Monday, April 8, 2013

Apple and Cheddar Salad : IHCC

"Loving The Leaf", the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) where we are currently cooking from Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes until September 2013. So for this week, it is all about leaves! We love leaves in our house, especially fresh crunchy green leaves for salad, my kids' favorite. 

This salad turns out rather differently from the original. If you click on the link here, you would find the photo of an entirely different salad altogether. Well, mine is not exactly entirely different, just that some ingredients are omitted! The recipe calls for baby spinach leaves, chicory leaves and alfalfa sprouts. My trip to Tesco looking for these ingredients are rather disappointing, Firstly I could not find any baby spinach, and secondly, the alfalfa sprouts are turning yellow, and are selling at less than half the price! No, thank you! And no sight of any chicory leaves either! I was rushing for time and do not want to go to another supermarket searching for these ingredients, so I look for some other greens instead.


Found some lovely fresh Coral leaves, perfect for salad, so I bought those instead. Next ingredient is sunflower seeds, I grabbed one small pack of honey roasted sunflower seeds, which I knew would go great with this salad. 


Even without some of the ingredients, it turned out to be one lovely salad. I especially love the dressing. I have used extra-virgin olive oil since I do not have sunflower oil, and it works out great. And I have added in an extra teaspoon of honey and a little bit more of the cider vinegar. Love the crispy, juicy, sweet apples and the combination of cheddar cheese with crispy honey roasted sunflowers seeds along with the fresh green coral.


Here's my simplified version of Apple and Cheddar Salad!

Both my daughter and myself really enjoyed this plate of salad. We had a big plate each!
I would make this salad again, next time with the alfalfa sprouts and any other combination of greens.


IHCC Ottolenghi Leek
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Please do stop by I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) to view what my friends have made for the theme of this week, "Loving The Leaf" , and if you are interested to join us, please find out more details from IHCC.

I'm sharing this with :
See Ya In The Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace
Souper Sundays hosted by Kahakai Kitchen


Apple and Cheddar Salad
(source from guardian.co.uk)
2 sharp, slightly sweet apples, thinly sliced
75 gm extra-mature cheddar, thinly sliced or roughly broken
100 gm baby spinach
1 chicory, leaves picked (about 100 gm)
50gm alfalfa sprouts
35 gm sunflower seeds, lightly toasted

For the dressing :
2-1/2 tbsps cider vinegar (I use 3 tbsps)
3/4 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey (I use 2 tsp)
1/2 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
salt
4 tbsps good-quality sunflower oil, or a mixture of sunflower and walnut oil

Start with the dressing ; in a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Whisking continuously, slowly pour in the oil until emulsified, then set aside.

Put all the salad ingredients in a bowl and, just before serving, pour over the dresssing and gently toss through. Season to taste and serve.


24 comments:

  1. Hi Joyce! I would love to have this salad served cold from the fridge.

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  2. Good morning, Joyce! This can become my breakfast now as I still haven't mine yet!

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  3. Joyce, love this salad but I would omit the cheese. I find Tesco quite disappointing when it comes to fresh veggies. Aeon is a better bet.

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  4. I love salads with fruits in it, sounds delicious with cheddar cheese! I like the sharpt tangy flavors of the dressing too:) Time to eat more salads instead of cakes:P

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  5. Great way to garnish with nuts as well!

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  6. Some nights dinner in our home dinner is a salad and I would love to have this for dinner!

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  7. Honey roasted sunflower seeds sound like a great addition. I can see this being a nice salad for kids (adults too for that matter). It looks like a fun salad to try! Thank you for linking this week, Joyce.

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  8. This salad looks so delicious and I love the combination of flavours. Will try this combo sometime.

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  9. I don't mind to have this for lunch as this is such a healthy for a light lunch, really!

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  10. A beautiful salad, apple & cheddar are one of those matches made in heaven. All this Ottolenghi is just wonderful :)

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  11. Love those coral leaves , so pretty and great for this appetizing salad ! I have yet to try apple and cheese combo :P I bet it is delicious :D

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  12. oh never heard of chicory leaves..how to pronounce? hehe..reminds me of the rhyme hickory dictory dock..LOL!

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  13. This looks like a great lunch! And hey, isn't half the fun of cooking someone else's recipe in making it your own?

    Looks delicious!

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  14. I feel your frustration Joyce. Sometimes when I shop here for ingredients and cant find it too cos it's not very common in KL. Your salad looks delicious nonetheless... great improvisation!

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  15. This is a beautiful and healthy salad. I like that you make it your own and use the recipe as a guide. I am sure that most greens would work perfect for the salad. The dressings sounds delicious too. I like using honey in a dressings as well.

    Thank you for your visit and your kind and thoughtful comments.
    Blessings dear. Catherine xo

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  16. Hi Joyce,

    Like the theme of IHCC event! "Loving The Leaf" sounds really nice!

    I can understand your frustration of being able to find some of the key ingredients of this recipe. Salad greens can be quite seasonal...

    Zoe

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  17. Joyce, you've captured the theme of "Loving the Leaf" beautifully - your salad looks very fresh and enticing, and I think you made a good substitute on the leaves. I've always loved the combination of apple and cheese, so this seems like a good salad for me to try right now when apples are at their very best.

    Thanks for sharing at IHCC once again.

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  18. what a unique and fun way to incorporate the apples in a salad. I have never seen it done this way! too cool

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  19. Hi Joyce! This IS one crispy tangy salad! I love having apples in a salad - for me, fruit with greens is like having dessert! This is a great recipe!

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  20. I think your substitutions were great--the salad looks delicious--I love apples and cheddar paired up together in any form! Thanks too for sharing it with Souper Sundays this week! ;-)

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  21. This salad looks & sounds so yummy! Awesome recipe for the coming summer! ;)

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  22. Joyce - I have the same issues when I shop for produce and I get very discouraged. I can totally sympathize. However, I love your substitutions. I think this salad is a wonderful combination of texture and flavor. Delicious!

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