they soak up the flavours. Also remember that certain fruit and veg will brown once cut — avocado, apples, pears and celeriac — so toss the cut pieces in lemon juice to keep them fresh."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article5650518.ece

Here are some salad dressings from salad-recipes.co.uk, including Orange and Poppy Seed.

http://www.salad-recipes.co.uk/recipes/salad-dressing-recipes.shtml

Winkles

This is the ultimate austerity snack - pick the winkles at the coast off the rocks at low tide.

Wash the winkles thoroughly in a colander under running water.

Put the winkles in a pan of very well salted water.  Put on a lid and let them boil for 35 - 40 minutes.

Put the winkles in cold water and drain before serving them cold.

Remove the eye, and pull out the flesh with a pin.

Seasonal food resources

A handy resource to print out -
http://www.cheshirefood.co.uk/seasonal_food_calendar.htm

You can sign up to the eat the seasons mailing list and get weekly updates -
http://eattheseasons.co.uk/weeklyupdates.htm

Woolton Pie

Asparagus tips with caramalised leek, melted cheese and poached egg

Five sad asparagus tips inspired this light snack.  All the other ingredients were lingering in the fridge.  A couple of slices of french bread toast would make this a more substantial repast. 

Ingredients:

5 asparagus tips

1 small leek

1 egg

Few slivers of Doux de Montagne cheese (any cheese will do)

Salt

Pepper

Brown sugar

• Slice the leeks into small pieces and fry gently in butter.  Add a little brown sugar and some lemon juice.
• Fry the asparagus with oil, a little balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.
• Poach the egg.
• Cut the cheese into slivers.
• Put the cheese on top of the leek and asparagus, and top with the poached egg.

~

Served 1