I’m almost all the seven dwarfs all at once. 

 So, it’s time to stop being such a bastard to my own body. 

And what better a place to start than to buy a few new fancy ingredients and have a play. Geeta Enterprises, a pokey, crowded, mess of a shop sits in the middle of McWhirters in The Valley -  right next to a lively tattoo parlour. I love poking around in there, checking out all the spices, chutneys, chilis, and a whole wall piled high with dried beans, legumes and rare flours. Of course, there’s a great selection of Indian beauty products too – and a great Bollywood soundtrack to boot!  I grabbed a massive bag of pre-mixed Dukkah for less than $5 and a big bottle of Pomegranate Mollases. I’d first heard of this syrup when I was googling pomegranates for this recipe, and it sounded delicious – sweet and sour. It’s actually quite potent – you don’t need too much. It’s cloyingly sweet, sour, surprisingly bitter and makes your mouth water – literally!

It goes perfectly with the yoghurt and fetta in this recipe  - actually, all the ingredients in this salad compliment each other perfectly. If I were you – I would try this recipe I was rather pleased when I stumbled upon it (then, of course, mucked around with the recipe!) and will be making it again.

Oh – and try it NOW! The star ingredients are in season!

Ingredients

2 large beetroots, chopped into 8 wedges then cut in half again

1/2 fennel bulb

1/2 spanish onion

2 slabs of moist, crumbly fetta  – cut into cubes

Salad greens, washed and ready to go

a few good dollops of low-fat greek yoghurt

a few tablespoons of pomegranate molasses, diluted with a tablespoon of water

olive oil

dukkah (feel free to make your own of course!)

salt and pepper

Method

1. Pop the beetroot into some cold salty water and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes or until soft when skewered with a small blade. Remove from water and let cool a little

2. Cut the fennel and onion into slither-thin slices with a SHARP knife (golly - fennels are built like bunkers!)

3. Toss the fennel, onion, and greens with a tiny little bit of olive oil to make it all nice and shiny

3. Dollop yoghurt and smear across the plate with the back of a spoon (you know, like the REAL chefs do!)

4. Arrange the salad bits, beetroot and fetta on the plate

5. Drizzle some pomegranate molasses over it all, a pinch of dukkah, a crack of pepper maybe…

And you’re done!

I don’t usually keep ready-made salad dressing in the house, I wish I did sometimes when I’m being lazy, but it forces me to be a bit creative instead of just reaching for the good ol’ french dressing.  Often it’ll just be Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar, but other times I’ll go nuts and use all sorts of condiments.

The best way to make a good dressing is use approximately equal parts of oil and an acid, perhaps lemon juice or a vinegar. Then just chuck in whatever you have in the cupboard. Maybe some grainy mustard, or some herbs or spices. As we’re all on a Mexican Kick this month, and I am going crazy for Cholula, I’ve gone down that road.

Ingredients

1 cup canned chickpeas
1/2 cooked chook (chicken), shredded roughly
10cm cucumber, sliced
handful of Baby roma tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red capsicum
Coriander
Parsley
1/3 red onion, sliced finely
Mixed salad leaves
Handful of snowpeas, cut into strips diagonally
1/2 avocado, diced

 
Dressing
1cm cube of fresh ginger, cut into very thin slithers
Juice of 1/2 a very juicy lime (or 1 lime)
1 tbsp Cholula Hot Sauce
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika

Chuck it all together in a big bowl and serve.

Yes. Yes she is. Forget Tabasco Sauce people. Cholula is the one for me. To quote their website, “Cholula’s blend of piquin peppers, chile arbol and signature spices enhances food flavours without overpowering them. It’s a combination that has defined Cholula as The Flavourful Fire” I couldn’t agree more. There is more to Cholula than just heat, she’s sweet too. You won’t just have the best night of your life, she’ll make you breakfast in the morning. And that breakfast will be delicious!

Cholula just shooting the breeze with Mexican Lime Water and Guacamole

Cholula goes with everything. Eggs, Meat, as a salad dressing, nachos, soups, pizza, rice. And therein lies the problem. Mr Mexico was running out of Cholula! His parents would send him care packages from Mexico every once in a while, so he had to start rationing it out. I was lucky to even try it. A few weeks later, I mentioned Cholula to my mum and how I was planning to import some myself. And she casually said. “Oh, is it this stuff?” and proceded to unveil a bottle of the prized elixir from out of her pantry.

YOU CAN GET THIS STUFF IN COLES!! GO THERE NOW!!!

(Just realised this may look like I love Coles – but really…I just love Cholula. )

So Cholula for everyone! It’s just lovely. My sister made some Nachos with Guacamole and a simple salad for lunch this week and we drizzled some Cholula over the corn chips. I’ve had it with eggs on toast, I added it to a sauce to go atop of Chicken Parmagiana and I just made a salad with a Cholula-based salad dressing.

Viva La Mexico!

This salad is RED! I just went nuts at the green grocer buying pink and red fruits. I think it works well with the lime and vanilla too. This is my justification:

Vanilla has a variety from Tahiti – Tahitian Vanilla

Lime has a variety from Tahiti – Tahitian Limes

And often flavours grown in the same area go well together. The lime gives it a tropical zing and the vanilla smooths it out giving it a velvety base-note.

Ingredients

Watermelon

Red Apple

Strawberries

Cherries

Red Grapes

Lychees

…and anything else remotely ruby-toned.

1/4 lime

capful of vanilla extract.

Method

Cut all fruit into bitesized pieces, squeeze the lime, pour the vanilla. Mix carefully to combine.

Ingredients 

2 Roma Tomatoes, seeds removed, diced

1/2 red capsicum, diced

15cm cucumber, seeds removed, diced

1/4 red onion, finely diced

handful green beans, chopped, blanched and cooled

bunch asparagus, chopped, blanched and cooled

1 tsp black mustard seeds -

pinch crushed cummin seeds,

pinch coriander powder

Squirt Lemon juice

Orange flavoured olive oil

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Method

Mix all together and serve with lebanese bread, felafel and yoghourt.

1 Carrot
1 Red Delicious Apple
15 or so Baby Spinach Leaves
Cumin Seeds
Lemon Juice
Pepper
3 sprigs of Mint

1. Julienne the carrot and apple and place in bowl, immediately toss with lemon juice
2. Chop spinach and Mint
3. Dry toast the cumin seeds in a frypan over medium heat until they become fragrant. Take off heat and crush in mortar and pestle, add about 1/3 teaspoon to salad
4. Mix to combine.