Friday 24 April 2015

The Best for Last

Insalata di Cetriolo, Crescione, Feta & Cuore di Sedano
Cucumber, Cress, Feta Cheese & Celery Heart Salad

 

Just a simple little salad for supper this evening- but even the simplest of ingredients can still make for a wonderful little meal as we all know!

My favorite part about this salad was, that I got to use up the last of a rather old celery that I had sitting in the fridge, in the best way possible. Because as opposed to many other ingredients- those leaves, nestling in the heart of the celery, no matter how "old" they get- they always have the very best flavor of all!



Cucumber salads are always wonderful and refreshing- but they can be a little boring too. Have a little fun with your ingredients and cut them differently- and suddenly they seem like something completely different!

 

This was all it took folks- well- these few ingredients and of course the dressing as well... so here we go! 1 cucumber, 1/2 of a feta cheese, 1 block of watercress and the inner leaves and stalks of a bunch of celery. For the dressing- a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt pepper, a good pinch of dried oregano... the end! And maybe 10-15 minutes to put it all together- haha!

 

I don't know about you good people- but I think this looks a lot nicer and much more fun than those over-dressed and squishy cucumber salads that you usually get... there is no reason to not re-think how you do things... in fact- there is every reason that you SHOULD!

 

Wash the cucumber, top and tail it, cut it into quarters lengthways and then remove the seeds, before proceeding to slice it into long shreds using a vegetable peeler... a little tricky, but also fun as soon as you get the hang of it!

 

Once you are all done, sprinkle lightly with salt and set to one side for 4-5 minutes- this will give it time to give-off some of the excess juices, so that the salad does not end up tasting "washed-out".

 

In the meantime, stir together a dressing from 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon of honey, a good pinch of dried oregano and season with salt and pepper.

 

Set the drained cucumber shreds onto you dish first and then add the celery stalks, finely sliced, the tender leaves, plucked apart, the feta cheese crumbled and the cress scattered all over, before drizzling generously with the dressing. The salad should hold-up pretty well in this state until you toss it together before serving... and it does look rather beautiful this way too!

 

But of course the real "genius" of it, is the combination of flavors and textures when you take that first bite... and the second... and the third...

 

It's just a cumber salad- really! But- what a lovely one it is at that!

 

It's good to be getting back to these lighter and more Summery dishes, don't you think? And it is about time too! Time to enjoy!

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