Zucchini, almond and pomegranate salad

About two months from now, I will be offloading zucchinis to anyone who will take them, perhaps swapping them for stone fruit in my local barter group. But right now, I’m enjoying the magic of the first harvest. Of small, emerald green zucchini and flowers like sunshine, drawing in the bees.

I grow zucchini every year – you can read how here. There will be a time for roasting or grilling or steaming them, but at the start of the harvest I love them in a simple salad. Pick or buy your zucchini small and sweet, and shave them into delicate strips. Toss them into a simple salad with nuts, fruit, and other greens of choice. Wild purslane has appeared in the path beside my community garden plot, so I'm using it in my salads as well. 

This recipe is for a salad of textures as much as it is of flavours. The burst of bright juice from every pomegranate seed. The cool silk of the zucchini. The subtle herby velvet of the purslane. The nuttiness of the buckwheat. The sweet crunch of almond, and the sharp acidity of the vinaigrette. It’s a true summer salad.

Zucchini, almond and pomegranate salad

Serves 1 as a main or two as a side

1 small zucchinis

Half a pomegranate (or strawberries, pear or tomato)

1 cup of greens (lettuce, baby spinach, bok choy, rocket, foraged greens etc)

½ cup almonds and buckwheat (or other nuts and seeds)

1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses (or apple cider vinegar or lemon juice)

½ tablespoon of olive oil

Toast your nuts and seeds in a dry frypan over a medium heat, stirring or tossing them for five minutes, then set aside to cool. Using a potato peeler, mandolin or a sharp knife, shave the zucchini into strips. Collect the seeds from your pomegranate (or chop your fruit) and slice your greens. Toss these all together and arrange on a plate. Put the molasses and oil in a small jar, screw on the lid tightly and shake well. Drizzle over the top and serve immediately.

 

Strawberry, coconut and praline trifle

As a gardener, I eagerly anticipate every season: apricot season, broccoli season, broad bean season, asparagus season and – hooray – strawberry season. Right now is the best strawberry season I’ve ever had, and I can only put it down to the incredible rain we had over winter. And the fact I let the runners from all of last year’s strawberry plants grow into a bajillion new plants.

Strawberries are super easy to grow. You can always buy a plant at your local nursery but if you have a friendly gardener and a bit of patience, wait until the end of strawberry season when the plants put out runners. This means they literally grow another strawberry plant, which they plant nearby, all by themselves. 

Give the new plant time to grow some roots then cut the stem that’s connecting it to the mother plant and transplant that baby to a sunny new home in rich soil that’s full of compost. Mulch around the plant and under the leaves to stop mud splashing up and damaging the fruit. Water regularly until the plant settles in and again when it’s flowering. Ease up on the water when the flowers turn into fruit as too much water can spoil strawberries. Pick them when they reach the most beautiful deep red, but before the slaters get to them or they go mushy. 

Like most berries, strawberries taste best when eaten within about 15 seconds of picking – the supermarket versions can’t even hope to compete. If you have too many to eat fresh, you can simply freeze them and use them in smoothies, or you can try this delicious strawberry, coconut and praline trifle. The brandy strawberries can be used within two days but will last much, much longer if you can hold out that long. If you’re not a fan of brandy, try white rum, vodka or even balsamic vinegar, or simply roughly chop fresh strawberries, add some finely chopped mint or basil, and use that as the berry layer. 

For the praline, I’ve used I Quit Sugar’s method but substituted the nuts for buckwheat, almonds and sunflower seeds – feel free to use which ever nuts or seeds you have available.

Strawberry, coconut and praline trifle

1 cup of strawberries

½ cup of brandy (see above note on alternatives)

1 can Ayam coconut cream

½ cup rice malt syrup

½ cup almonds

¼ cup buckwheat

¼ cup sunflower seeds

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp cinnamon

The zest of half an orange

Dark chocolate

3-7 days out

If using the alcohol/balsamic vinegar option, halve or roughly chop a cup of strawberries and loosely pack into a clean jar. Add brandy (or your preferred liquid) until the jar is approximately two thirds full of the liquid. Screw on the lid and stick the jar somewhere out of direct sunlight for at least a few days.

24 hours out

Refrigerate a can of good quality, pure (no guar gum) coconut cream – you need to do this at least several hours in advance.

On the day

To make the praline, preheat your oven’s grill to high. Gently warm the rice malt syrup in a small saucepan on the stove, stir through the nuts and seeds, pour onto a lined tray and stick under the grill for five minutes until the syrup is golden and bubbly (don’t let it or the nuts burn). Cool completely then pulse in a food processor or roughly chop. If making early, store in an airtight container.

Building your trifle

To make the whipped coconut cream, get the can from the fridge, open, and scoop out the cream, leaving behind any liquid left in the bottom. Don’t shake the can at all to ensure the cream and the liquid stay separate. Put the cream in a bowl with a drizzle of vanilla essence and a shake of cinnamon, and whip gently until smooth. 

In two small glasses, add a layer of strawberries and their brandy, a layer of coconut cream, a layer of praline, some finely grated chocolate and orange zest, a layer of coconut cream, a layer of strawberries and their brandy, and top with the praline, chocolate and zest. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve later.

How to create the perfect salad

I love a good salad as much as the next person – and by good salad I don’t mean one of the pre-packaged lettuce, tomato, cucumber and grated carrot variety.

A wonderful part of growing your own veg and eating with the seasons is that you can make a salad out of just about anything edible in the garden. For example, thanks to all the rain, my broccoli plants are super leafy monsters. These leaves are just as edible as the florets, so it seems almost criminal to waste them. There’s also chickweed wandering amongst the garlic, flowers galore on the borage, broccoli and Asian greens, and even a couple of dandelions worth picking. Growing wild beside the path are a couple of huge ancient carrots – way past eating but their ferny leaves aren’t.

For me, there are four elements to a seriously good salad:

Super fresh greens (or purples) – think lettuce, silverbeet, Asian greens, cabbage, purple cabbage, beetroot leaves, cucumber, parsley, celery, fennel or coriander

Protein and good fats – nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil – this balances the “greener” flavours and the fat increases absorption of vitamin K from the greens

Sweetness – try carrot, capsicum, apple, pear, grapes, tomatoes, strawberries, goji berries or roasted pumpkin

Acidity –a good dressing or vinegarette – it’s dead easy to make your own by combining olive oil and apple cider vinegar, like I have in the recipe below.

A great salad is just a matter of balancing the strong with the mild, mixing up the flavours and textures. Making it pretty and colourful honestly makes it taste better because of the messages good looking food sends to the brain, and all that colour also ensures you’re getting a wide variety of nutrients.

Use just a small amount of the bitter herbs and vegies like the dandelion, and finely shred the more robust leaves like the silverbeet. Include a good handful of nuts and seeds, and diced or sliced fruit. Smooth out the flavours with a good fat like avocado or olive oil, and a good dose of a decent vinegar for acidity.

Chickweed with dandelion flowers, carrot tops, borage flowers, broccoli and silverbeet

The below ingredients are simply what I had available in my community garden plot and in the pantry – substitute whatever you have handy in your garden or can pick up at the shops or the local farmers markets. Vegies that are freshly picked and in season are always best. If you want to save money but buy organic, I find my local farmers markets sell organic fruit and veg at half the price of the supermarkets.

I'd love to hear from you - what's your perfect salad combination?

My perfect salad with Spring flowers

Silverbeet (rainbow chard)

Broccoli leaves, florets and flowers

Tatsoi leaves and flowers

Borage flowers

Pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Chickweed

Leafy carrot tops

Goji berries

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar.

Put the oil and vinegar in a small jar, screw the lid on and shake well to create a vinaigrette. Finely chop the greens, add the vinaigrette and toss to coat – feel free to massage in the dressing using your hands to help tenderise the greens. Add the nuts, seeds and fruit and toss again. Decorate with the flowers and serve immediately. Really easy, really good.