Summer black bean salad
We’ve been living on this all summer – spicy and delicious, it’s super easy to put together earlier in the day then you get to just pour it into a bowl and enjoy it for dinner.
saladsCategory
Spicy cold noodle salad with watercress & fava beans (broad beans)
Who’d like some fava beans and a nice chianti? haha, anyway. This lovely little green number with noodles, nutty, crunchy broad beans and fresh watercress is easy to whip up for a quick lunch.
Tuna pasta salad
Normally my salads are low carb affairs but I do enjoy a sort of retro pasta one. And I really liked this – I mean I love pasta so no surprise there, but the dressing is one of the best things about this – creamy with a hint of lemon, it goes perfectly with the tuna, comforting pasta and crunchy[read more…]
Vegetarian sushi bowl
This tastes just like sushi! I have no hope of being able to make actual sushi, although I love it, so thought this would be an easier option. I loved this cute, healthy lunch!
Sweet chilli labneh (or labna)
As mentioned in an earlier post, I made some labneh! It’s very easy and sort of exciting seeing how it firms up. I added a heap of chilli flakes and some honey which made it subtly sweet with a nice bite and it’s creamy texture is perfect on crackers as a snack with some wine or with bread for a quick[read more…]
New Orleans red cabbage coleslaw
I love a good coleslaw and I’m always always looking for ways to use red cabbage (if I have to sauté cabbage in butter one more time ..). So I found Nigella’s New Orleans coleslaw recipe in one of my many cookbooks recently and remembered how delicious it looked when I spotted it ages ago. [read more…]
Fennel & apple salad
Fennel is a vegetable in the carrot family which is perfect for salads; it has a slight aniseed flavour which is very subtle and palate cleansing. I had this pleasingly crunchy salad on it’s own while Ant had some oven baked chicken alongside. I think it would also go really well with Atlantic salmon. It has quite sweet,[read more…]
Spicy chickpea, chicken & baby kale salad
I love me a chicken salad, it’s the one thing I make or order from cafes quite regularly. This one is a little different though; spicy roast chickpeas give the salad a lovely crunch and flavour. The crisp salad, herbs, flavoursome chicken pieces with a bit of parmesan made this a lovely lunch last week. I stuffed[read more…]
Lentil salad with toasted walnuts & feta
I spotted an easy, tasty looking lentil salad some time back by David Lebovitz via Ann’s blog. This is simple, healthy, full of flavour and easy to whip up for for work lunches, particularly if you already have the cooked lentils in the freezer, as I did.
Smoked salmon & spinach salad
This is a lovely, fresh and healthy salad I made recently. Now just to warn, it’s quite onion .. y so if you’re not into raw onion I would (Obv), leave out the red onion. The paper thin slices of vegetables aren’t mandatory but texture wise and as far as flavour goes, they do make this salad[read more…]
Fig, apple and watercress salad for one
I’ve always said I love salads with fruit in them, not actual fruit salads so much, they remind me of school, but salads with slightly bitter greens and luscious, sweet fruit. So it’s fig season here in Australia and as I always do, I ran out and picked up a whole heap of juicy, plump figs. [read more…]
Quinoa, cherry tomato, tuna and feta salad
It’s that time of year when I start getting into clean and healthy salads. This pretty salad might look light but is really substantial with a decent amount of protein and is packed with grainy quinoa, fresh, sweet tomatoes, crisp spicy radish, smoky tuna and salty feta. I also added a creamy lemon dressing which topped off an[read more…]
Atlantic salmon with summer mango salsa
Although I love fruit (not a fan of the no sugar/fruit trend currently), I’m not overly keen on fruit with savoury meals although certain fruit works really well; apricots, figs and currants in Moroccan cooking, for example and our lovely Queensland mangoes which go perfectly tossed through salsa. So for a lovely warm weather meal today, I[read more…]
Spring pea and potato salad
It’s funny how I hate frozen peas but love fresh ones. Shelling peas always reminds me of being a kid and I’d eat more peas than would go in the bowl for mum. Sweet, crisp and light, they were perfect in this spring inspired salad with spicy radish, creamy potato, rich buttery leeks and a creamy, zingy,[read more…]
Crunchy vegetable pasta salad
In warmer weather I love to make salads for meals and as I’m a bit of a pasta fan, I whipped up a pasta salad the other day with only a few simple, on-hand ingredients and it was really satisfying in that healthy, yet hearty pasta way; I loved the crunch of the raw vegies and walnuts[read more…]
Chicken, walnut and cranberry salad sandwich
I loved this hearty sandwich I made using some of this roast chicken I made on a Sunday a couple of weeks back. A classic chicken salad recipe, it combined the flavoursome, savoury roast chicken with crunchy, sweet, tart, creamy and fresh ingredients, all piled onto some toasted, rustic bread rolls.
Spicy sweet potato black bean burgers with chilli lime coleslaw
I see a lot of recipes for sweet potato vegie burgers around so thought I’d give them a go. I roasted/sautéed the sweet potato and onion first as it gives a lovely caramelised flavour however apart from that, these are so easy to put together, they’re well worth it. I loved the sweet and spicy taste[read more…]
Bakers Delight ciabatta loaf – Panzanella (tomato bread salad)
Erin from Keep Left very kindly contacted me recently to ask if I might like to participate in Bakers Delight’s current campaign to develop a lunch recipe using my choice of their lovely, freshly made bread. My immediate thought was the ciabatta because I love it, however I also really wanted to make something healthy and fresh, using some late summer produce, so[read more…]
Giveaway! Also, spring salad with salmon, rice and creamy lemon dressing (CLOSED)
As of September, a Splash of Vanilla is officially a year old! I thought I’d host a giveaway in honour and also to celebrate our Southern Hemisphere Spring. I have two cute pieces of kitchenware from Peters of Kensington I think you’ll love – a Rodriquez Jam Tales Crockery tea towel and a Royal Doulton – Donna Hay[read more…]
Chicken, green bean and red grape salad with basil mayonnaise
I love a classic chicken salad so was really keen to try this when I spotted it online recently. And it is a particularly lovely salad but … the problem with chefy type recipes is, not that they’re difficult but that there’s a lot of steps to things, not to mention the washing up afterwards. So I didn’t[read more…]
Pear, walnut, grape and rocket salad
Here’s a fresh, delicate, little salad we had the other day and both loved. The peppery rocket, sweet, crisp pears and grapes, crunchy walnuts and creamy, salty Parmesan went so well together with the subtly sweet and tangy dressing.
Creamy (mayonnaise free) potato salad
I do love a classic potato salad. I’ve always enjoyed zesty, creamy ones so didn’t add anything to sweeten it up – if you prefer a sweeter salad, just replace some of the sour cream with mayonnaise. I make this recipe every summer and it’s a great combination of creamy and fresh with extra virgin olive[read more…]
Tuscan salad with cannellini beans, tuna and olives
A warm, pretty day. Just right for this salad. This is an easy, tasty salad I make often in warmer weather. There’s just something about the fresh rocket, savoury tuna, and creamy beans with a salty hit from the olives that works really well. There’s also no standing over a hot stove which makes it perfect for[read more…]
Sweet potato and brown rice salad
A rustic, nutty little salad I make often. I had something similar once, a packaged salad I purchased in my lunch hour from work and thought, I could make this. It’s a healthy salad with lovely sweet and savoury flavours; great for work or a healthy dinner.
Quinoa, lentil and bean salad with summer vegetables
I made a south west style salad tonight from blogger Jacqueline at tinned tomatoes. I added corn kernels because I had some fresh ones I’d frozen previously which I wanted to use, I also only had the French puy lentils, and tweaked the amounts a bit to suit 3 people. This is Jacqueline’s own recipe and I’m really pleased I[read more…]
Leafy salad with avocado and toasted walnuts
I know, I know. Big deal, lettuce, avocado and dressing. But do you know what? This is what I felt like for lunch today – a simple salad made with fresh organic ingredients and a classic home made French dressing. Plus I wanted to share so you could all see how healthy I’m being (I[read more…]
