Friday, May 1, 2009

Radish, mint and feta salad

Serves 4

Most salads' impact comes from the dressing that adornes them, this salad on the otherhand has little more than a splash each of oil and vinegar almost purely for lubrication. The resulting combination has crunch, bite, salt and acid - all individually identifiable rather than tossed up together.

1 medium to large cucumber
1 large bunch bright red radishes
6 spring onions
350g feta cheese
1 small bunch mint
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley
olive oil
red wine vinegar

Peel the cucumber lightly, so as to remove the coarse skin but leaving behind as much of the bright green that lies directly under the skin as possible. Otherwise the salad will appear insipid.

Cut the cucumber in half lengthways, then scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard them. Slice each long half again, lengthways, then cut each piece into short, fat chunks and tip into a large mixing bowl.

Wash the radishes, then top and tail them. Cut them into bite size quarters, according to their size then add them to the cucumber. Trim the spring onions and slice them into thin rings.

Crumble the cheese and tear the mint and parsley leaves into large pieces - then toss them all together with the cucumber, onions and radishes. Drizzle over a little olive oil and vinegar and then grind over a little black pepper. No salt should be necessary due to the feta, but it's always worth a taste test before it goes to the table.

4 comments:

  1. Am I the only person in the world that doesn't like feta or halloumi? I find them both too salty.

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  2. Hey there anonymous, you're not alone out there, both these cheeses use copious amounts of salt in their respective curing processes, and the taste doesn't do it for everybody. I have to say I am a fan of both, and in the case of this salad, I think the basic acidity of a fairly crude red wine vinegar does actually go a long way to cutting back the salt sensation in the feta. Go on, give it a try, really, what's the worst that can happen?!

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  3. Funny, I didn't like halloumi until I moved to Dubai, then I loved it. Same thing with Feta, only liked it when I moevd to Hong Kong. Weird how tastes change...

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  4. Nathalie... weird??? It is a joyous thing our palate, now as long as you're not dulling it with too much cider, it'll go on impressing you for years to come......

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